Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Two sandhill cranes take to the air on a foggy morning.
Most often when I see these birds in flight they are in somewhat larger groups, especially during the daily fly-in and fly-out events. Then they may fly in long lines, either side by side or beak to tail. By comparison to some of the other birds of similar size, they usually have a fairly smooth and steady sort of flight — with the exception of absolutely manic moves that they sometimes make when they arrive in the evening, with some birds seemingly dropping suddenly out of the sky and skidding off in odd directions.
This pair was almost heading straight toward me, and at a fairly low altitude. This is a bit unusual, as that groups that are about to fly over me typically divert at the last minute and pass to one side or the other. (I’d guess that out of all the groups that look like they will fly right over me, no more than one our of twenty actually do.) One thing I enjoy about this photograph is that you can see the birds in two different ways — either as a pair of separate individuals or as a striking combined x-shaped pattern.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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