Rib Eye of the Sky - Sandhill crane in Sierra County California

by Mike Lee

Title

Rib Eye of the Sky - Sandhill crane in Sierra County California

Artist

Mike Lee

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

I was watching a pair of sandhill cranes that were hanging out alongside the marsh at Kyburz Flat in Sierra County, California, when my wife and I were camping there. This bird kept approaching the two I was watching. When this happened, the pair on the ground would make all sorts of racket, which would make it veer off and go elsewhere for a bit. While this is clearly an adult bird, I wonder if it wasn’t their colt from the prior year that still hadn't gotten the message it was weaned.

In any event, on this late afternoon, I was trying to stay in the sun to obscure myself from view of the birds on the ground when this one approached them until they complained at it and it made a turn directly into that sun. It ended up landing some distance behind me, but for a moment I thought it may land ON me.

About the title: In some places in the USA where sandhill crane populations are deemed sufficient to support it, some hunting of them is allowed. I’m told they are delicious table fare, and “rib eye of the sky” is a common term used by bird hunters to describe them. Here in California, they can’t be hunted and I am not a hunter anyway, so I’ve not had the opportunity to determine whether or not they’re worthy of the name.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘦 (𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴) 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵—𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳-𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳. 𝘈 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥.

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May 27th, 2025

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