Juvenile and adult Sandhill Cranes, Heritage Ponds, Dubuque, Iowa
Despite spending some time with aviation photography during recent days I still had a chance to make some wildlife images as well. I saw a pair of Sandhill Cranes with their chick a month ago while riding my bicycle down in the valley. The best camera you have is always the one that is with you, and in this matter I just snapped a couple pictures with the camera in my phone. Last Friday I watched the cranes again and the juvenile on the left had grown quite a bit already. This time I was prepared and had the right gear in the car.
How do birds learn what to eat, where to find the food, and how to catch it? Although the young cranes begin to feed themselves during the second week, as you can see, this young bird was still not probing with its bill in the mud of the very shallow pond. It just watched one of the adults closely and waited patiently until mom or dad found something, like a tadpole or frog. The second photo shows the other adult, just briefly interrupting its intense search for food. The color of their heads tells the story about a hungry chick that still needs some support…
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head