Cranes Complaining - Lassen County California

by Mike Lee

Title

Cranes Complaining - Lassen County California

Artist

Mike Lee

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

In the spring of 2025 I’ve been on a quest to get photos and video of Sandhill Cranes doing their unique mating dance. My wife and I headed to the Honey Lake Wildlife Area near our Lassen County California home one morning to get some exercise and continue that quest. We saw no dancers but we saw a dozen or more total cranes including at least 3 pairs. This was the first pair we spotted while the light was still pretty sweet in the fairly early morning. I thought it was nice of them to hang out in a marshy area with lots of grasses and reeds that were in a good contrasting color. I sort of worked my way toward them, grabbing what I could in increments, a few feet at a time, in case they got tired of me and flew off. In my experience they’re guys aren't as skittish as many other birds and animals out there. It was actually sort of amusing. They clearly knew I was there as there's not really anywhere I could have hidden myself. Each time I moved closer they “yelled” at me a bit (their calls carry for miles and I’ve never heard them referred to as songbirds). Then I'd kneel down, they'd decide I wasn't a threat, and they’d carry on about their business. This frame is just after one of those “kneel-downs” but just before the “carry on about their business” part at the closest point I went to them (560mm focal length and a 50% crop so I was still giving them a good bit of distance). I think the bird with the outstretched wings is the male and he got a little extra animated with me at this juncture. For those who haven't spent much time in close proximity to these guys, their wingspan can approach 7 feet so this guy stretching them out was awesome to see.

𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘻𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘈 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘢.

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March 9th, 2025

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