Ten Thousand Cranes

Photographers braving the cold at the Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area in Medaryville, Indiana taking photographs of the thousands and thousands of Greater Sandhill Cranes that gather on a field during their fall migration to warmer climes. On Nov. 18, the count was 14,158 cranes.

Thousands of sandhill cranes flying just before sunset into a field (called Goose Pasture) in the Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area in Medaryville, IN

The cranes can be best seen at the wildlife area from late September through December and they peak in mid-November. I went there yesterday just before sunset … it was spectacular.

Greater Sandhill Cranes on Goose Pasture

From the Indiana DNR website:

Best times to see the cranes -

Sunrise – Gigantic flocks rise and fly out of roosting marshes to Goose Pasture. The cranes socialize in the pasture for awhile before flying out to feed in area fields and swamps.

Sunset – Beginning about one hour before sunset, flocks of cranes kite into Goose Pasture from all directions. They gab and socialize again before returning to roosting marshes at dusk.

Goose Pasture observation deck

The crane spectacle is best seen at the Goose Pasture Viewing Area. Resting marshes are closed to the public. During the day, cranes are often spotted feeding and dancing in nearby harvested farm fields.

Bye bye !

This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 3:00 pm. It is filed under Birding, Men With Big Equipment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.