Friday, May 14, 2010

Sandhill Crane On Nest...




While driving through Viera wetlands we spotted this Sandhill Crane sitting on a nest. Going past this spot about 20 times the bird was always setting on the nest, but my very last trip past the area proved different. For a change the Crane was standing and making some adjustments to the nest. If you look close you can see two eggs in the nest. The photographs do not do justice to the size of these birds their nest or the eggs, they are quite large. With the male and females looking the same and both the males and the females tending to the nest during the day it is difficult to tell if this is a male or female. At night only the female tends to the nest. The eggs generally take 28 to 32 days to hatch.

6 comments:

Sparky said...

Sorry I haven't commented all week. Was busy here at work testing sprinklers and fire pumps. Like all the pictures of the birds and really like the ones of the turtle. So how many different birds did you see on your trip?

EG CameraGirl said...

Those photos are wonderful, Brad. And to think she was OK with you being there. Amazing.

DeniseinVA said...

Hi Brad, great photos of the Sandhill Crane and its nest. Interesting info too, thank you.

Coy Hill said...

I agree Brad, these are very large impressive birds. I like how you captured this bird nesting and photographed it perfectly.

Unknown said...

Nice captures!

Peggy said...

These are cool! I've never seen this, although there is a resident pair, but they can find spots to nest that humans will never find!