{"id":65625,"date":"2020-02-26T05:14:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T12:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=65625"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T18:23:13","slug":"my-first-of-year-sandhill-crane-sightings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/26\/my-first-of-year-sandhill-crane-sightings\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Of Year Sandhill Crane Sightings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SandhillSandhill Crane and wildflowers \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed Northern Harriers, Song Sparrows, Black-crowned Night Herons, Great Blue Herons, Red-winged Blackbirds,\u00a0 Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Cinnamon Teals, Green-winged Teals, and flocks of Canada Geese yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n

The sky was clear, the sun was shining and although the temps were low early on the day held the promise of being warmer, almost spring-like.<\/p>\n

And then I heard the calls of a pair of Sandhill Cranes<\/span><\/a>, the sound I have waited all winter long to hear again. I couldn’t see the cranes right then but I knew that they weren’t too far away.<\/p>\n

The first Sandhill Cranes I spotted this year I saw three days ago near the Visitor Center of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. That pair of cranes were in flight but they weren’t calling.<\/p>\n

When I stopped to photograph some immature Black-crowned Night Herons yesterday morning I heard the calls of the Sandhill Cranes again and off in the distance I spotted the two cranes in flight. I took a few crappy documentary images of them but the pair didn’t fly in close enough for decent photos.<\/p>\n

Since I couldn’t get any high quality images of the pair of Sandhills Cranes I saw yesterday I decided I wanted to share this photo of a Sandhill Crane I took in June of 2015 in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana because the wet meadow and wildflowers are so green. Springy.<\/p>\n

I was delighted to hear the Sandhill Cranes calling yesterday. Their bugling calls touch me and remind me that I am every bit a part of nature as the cranes are.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> 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 hear the Sandhill Cranes calling yesterday. Their bugling calls touch me and remind me that I am every bit a part of nature as the cranes are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,450],"tags":[4004,4259,3891,2304,3823,3132,7176,4518,5404,165,5434,5271,4307],"class_list":["post-65625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-sandhill-cranes","tag-adult","tag-antigone-canadensis","tag-blue-flag-iris","tag-calls","tag-crane","tag-cranes","tag-meadow","tag-sandhill-crane","tag-sighting","tag-spring","tag-valley","tag-wet-meadow","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-wildflowers-wet-meadow-mia-mcpherson-5317.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-h4t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/15\/a-field-of-wildflowers-and-a-sandhill-crane-in-the-centennial-valley\/","url_meta":{"origin":65625,"position":0},"title":"Field of Wildflowers and a Sandhill Crane in the Centennial Valley","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I always think of Sandhill Cranes whenever my thoughts drift to the Centennial Valley of Montana where I always hear their calls, see them in the fields or in flight over the marshes.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sandhill Crane in a field of wildflowers, Centennial Valley in Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-flowers-mia-mcpherson-5322.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-flowers-mia-mcpherson-5322.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-flowers-mia-mcpherson-5322.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-flowers-mia-mcpherson-5322.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115246,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/18\/kamas-valley-sandhill-crane-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":65625,"position":1},"title":"Kamas Valley Sandhill Crane Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, on the way to the Uinta Mountains, April Olson and I looked for birds in the Kamas Valley. That's where I took these Sandhill Crane photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Sandhill Crane in grassy field in Kamas Valley, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sandhill-crane-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8104.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sandhill-crane-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8104.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sandhill-crane-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8104.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sandhill-crane-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8104.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":152404,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/17\/memories-of-sandhill-cranes-in-the-kamas-valley\/","url_meta":{"origin":65625,"position":2},"title":"Memories Of Sandhill Cranes In The Kamas Valley","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On this day two years ago, April Olson rode with me to the Kamas Valley of Utah, where we photographed a flock of Sandhill Cranes getting ready for fall migration.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kamas Valley Sandhill Cranes getting ready for migration, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pre-migration-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8053.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pre-migration-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8053.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pre-migration-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8053.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pre-migration-kamas-mia-mcpherson-8053.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19197,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/29\/dreaming-of-sandhill-cranes\/","url_meta":{"origin":65625,"position":3},"title":"Dreaming of Sandhill Cranes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night I only had dreams about Sandhill Cranes but it won't be long before I will be seeing and hearing them for real. I can barely wait.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling male Sandhill Crane, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-calling-mia-mcpherson-6147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-calling-mia-mcpherson-6147.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-calling-mia-mcpherson-6147.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-calling-mia-mcpherson-6147.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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