Saturday, October 26, 2013

Crane Family

















One of the neat things we really noticed this year during our visit to Crex Meadows was the seemingly high number of young cranes (called colts).  Last year we didn't really notice them but the conditions were not good for visibility either thanks to heavy fog cover.  This year we noticed a lot of them.  They are easy to tell apart from the adults because their heads are brown and haven't yet developed the distinctive red patch that is found on the adults.  They are also, of course, quite a bit smaller than the adults.  We saw several family groups of three, with two adults and one colt.  I don't remember seeing any groups of four, with two colts, but it sure was neat watching these family groups stick together and watch out for each other.  In this picture you can see the colt on the left, standing partially behind one of the adults. 

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