[Birdtalk] Indiana Crane Spectacle

[Tim Avery]

I thought I would share this as it is interesting.  I guess one could call
Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area, the Bosque del Apache of the (eastern)
midwest.  Late each fall 10's of 1000's of Sandhill Cranes pass through this
small willife management area in norther central Indiana.  The highlight is
every morning and every evening when all the birds gather in one field before
departing to feed sites during the day and roost sites during the night.  This
past week numbers were peaking with nearly 20,000 birds present.  I spent the
better part of Thanksgiving Day and last night at JP photographing these
amazing birds.  However, besides the thousands of SACR, the highlight for many
birder's is the Whooping Crane's that pass through each fall as well.  This
year JP has had several birds, including two lingereing birds.  On Thanksgiving
Day I was lucky enough to be one of 3 people present as a female Whooper
(nicknamed "Dirtball") made her way to within 150 feet of the viewing platform.
 Being that close to a Whopping Crane dwarfed the spectacle of 20,000
Sandhill's and made for a memorable trip.

Whooping Crane Pictures and Sandhill pictures
http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/1123.html

And yet another highlight of the weekend (or pre-weekend I guess), was finding a
Monk Parakeet nest/roost yesterday and being able to watch these comical birds
for about an hour.

More Sandhill pictures and Monk Parakeets
http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/1124.html

Now hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some shots of Short-eared Owls in
southern Indiana!

Good Birding

Tim
Indianapolis, IN and Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.timaverybirding.com
http://www.birdtography.com