Greater Sandhill Crane, Upper Mississippi Valley, Green Island, Iowa
It was a busy weekend, mainly with other things than photography, but today I managed to make a trip down south to Green Island. I was greeted with a ”dance” from a pair of Sandhill Cranes. They mate for life but have a dance-like performance to maintain their relationship.
During this performance one may throw plant matter with mud or sticks in the air. If you look closely at the photo above, you may see a branch flinged by the crane, visible to the right of the bird’s head. It is pretty intense, fast, and a lot of fun to watch and photograph. I knew the distance to the Sandhill Cranes would require to put the 1.4 teleconverter between the lens and camera. I didn’t have enough time to do this and shot all images in full frame mode (FX), with the intend in mind to crop the images in post processing.
It all ended suddenly. The pair of Sandhill Cranes stood for a moment motionless side by side and then moved on feeding and foraging in the shallow parts of the wetlands.
Watching a wildlife performance like this is very exciting but the best medicine to detach from the ordinary things in life for a moment… Can you agree?