Photo of the Day: Sandhill Crane on Blue Water Road

I’ve been slacking on my Photo of the Day stories, but this one’s a great way to get back on track. Tim and I were out driving around the neighborhood yesterday – as we often do, because we need to get out of the house and because we always find fascinating things or breaking news in our OMP travels – and we came across a large bird in a field on Blue Water Road. We looked it up later and discovered it’s a Sandhill Crane.

Has anyone else seen these amazing birds on the Old Mission Peninsula? It’s a first for us. In fact, I was so excited when I spotted it, I yelled at Tim to stop the car as I grabbed my camera and, no lie, fell out of the car (no cameras or Janes were harmed in the making of this photo).

It’s always frustrating when I can’t get a really clear shot of something because of my inadequate photography equipment (my photography buddies understand). But the next lens up in the telephoto department is about $1200, so yeah, that might be a while coming.

Still, I was able to grab a few ok shots of this handsome bird, who was by him or herself. I don’t know if this is a male or a female, and according to Cornell’s All About Birds, there’s not a huge difference between the male and the female. But I can tell you it stood about four or five feet tall and was a mix of brown, rust, cream and blueish colors. And it wandered around the field where we saw him like nobody’s business.

While this was going on, I was having a discussion on Facebook about birds on the OMP, and I teased that I’d scored a major coup with the Birdwatchers Club of OMP – and this is it!

And by the way, a Birdwatchers Club of OMP isn’t a bad idea! I don’t have a ton of time to start something new, but maybe we’ll just ponder it and keep telling each other about all the cool birds we see on the Peninsula.

If you’ve seen a Sandhill Crane on the Old Mission Peninsula, tell us in the comments section at the bottom of this story. Here are a few more photos of this magnificent bird.