Sandhill Crane Migration

I spent the weekend in Monte Vista photographing the Sandhill Crane migration and it was a blast! This was the first time I have been there and it was an amazing sight. I was told (not sure how accurate this was) the count was 23,000 birds. I also rented a 600mm for the trip. Thanks to a few folks for telling me where the best place was to capture these birds, it made a huge difference. I will be posting some others over in the avian gallery.

Thanks,
Kurt

Dancers - this bird is not landing from flight. Sandhill cranes jump very high and dance regularly for courtship as wellas other reasons.

Discussions

Mood Shot

Kurt...first and the third are amazing. I am not good at bird photography but these are well done...regards, Rajeev

Wow, I bet it was quite amazing seeing 23,000 +/- cranes, probably left you speechless. I really like the in-flight silhoutted image in this series, and the first one too. Great stuff Kurt!.

Very nice job with the images. I like the comps in all of them. #2 has too busy of a bg for my taste. <edit> To me the subject of the image, the bird landing, is blending in with the birds in background. For example, what is tail and what is background bird? I think the subject looses some separation due to this. </edit> As well, the The light in 1 and 4 is excellent and it is difficult to pick a favorite. But these must be the rejects if you are posting others in the avian section.

I like 'em all, but the last two are my favorites.
The 4th especially, but there's something strange happening in the lower left corner that's easy to fix should you choose.

Very nice shots, all of them! I really like the third, with the "conversation" between the birds.

I actually like #2 a lot. It is busy but it's part of nature and it is an excellent example of the natural environment of the animal, I mean you were shooting a very large group of migratory birds. I doubt Art Wolfe was complaining when shooting the Pink Flamingoes that some birds were getting into the frame and messing up the comp And you do have some excellent examples of the birds in isolation. Great job!

Great series of images Kurt, thanks for sharing.

Nice set Kurt. Watching those Sandhills interact is is always fun.

Nice work! Sandhills are addictive

Kurt, thanks for sharing your Sandhill Crane shots. I like them all. Agree with comments on #2. Consider the shot within by cropping close on the landing crane. Save the original as it tells the story. Hope you have time to follow them to the Platte near Kearney, NE.

Bill Brennan

Beautiful images! Love the light and comp in the first one. I like the silhouette flight image as well.

Kurt, Very nice images. I love the image of the birds flying with that gorgeous light. But I like them all. When I was shooting the dunes last week I tried shooting sandhill cranes with no luck at all. I need to look into a 600mm lens and a window mount to steady the camera. Great work! Thanks for the inspiration.

My fav is #2, it is the most unique of the 4 posted and shows important mating behavior which is always something editors look for.