Often when someone
says they saw a crane, what they actually saw was an egret or a
heron. And all are often found around water. But herons and egrets
are typically more solitary. Oh, you might see several at the same
place, but usually not too close together. And cranes come in
flocks.
Odd thing that is
different about cranes and egrets or herons is their feet. Cranes
only have three toes, all pointed the same direction, so they can't
grip a tree branch like most birds, including herons and egrets. So
cranes cannot seek the relative safety of the trees, so have to spend
their nights in water, shallow enough to wade in, like shallow lakes,
ponds, or slow moving rivers. Which limits where they can be found.
Around here there's
only one species of crane, the Sandhill Crane. Now I haven't seen any
around Tehachapi (which doesn't say it couldn't happen, just that I
haven't see any). But they can easily be found, not too far away this
time of year, down in the San Joaquin Valley.
I recently saw some
down at the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge. Which is part of the
area that had been the large lake that had been in the Valley before
it was drained for agriculture. So Sandhill Cranes have been coming
to the area for a long time. Though now the water is supplied by
pumping from wells. And given the drought, there's not much water
there right now.
Though it's still
enough to attract the cranes. Thousands of them. The people of the
Fish and Wildlife service estimated that there had been thousands
there in those shallow ponds that morning. But we were they just
before sunset, when the cranes would be coming back to spend the
night.
And return they
did. Though not all at once. They came in in small family groups or
small flocks. And they came in noisily. Calling as they came in and
landed in the ponds. I'm not sure how many came in before it got too
dark to see, but there were hundreds at least. And you could still
hear them calling invisibly in the dark sky long after they could no
longer be seen.
These cranes will
be around the area until spring and the time for them to head back
north to breed. But few people will seek them out. Find the last
places that still welcome the cranes. And take the time to watch, and
listen to them, fly in seeking safety. For as long as we leave them
space in our world.
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