The Awakening

Doesn't matter whether it's the Platte River or Bosque del Apache where this was taken, the Sandhill cranes seek shallow water for roosting over night.

I've read that throughout the night, they keep a wary eye open for predators. I've also read that they sleep in shallow water so they can hear the splashing of predators and escape, just in the nick of time.

After they first stir in the morning, the Cranes dig for snails and larva before taking flight to the fields of leftover corn.

Somewhere I read that the rusty and somewhat ratty appearance of the feathers occurs when the cranes are mating; you can observe the rusty feather splotches on many of the roosting cranes.

This image was taken at 7:19 AM, as the sun was beginning to rise and the cranes were beginning to stir.

D700
f/4 500mm lens
Matrix Metering
Manual Exposure
f/8
ISO 800
1/1000s
Tripod

C&C welcome.



Carol