p.1 #1 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
These are terrible shots, but I learned something from them. I thought I knew that sandhill cranes always fly with their legs out behind them. Not so; they do whatever strikes their fancy at the time. Flipping through the outtakes from a recent trip I saw sandies missing a leg or two... and then I figured out what they were doing. No glorious light in these shots, sorry, but if you want to win at Socorro Springs Trivia Night, take a look.
Mark
p.1 #5 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
That's too cool Mark. I've said before, to you, that dragging a camera around looking at birds has done a lot to open my eyes about birds and their behavior - I love it
Dec 09, 2012 at 08:10 PM
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p.1 #6 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
Nicely presented behaviorals Mark, I'll be watching for this now
p.1 #8 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
KCollett wrote:
I always though they were leg trailers, so something learned today.
Yup, me too -- I've watched a bunch of sandhill cranes in the past but never caught on to this before.
p.1 #10 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
jwestfall wrote:
That's too cool Mark. I've said before, to you, that dragging a camera around looking at birds has done a lot to open my eyes about birds and their behavior - I love it
You're right, Jim -- looking back at photos shows me a lot that I just don't see in real time.
p.1 #12 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
Now that is weird and new to me!
I like them with the trailing legs
I thought your first shot was showing 'stumpy' that might have had some bad fortune? Now I see the folded up landing gear, very cool Mark thanks for sharing this.
p.1 #13 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
Karl Witt wrote:
Now that is weird and new to me!
I like them with the trailing legs
I thought your first shot was showing 'stumpy' that might have had some bad fortune? Now I see the folded up landing gear, very cool Mark thanks for sharing this.
Karl
Karl, I saw a stumpy in a pond north of BdA recently. He (she?) was getting around OK but it must be tricky. But this tuck-em-up-in-flight business was new to me. Reviewing my shots there was a lot of it, not just one oddball individual.
p.1 #16 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
Well seen behavior, Mark AFAIK only the ladies tuck to perfection...they're also
twice as talkative and run a little smaller than the guys. Kinda like the way WE roll
p.1 #19 · Sandy-in-flight leg behavior (for crane nerds only!!!)
trenchmonkey wrote:
Well seen behavior, Mark AFAIK only the ladies tuck to perfection...they're also
twice as talkative and run a little smaller than the guys. Kinda like the way WE roll
Will -- I didn't know that about the girls. About the rest of it, I'm sure I have no comment at all.
AFAIK only the ladies tuck to perfection...they're also 
and run a little smaller than the guys. Kinda like the way WE roll 
