Sandhill Crane [Grus canadensis] ~ 2017 #31

This bird right here is ONE of the reasons I love to go to Reifel. There’s a few Sandhills that have taken up residence here, and they’ve become pretty accustomed to people. You can pretty much walk amongst these majestic birds.

Just within the past few years Sandhills have been hanging out around Burnaby Lake as well. This picture above is from Burnaby Lake, where this Sandhill seems to be watching a parade of Coots. In 2015 a pair of Sandhills did have a baby (a colt) at Burnaby Lake (a first I believe) but unfortunately it did not survive very long. I posted a few pictures from that time (click links): Sandhill Crane colt / Walk this way / RIP little sandhill

The picture below was from last year at Reifel, where as Sandhill appeared to have build a nest in the middle of the ponds. We just went to Reifel recently (I still have yet to go through my pics), but no luck in seeing any nests or “colts” this year.