Shall We Dance? © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Two sandhill cranes begin their dance ritual.
From what I’ve read and observed, the striking “dancing” behavior of sandhill cranes is often (but not necessarily always?) part of a mating ritual. If you watch a large flock of the birds — or are lucky when viewing a smaller group, as I was here — you will quickly spot this behavior as it stands out from the other, largely passive behavior of the birds. (They mostly appear to either stand there, eat, or walk slowly.) A couple of birds approach one another, wings open up, and they hop straight up into the air.
When I photographed this group I was near a well-known crane observation location in California’s Central Valley. (Some of those are fine places to see these magnificent birds, especially if they are new to you.) However, I had moved away from that spot and was out looking for birds elsewhere when I came upon a group that was standing in the remnants of a field whose crops had been knocked down. I stopped, stood behind my car so as to be less likely to disturb the birds, and began watching and photographing.
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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