Tag: Sandhill Crane

Friendly Friday: Twins.

David M6 Comments

This is my contribution to the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge: Twins.

I started thinking about some of the pairs and doubles I have photographed over the years. After a while I started writing them down as the list was getting quite long and I didn’t want to overlook any when making my selection for the challenge.

Two Maple leaves.

A pair of Maple leaves.

Two Great Crested Grebes.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes.

Two Oxeye Daisies.

A pair of Oxeye Daisies.

Two Sandhill Cranes.

Sandhill Cranes at sunrise.

Two Fly Agaric fungi.

Amanita muscaria.

Two Large White Butterfly caterpillars.

Big and small.

Two pieces of grass sticking out of the snow.

Simplicity.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Wild.

David M14 Comments

This is my contribution to the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Wild.

As someone who has been photographing wildlife for years I had difficulty finding a starting point.

So I decided to go with a selection of photos taken when I wasn’t necessarily expecting a wildlife encounter. When I was out for a sunrise or photographing landscapes for example.

A Striped Skunk that appeared while I was looking for spring migrants around Little Quill Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Unexpected encounter.

Sitting on a bench at Dominion Lookout on the Lake Huron shoreline in Southampton, Ontario imagine my surprise when this Red Fox came trotting along the shoreline. I later found out that it was a regular and well known by the locals.

Trotting Red Fox.

Coming home from photographing a sunrise I spotted these two Sandhill Cranes in a field on our side road.

Sandhill Cranes at sunrise.

A Racoon that wandered into the yard one afternoon. I was sitting on the deck having been shooting portraits earlier so had a portrait lens on the camera.

Portrait of a Racoon.

A Sanderling on autumn migration. I had gone down to the Lake Huron shoreline in Southampton, Ontario, Canada for the sunrise and found a small flock of half a dozen Sanderling on the shoreline.

Feeding juvenile Sanderling.

Living sky.

David M2 Comments

This current Weekly Prompt Photo Challenge is Sky.

A subject that I have rather a lot of options available for. Then I thought about living in Saskatchewan, Canada in the late 1990s. Saskatchewan proclaims itself the “Land of Living Skies” with the slogan on the provincial license plates.

That got me thinking about some of my shots from my time in Saskatchewan and some of the flocks of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes. This is a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying to roost at sunset in the autumn. The photo was taken north of Little Quill Lake, part of a wetland complex in Saskatchewan.

Living sky.

Wings across the sky.

David M9 Comments

This week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge is Wings Across The Skies.

There was some obvious choices for me. At the same time, a bit of a challenge because of the range of choices.

I picked this shot of Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) flying to roost at sunset because they cross the frame, from one side to the other. In other words, wings across the frame. The photo was taken at Little Quill Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada in the autumn. The Quill Lakes area is a staging area for Sandhill Cranes on their way south for the winter.

Flying to roost at sunset.

Flying in formation.

David M2 Comments

Throwback Thursday travels back to Saskatchewan, Canada in the 1990s. At this time of year the Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) are gathering together ready to head south for the winter. It wasn’t unusual to see flocks of hundreds of birds in places and a few miles away there could be a family party of four or five by themselves.

One of the staging areas was around the Quill Lakes wetland complex. It is also an important staging area for Snow Geese on autumn migration. I had a few locations around the northern end of Little Quill Lake that I visited at sunset to photograph the various flocks flying over to their roost sites.

Sometimes I would isolate small groups, other times I would shoot wider for larger groups. I picked this shot of five Sandhill Cranes because they appear to be flying in a loose formation. I find it interesting that the wing position of each bird is different.

Formation flying at sunset.

Week 31. Backlit Sandhill Cranes.

David M3 Comments

Sunday morning of week 31 saw me returning from the sunrise at Colpoy’s Bay when I spotted two Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) in a hay field.

The sun was still low in the sky and behind the birds providing some interesting lighting. There was still round bales in the field so I spent some time waiting for one or the other to appear from behind a bale. At on point the two birds started calling to each other but one of the birds was mostly hidden behind a bale at the time.

Sandhill Cranes at sunrise.