Sand Hill Cranes tend to return each year to the same spot to breed. They are also, like swans, monogamous pairs. We’ve had a pair in our wetlands for four years now. Each year they have one or two babies. All spring they are out walking around eating bugs and/or plants in the parts of the prairie that are being restored. So far, it’s been easy to see them. When the prairie comes in it will be more difficult.
Two years I’ve seen them on their “mating” day, when the male walks behind the female squawking loudly until she relents. They cover the large farm field behind our house and go all across our property. Later in the summer they will be out as a family with one or two young birds, if we’re lucky.
Today they were hanging out very near my garden. They made noise– a lot of noise, actually, and the squawks echoed off the windbreak of trees to the east of the property– but they didn’t fly off when I came closer. I got my camera and walked out quite close to take this photo. It’s as if they know me and that I, too, belong here.
Every year there’s a story of someone shooting a sand hill crane somewhere in Minnesota. It’s against the law and quite tragic. Each year I wait with great expectation for them to return, our largest birds.