cranes – Wildlife In Nature

Ancient Birds

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Gary R. Soper

A small flock of Sandhill cranes appear to fly with little effort as they head to some corn stubble in a field just to the east where more cranes have gathered.

December 5, 2022 – My annual trip to Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area in Indiana to experience the Sandhill cranes in large numbers, a late autumn migration spectacle, did not disappoint. Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area is a staging area for the southbound cranes. And while thousands will have moved on to the southern United States by the end of December, there will still be hundreds overwintering in the area.
The DNR’s estimated count of Sandhill cranes posted on the park’s website was around 31,000 at the end of November. While many cranes could be viewed and photographed at the Sandhill Crane observation area inside the park from the observation platform, cranes could also be found socializing and resting and feeding in large flocks in the agricultural fields and along large ditches in the surrounding countryside.

The loud bugle calls described by some as a “kar-r-r-r-o-o-o” made by the cranes fill the air echoing a feeling of nostalgia for days long gone as small flocks cast shadows as they fly low over the large numbers of cranes resting in grassy waterways and the harvested fields. Based on the fossil record, the spring and fall migrations of the Sandhill crane have been occurring in one form or another for millions of years across the North American continent. Observing the large flocks of these great gray birds flying and vocalizing across an autumn sky is like looking through a window to another time in the distant past; it becomes easy to isolate that feeling, if only for a moment. Spending just a day with the great flocks of Sandhill cranes, it becomes easy to understand how and why the crane is part of the indigenous people’s culture to this day.

Long before the Europeans stepped foot on this continent, the Sandhill crane was part of the stories and legends of the indigenous. The Eastern Sandhill cranes are considered an important totem to the native people of the Great Lakes region. The crane represents leadership, independence, and good fortune. Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area is about 53 miles east of Kankakee as the crane flies and can be a wonderful day trip and learning experience for families. Don’t forget to bring binoculars and a camera, pack a lunch and make a day of it, stay safe and enjoy. For more information about the cranes, visit the Indiana DNR’s website. https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/properties/jasper-pulaski-fwa/sandhill-cranes/

Jumping into the air with its five-foot wings spread wide, the crane seems to be trying to entice the other crane to join in a dance.

Sandhill Cranes

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Gary R. Soper

November 12, 2020 – It’s that time of year when those amazing bugling and rattling sounds from thousands of Sandhill cranes echo across the countryside of Northern Indiana at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area just north of Medaryville, a little over an hour east of Kankakee. Jasper-Pulaski FWA is a great place to witness the fall migration of the Sandhill cranes where they can easily and safely be viewed from the parking lot at the Goose Pasture viewing area or from the nearby viewing platform. As more cranes arrive and numbers continue to grow, so do visitors who want to experience that autumnal spectacle of nature that can quite easily overwhelm the senses with the sights and sounds that have occurred each fall across the great Midwestern prairies for thousands of years. Mid-November is considered the peak time for highest numbers of cranes, with a record number topping 30,000. By mid-December, many will have moved further south, but it’s no secret that there is a healthy winter population of cranes that remain in the general area. Even during the harshest of winters, cranes can be found in the bean and corn stubble foraging. Currently during the fall after leaving the roosting areas for the day, the cranes can be found feeding, socializing, and resting in the harvested agricultural fields and on the grassy areas along the big drainage ditches. Sunrise and sunset are great times to experience large flocks leaving the roosting marshes in the morning and gathering at the Goose Pasture, or again after a day of feeding in the agricultural fields, returning about an hour before sunset in large numbers. There is nothing more surreal than viewing Sandhill cranes in large numbers as far as the eye can see, stretching out across a rolling landscape and looking more like herds of ice-age animals than flocks of birds. It is truly an amazing sight.

Lying down in the soft grass on a sunny morning some Sandhill cranes look to be enjoying the mild November weather.

Concentrations of Sandhill Cranes

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

Sandhill Cranes

March 2, 2017 – Concentrations of Sandhill Cranes dot the gentle sloping meadows along the waterways of the fallow winter fields in Northern Indiana. Many hundreds of these cranes can also be seen around wet spots of ponding water socializing and foraging for food in Jasper and Pulaski counties. The spring migration has began and the rattling and honking sounds of these travelers echoes today as it must have for thousands of years. The sudden increase in the volume of a dramatic chatter in the cranes vocalization draws the eye towards the jumping and bowing birds as their elegant dance is reaffirming life partners or a potential mate for the new generations of mature single birds. Throughout time the crane has had a place in myth and story telling, Native Americans tell stories emphasizing the slyness of the crane, others see the cranes as good luck or even a sign of fertility and death as part of the lore. To watch these cranes, with their beaks pointed straight up to the sky or heads and necks bent back or low to the ground the sudden twisting and twirling bodies and stamping feet with feathers spread out in their dance performance, one truly sees the borrowed from nature positions used in ballet or the stances used in martial arts or Yoga. Soon these birds will continue their trips to points north where another brooding season begins, nesting amongst the cattails and sedges with a clutch of 1 to 3 eggs. In late summer early fall the migration once again will bring the cranes back to Jasper and Pulaski counties where they will rest and feed with flocks that can grow to as much as 25,000. By early December they will have all headed farther south to a less hostile environment for the winter where the birds will enjoy food and rest until the days start to grow longer and the spring dance of the Sandhill Crane calls once more as the cycle continues.

Sandhill Cranes