It's Cranemania around here!

[Dakota Jeff]

Do any of the offspring come back to that general area or just the 2 adults that have always been there.This is a neat story and pics.

[Wild Skies]

Originally Posted by Jeff Sweeter

Do any of the offspring come back to that general area or just the 2 adults that have always been there.This is a neat story and pics.

I am not an ornithologist, nor do I try to play one on the internet. But, from what I’ve read, the entire family will stay together over the Winter and return to this very spot in our neighborhood in the Spring; at which point the adult pair will kick out last year's offspring and start a new family. Having said this, from our experience over the course of the past 12 years, the offspring of the year have roughly a 50:50 chance of living long enough to migrate south for the Winter. In addition, over these same 12 years I don’t recall more than the 2-bird breeding pair accompanied by last year’s young with them when they’ve arrived back in the Spring.

[Wild Skies]

THINGS CHANGE . . .

Just as the world of golf has changed, so has the modus operendi nesting habits of our neighborhood pair of Sandhills. In years past we'd typically see them parading through the neighborhood showing off that year's brood -- their young, always just a day or two old -- some year's with just one, other year's with two in tow. But, not this year. You see, for their entire typical nesting time -- from approximately mid-April through mid-May and up to the present date they've been AWOL. Nobody saw them. We feared the worst. That was, until today, when the two adult birds brought their ~3-4 week old colts out for a stroll.

. . . WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN?

Here they are today!

[Chris Pope]

...just made my wife's day!

[Wild Skies]

Mated pairs of Sandhill Cranes lead a challenging and often sorrowful life. And so it goes with our neighborhood pair of Sandhills. From our personal experience observed over the past 12 consecutive years, their success ratio of raising their young to the age of them migrating south in the fall to their wintering grounds is less than 50:50. This year's nesting produced two colts, as reported in my last post. But, about 3 weeks ago, one of their babies had gone missing, likely succumbing to one of the sharks existing in their world. So our pair of Sandhills have experienced the sorrow yet again and are now down to just one little one. We're crossing our fingers and hoping junior can make the journey south with its parents this fall.

[charlie cleveland]

I m hopeing too that the young one makes it south with it s parents...I feel over the loss of the other young one...charlie

[Wild Skies]

Originally Posted by charlie cleveland

I m hopeing too that the young one makes it south with it s parents...I feel over the loss of the other young one...charlie

You’re a thoughtful and compassionate man, Charlie. You have shown that time and time again through your posts on the forum.

[Wild Skies]

The way I see it . . . why pay a lawn servicing company good money to come in and aerate your lawn, when you can get 'er done for nuttin'!

Our family of Sandhill Cranes arrived back a week earlier than their norm -- quite expected as we've had one of the mildest Winters on record in terms of temps and snow. This year our neighborhood nesting pair returned on March 9th with a special surprise as it appears they've brought back their offspring from last year. I had mentioned earlier that from what I’ve read, the entire family will usually stay together over the Winter and return to this very spot in our neighborhood in the Spring; at which point the adult pair will kick out last year's offspring and start a new family. Having said this, from our experience over the course of the past 13 years, the offspring of the year have roughly a 50:50 chance of living long enough to migrate south for the Winter. In addition, over these same 13 years I don’t recall more than the 2-bird breeding pair accompanied by last year’s young with them when they’ve arrived back in the Spring. But, as you can see, things are a bit different this year and I expect the young one will be forced out in the near future. It's hard to tell which one is the young one???

Here's a pic of our lawn aeration team in action. They work cheap!

[mobirdhunter]

That is so cool!

[Wild Skies]

Since their return this Spring the Sandhills have been busy. They've voted last year's colt off the island that had migrated back with them this Spring. They've also successfully nested and now are out for breakfast and showing this year's young the ways of the world.