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The team was bivouacked off Thompson Bay most of Saturday, enjoying the reasonably nice weather and the nearby Tundra Swans. Suddenly, what flies high overhead but a Sandhill Crane! Wow wow wow!!! So unusual didn’t even know what to think about it at first, e.g., “Mutant swan?”
We mostly associate Sandhill Cranes with places like Florida, so to see one at Presque Isle State Park in late winter was rather mind blowing.
Pictures follow:
It was flying east to west and soon out of sight over inland Presque Isle State Park. No other cranes sighted out in the bay or elsewhere.
[Editor’s note: Bird identification tip – Cranes, like Geese and Swans, fly with necks straight and outstretched. Herons (e.g., Great Blue Heron) fly with coiled or curved necks. See Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America: Second Edition. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.]
[Editor’s note: The Sibley guides are BirdingPI.com’s preferred field guides. Lots of excellent content and great for bird identification.
https://www.amazon.com/Sibley-Field-Guide-Eastern-America/dp/0307957918/. No affiliation with Amazon or David Allen Sibley.]