Sandhill Crane Week 11

Early in the week, the juvenile remained flying back and forth in the small mowed park on the west side of Tiedeman's Pond as if an invisible boundary held it there.  Within a day or two of that, the boundary vanished, and the juvenile began flying about the neighborhood. A similar, mowed grassy area to the west of Stricker's Pond became a destination. And so the horizon recedes farther and farther along with bringing new experiences and dangers.

Sandhill Crane Juvenile in the lead, flying across the north side of Stricker's Pond on the way from Tiedeman's, on the way to a new spot. Freedom at last.

Sandhill Crane The flooded edges of the field provide water and food.

Sandhill Crane Doing a version of its snake dance, bounding up and down and in a circle over a danger real or imagined.

Sandhill Crane The wings will not stop as the juvenile uses them more and more as its entire body matures and strengthens.

Sandhill Crane And the parents still occassionally offer the juvenile happily accepted food bits.

Sandhill Crane For no apparent reason, the juvenile took off at full tilt, splashing across the edge of the wet field.

Sandhill Crane Closely following a parent in the hope of easy food.

Sandhill Crane A tangle of heads, necks and legs at an excellent spot. The female is in front and the male to the left.

Sandhill Crane Time for more flying as a parent looks on with a whatever, go ahead.  They keep an eye open, but allow more distance now.

Sandhill Crane The take-off downstrokes are more powerful, the run quicker, and lift-off faster.

Sandhill Crane A bit of air-paddling with the feet doesn't hurt.

Sandhill Crane And a dangle before the tuck, though the flight is only a hundred feet or so.  Why walk when you can fly?

Sandhill Crane A graceful touchdown.  The parents watched for a bit, then the female flew after walking halfway to catch up.

Sandhill Crane A show of the wings in their full glory.  Not too long before they need to make the journey to New Mexico or thereabouts.

Sandhill Crane Circling the entire area, they return to the standing water at the edges.  The juvenile needs another drink.

Sandhill Crane Dancing and splashing.

Sandhill Crane An adult adds a bit of flapping to the mix while the juvenile studies both it and the sky.

Sandhill Crane Intermittent preening takes over again, though birds flying overhead keep the juvenile's interest.

Sandhill Crane As the adult male shows off his wings, the juvenile does a tenative dance bow, looking uncertain this time.

Sandhill Crane And dancing around. The older the juvenile becomes, the more serious the meaning.

Sandhill Crane The male stops to de-escalate, but the juvenile has its on switch stuck as usual with excess energy.

Sandhill Crane Sometimes just ignoring the displays works.

Sandhill Crane And sometimes it doesn't.

Sandhill Crane Off on another flight to the other end of the field.

Sandhill Crane The take-off is even smoother this time. The juvenile is becoming a master.

Sandhill Crane After this flight, the parents waited out the juvenile, who returned to the other side with them before all strolled into a new yard. Exploration and danger.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.  No photograph
from this blog may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means whatsover.

Sandhill Crane Week 9

Sandhill Crane Feeling good about the growth of its wings, the juvenile exercises every possible moment.

Sandhill Crane Between preening and flapping, the wings receive all the attention they need.

Sandhill Crane With short flights of ten or fifteen feet more common, it sometimes helps to use a sloping runway.

Sandhill Crane It probably knows a parent is flapping along right behind as it gets off the ground briefly.

Sandhill Crane And here comes the parent.

Sandhill Crane Food and sharing, with the bill length difference very obvious between juvenile and parent.

Sandhill Crane Though it suspects something, the juvenile doesn't know that a parent is on the way with a worm.

Sandhill Crane Preening involves some serious contortions.

Sandhill Crane Another element of maturing is the ability to take a nap while standing on one leg. Check that one off.

Sandhill Crane Flap about some more and see who gets stirred up.

Sandhill Crane So far just the juvenile is excited about its own flapping.

Sandhill Crane The flight feathers are about ready for full use.

Sandhill Crane Everything flying over deserves admiration and envy.

Sandhill Crane The wings have been increasing in width as each feather grows out fully.

Sandhill Crane Two feeding while one watches a dog on a leash passing by on a walkway.

Sandhill Crane Flapping also involves a bit of strutting.

Sandhill Crane Work on the take-off lean.

Sandhill Crane Airborne with a run and a couple of flaps.

Sandhill Crane And a landing fifteen or twenty feet away with the tail feathers flaring out nicely.

Sandhill Crane This was one of those run and flap moments that looks more like hop scotch than true flight.

Sandhill Crane But it took the juvenile across a hundred feet of space in no time, causing the alarmed parents to fly after it.

Sandhill Crane Both parents are molting. The loose feathers are a puzzle to the juvenile. It picked one up and dropped it several times.

Sandhill Crane Carefully grabbing the end for another toss.

Sandhill Crane Way up in the tree is sometimes interesting.

Sandhill Crane Learning how to sit just like an adult, knees bent just so.

Sandhill Crane The juvenile flapping stirred up a parent who flapped back.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.