{"id":15842,"date":"2014-09-16T05:31:40","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T11:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15842"},"modified":"2026-04-15T15:11:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:11:49","slug":"a-pair-of-sandhill-cranes-in-the-centennial-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/16\/a-pair-of-sandhill-cranes-in-the-centennial-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Pair of Sandhill Cranes in the Centennial Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was delighted to find quite a few Sandhill Cranes in the Centennial Valley of Montana\u00a0last week and this pair was close enough to photograph.<\/p>\n

\"MatedMated pair of Sandhill Cranes – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The male is nearly finished molting and has become mostly gray compared to the reddish color they have during breeding season when they stain their feathers<\/a><\/span> with soil.<\/p>\n

\"CallingCalling male Sandhill Crane – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

During my time in the Centennial Valley\u00a0I saw several flocks ranging from 10 to 26 individuals.<\/p>\n

It is nearing the time when the Sandhill Cranes will migrate south for the winter and perhaps this pair will pass through Utah on their way to their wintering grounds.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Sandhill Crane\u00a0– Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The female appeared more stained than the male but she is no where near as red as she would have been even a month ago. I was disappointed that this pair did not have young with them, they may have lost their chicks due to a cold snap\u00a0during the incubation period or lost the chicks to predation.<\/p>\n

Young sandhills generally stay with their parent for around 328 days and if this pair’s young had survived they would have been nearby.<\/p>\n

\"SandhillSandhill Crane pair calling\u00a0– Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This image shows the difference in the cranes stained plumage well I think though I am not sure why the female shows more of the reddish stain than the male.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Sandhill Crane behavior\u00a0– Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The male did some dancing, jumping and calling while I photographed him. I am not sure though if that was because of our presence or if it was to maintain the pair bond.<\/p>\n

\"DancingDancing male Sandhill Crane\u00a0– Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have never been to the Centennial Valley of Montana where I didn’t see or hear Sandhill Cranes and\u00a0for me it would be very strange to be in the valley when the cranes aren’t there.<\/p>\n

Any day now though they will leave the valley until early next spring when their calls will once again trumpet in the valley.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Sandhill Crane photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was delighted to find quite a few Sandhill Cranes in the Centennial Valley of Montana last week and this pair was close enough to photograph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,608,450],"tags":[4004,4259,4072,3823,3132,4187,779,4070,1124,4109,4062,2240,2313,2139,2662,4057,4518,2315,5434,4095],"class_list":["post-15842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-sandhill-cranes","tag-adult","tag-antigone-canadensis","tag-calling","tag-crane","tag-cranes","tag-dancing-2","tag-displaying","tag-female","tag-field","tag-grasses","tag-male","tag-mated-pair","tag-molting","tag-pair","tag-pair-bond","tag-sagebrush","tag-sandhill-crane","tag-summer-3","tag-valley","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t