It's Cranemania around here!

[Wild Skies]

Originally Posted by Michael Moffa

Any more word on the little darlings?

The baby cranes appear to have done very well in dodging the bullets lurking in their world. This is very good news compared to the dismal success of the last several nestings. The mature adults have taught these two young colts how to fly and how to hunt for food on their own. They are raising Cain with the chipmunks, mice, grass snakes, earthworms and anything else they find palatable. Lately they've found whole kernel corn to be quite delectable and can be fed by hand. Here's a couple of pics taken just today, the last one momma and her two babies are gobbling up corn from an ice cream pail that I'm holding while pappa stands guard just out of view of the camera.

Amazing creatures. Why would anyone want to shoot one?

[Wild Skies]

With the same predictability as the Swallows of Capistrano our nesting pair of Sandhill Cranes arrived back from their Wintering grounds in the South to their breeding grounds here in Northcentral Wisconsin on March 15th -- not about March 15th, but exactly on March 15th, each and every year. This mark's the 11th consecutive year of bringing their brand of excitement to our neighborhood...and with this same degree of predictability they are parading their little offspring through the neighborhood in mid-May of every year. Here's our first sight of them today, May 14th: