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Nov 27, 2011

Annual migration around 1/2 million birds

                                                                                                                                                                         Photo by Marvin DeJong/AP
WSandhill CraneW
Grus canadensis

The terrific composition in this exemplary photograph of Sandhill Cranes, by Marvin DeJong, may be deliberate execution or pure luck.   In either case, it is a picture with which the photographer must be extremely satisfied.   It was shot at a refuge near Socorro, New Mexico, where migrating birds are expected in record numbers this winter because of drought in neighbouring Texas.   Wikipedia says: "The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest.  This is the most important stopover area for the Lesser Sandhill Crane...with up to 450,000 of these birds migrating through annually".   Below is a photo I took, three months ago, of two Sandhill Cranes near Luther Marsh, in Southern Ontario.   Many Sandhills migrate through  Ontario but in nowhere near the numbers as in the U.S. midwest.
                                                                                                                                                                                 Photo by BarrytheBirder
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

1 comment:

Mpho Phiri said...

Hi Barry,
This is awesome. One can wonder what will be the ultimate outcome as the world sits down on climate change issues down here in South Africa. As birders, migration of birds plays an important role and as climate changes, so are are migratory patterns of birds like the lovely cranes. Thanx for sharing.