Sand Hill Cranes flying into the sunrise.

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I think that this is a mated pair with their yearling of last spring. Note the ice in the water

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Looks like a family kerfuffle. According to those who should know the cranes generally hang out in groups of three on this direction of travel. one male, one female and their yearling offspring. this looked like a vigorous family discussion to us.. the orange/golden light just before sunrise made for some wonderful colors on these more or less grey birds. well,.. grey except for the startlingly red area on their heads.

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This is a thumbnail of a zoomable Gigapan that can be seen at : http://gigapan.org/gigapans/73645/
the image is composed of ninety or so frames shot with a 200 mm lens. coverage end to end is more than 200 ° The gigapan machine moves the camera in a precise pattern and triggers the shutter at the right times. Specialized stitching software put it all together and Photoshop CS5 added some necessary clarity. check it out there's lots to explore.

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morning grooming. they had just stepped out of the ice.

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Dancing, according to the bird book sometimes as a mating display . sometimes just for fun,

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Cranes preening before sunrise. You can see the thin layer of ice that formed round their legs ( they sleep balanced on just one foot) overnight. The brown on their feathers is mud that they apply cosmetically (who knows?) according to the bird book. This is probably a mated pair. Sand Hill Cranes mate for life.

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Family Kerfuffle. tweaked the color here.

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Looking west just before sunrise. note most of the cranes are still in the water ( on the right) and the water has frozen round their legs overnight.

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Afternoon exercise time

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Small group of Sand Hill Cranes just before sunrise. Most of them had spent the night balanced on one foot in the shallow water. note the ice that formed around their legs. they are beautiful birds but not graceful when extracting themselves from the ice.

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Sand Hill Cranes at the Monte Vista, Colorado, National Wildlife Refuge. Tens of thousands of these four foot tall birds stop here to rest on their way to Idaho for the summer. The mountain is 37 miles away.

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Group of cranes in flight.

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Just before sunrise

These guys are fast!

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Stretching out for a landing

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Power Stroke

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Flaps full, gear down. touch down in sight

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Yahoo! Here I go. These are NOT quiet birds.

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Sky in morning.

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