Nigel and I headed out today in search of Sandhill Cranes. We stopped at a roadside marsh were previously sandhill cranes were spotted nesting. As we wandered the area in search of them we came across a Killdeer. This little bird tried hard to distract us by playing wounded – something it’s known to do when a nest is nearby.

Killdeer

Killdeer

We didn’t want to stress it out so we hopped back in the car and drove to Luther Marsh where both of us had encountered the sandhill cranes before. And lo and behold we found two pair wandering the fields just outside the park.

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

Of course they were both too far away to get a great shot and they can blend so well into the landscape making them hard to find through the viewfinder. It didn’t look like either pair was going to get any closer so we packed it up for the day.