Dawn Perry
City Crane
Today's image is titled City Crane and was photographed by Dawn Perry.
Taken on Aug. 20, this photo shows a Sandhill crane standing near an office building in Middleton. "I chased these birds for hours in the rain," writes Perry in the caption, noting that there were two adults and one juvenile walking around an office park. She also captured a reported by naturalist Susan Simonson in early June:
I had heard from several visitors that there was at least one young crane around, but I hadn't seen it so far. The cranes moved casually but were not quite as accommodating as the turkeys in terms of lingering for photo ops, perhaps because of the young crane with them. Luckily, they moved slowly enough to allow for several of the camera-wielding visitors to get closer for pictures.
Adult sandhill cranes are large, slender gray birds, with a distinctive bustle of feathers that can be seen from a distance. At the Arboretum you can usually get close enough to see the splash of red on their heads as well. The young crane was a uniform brown color and crossed the parking lot shepherded between the two adults.
This is the latest entry of Madison Snaps: photos of Madison-area events and locations. The Isthmus group photo pool is the primary source for Madison Snaps, which are published here with the permission of individual contributors. If you are interested in having your photo eligible for Madison Snaps, please respond to the posting on the Flickr group page, or send a message. There is no compensation for Madison Snaps photos, which are © to the respective photographers.
