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Borrego Springs, CA

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The tale of Crossbill continues…

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.  Or maybe, life in the natural world rivals manmade soap operas.  Take the saga of Crossbill for instance.  She is a 10-12 year old female Mississippi sandhill crane with a disability; her bill is malformed.  For ten years, she had no mate.  She spent her time traveling around with a normal pair of sandhills.  It was thought that because of her crossed bill, she couldn’t find a mate.  Then, a little over a year ago, the female of that pair died.  Can you guess what happened?  Suddenly she looked pretty good to that four year old lonesome male crane.  Last spring, they became a pair even though he was much her junior.  (I’ve heard that young men have more stamina!) 

They built a nest, but I don’t think they successfully raised any young last year.  In a stellar year, only four wild born cranes make it in this endangered population, so this was not surprising.  However, these cranes do mate for life, so they’ll try again this year. 

Fast forward to early this morning when JERRY and Wanda joined me for the Saturday crane tour.  It turned out that between those that had signed up for the tour, and two people that just showed up, we had to take two vehicles for the tour.  A young college student and her mother joined the three of us in our vehicle.  If the young lady could get a picture of a Mississippi sandhill crane, she would get an A on her assignment for her biology course.  Alrighty then, there’s the challenge!

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We hit pay dirt as we drove past the crane company on route 57.  For two years I’ve hoped to get a picture of the sandhill cranes at the crane company. It seems only fitting.Open-mouthed smile

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Using my 300mm lens, I was able to get a shot of the pair showing their leg bands, and the transmitter on the back bird.  I’ll report that to the biologists next week.  That’s red over orange on the right leg, and green on the left leg of the front bird, for instance.  That’s enough to identify this pair.

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Generally, one bird stands guard as the other member of the pair feeds.  They switch off with each other.  Once I looked at the pictures when I got back home, I noticed something a little unusual.

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Sure enough.  It’s Crossbill!  This is not the usual haunts that she and her mate are seen in, but I’m happy that her saga will continue.

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We continued on our way with the tour, and ended up seeing a total of 19 Mississippi sandhill cranes, and watched four adult cranes chasing off six youngster cranes from their feeding territory.  What a cacophony of sound that was along with  the aerial dynamics.  We also enjoyed watching this adult red-tailed hawk.  It was a successful tour in many ways.  I was happy to touch base with Crossbill again, and I think a young college student is going to get an A in her biology course.  Those are a few of the reasons that I do what I do.

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                                                                               THE END!

(if you look closely, you will see a white projectile being sent toward us demonstrating what this hawk thought of our observance of him/her. Smile with tongue out)

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

24 comments:

  1. Hello, crossbill! Missed you last Wednesday. Good to see your photo.

    Ha ha Judy, at last - now you can tell the one about seeing cranes at the crane company - too funny!

    And finally, methinks the hawk just might be expressing his political opinion!

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  2. I'm glad Crossbill finally has a mate. Now it's up to her younger man to see if he can "get her in the family way". Dontcha just love those old euphemisms? My mother used to use that phrase.

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  3. That's a great photo of Crossbill's bill. Poor thing, I'm glad she finally has a mate.

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  4. awesome pictures as always thank u!!!!

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  5. I think there are many old assumptions about birds habits that are being reexamined because of closer observation and communication between people.

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  6. I'm amazed she can find and eat food. But glad she found herself a mate. Hope they can hatch a few young ones this season.
    Cool that the student got her shot.

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  7. And if the student includes at least some of what you wrote about crossbill's 'romance', she'll get an A+ ... great story and information. I bet everyone on your tour had a wonderful time, I know we would have.

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  8. Sounds like a great day! And we have only a convection oven--I'm a convert.

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  9. I love your photos! And what a great story for the Crane!

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  10. What a great day and your pictures as usual are top drawer.Glad to see you were able to assist that young Lady in a good grade. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

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  11. That was a nice story....thanks for sharing.

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  12. What fun!!! I bet you maybe inspird a second generation "bird lady"!!! How lucky they were for getting a tour from such a great and knowledgeable guide!

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  13. You GO Crossbill!..Gives me hope for the elder generation to be able to "give the nod" to a younger "bird"..I hope she got a diamond tag on her leg from him.

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  14. Wonderful story, Judy! Love those cranes, they are such beautiful birds.

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  15. I am so happy for Crossbill. She's had a tough life and now she can be happy with her young stud.

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  16. A great post today, Judy, and great pics as usual.

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  17. What a sweet story about the cranes. Warms my heart. Oh and gives me hope as an "older female crane"!!

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  18. Love that story and the way you told it. Good for old Crossbill. Yes, I can see why you do what you do.

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  19. A great story and for a second there I thought it might get XXX rated:)

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  20. I remember you writing about Crossbill before. How great that she finally has a mate!

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  21. HOw totally cool that you got Crossbill!! I saw 3 mexican eagles the other day. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me. I never seem to see them where I can get a shot of them.

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