sandhill crane

My husband (the pirate ) and I saw these amazingly large birds when we went to visit my dad at the hospital last night. My dad is alright and will be out of the hospital soon . . . some testing and things related to the cancer he is fighting. Since moving to Florida, neither Steven or I had seen Sandhill cranes before. We had to stop to watch them for a minute and take a few photos. The cranes themselves were very busy eating something in the grass and did not even seem to notice us. View these 2 birds larger by clicking here.

The Sandhill crane is on the endangered species list, at least the Florida Sandhill crane is. from Wikipedia: The Florida Sandhill Crane is far less common, with some 5,000 individuals remaining. They are most threatened by habitat destruction and probably depend on human management in the long run. In Florida, it is protected, and if killed, carries a very high monetary penalty. This subspecies is under protection of state and federal law at this time. Since the loss of habitat is a somewhat controllable cause of a declining population, habitat preservation is a valuable management measure. The current outlook for the Florida sandhill crane, if it can be maintained on the protected habitats, is good.

I have another photo of two of the birds we saw here for you to see. Such red feathers on their heads! I fooled around with my photos in elements but like this one here the best.