This species of bird has been around on the planet for about 2.5 million years, according to the fossil record.
I shot these pics on zoom from the car; one does not mess with sandhill cranes, as even when they're not nesting they can be very aggressive.
This is probably the third or forth brood this pair hatches; we've seen them before with youngsters a couple of times over the years.
Fortunately this pasture is fenced off to keep any gawkers from getting too close to Mama.
Her mate is also standing guard 24/7. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll get some pics of the babies. Final bit of trivia: sandhill crane babies are called colts, like horses. :)
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We have several pairs of Sandhill Cranes around our house because we're surrounded by small lakes. When we first moved here, we had a pair with their baby who was by that time, big enough to spread his wings, fly over our house. When they got near the road, the baby dipped and someone just hit it and kept driving. I ran to the end of the driveway and held it as it died. I couldn't do anything to help it, its neck was broken. I was devastated. I love seeing them in our yard, but it always scares me a bit too. They're beautiful birds though and, at least here, not very aggressive at all though they've broken a lot of side view mirrors when they see their reflection.
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