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Last year, sometime in February, we went to the above place in northeastern Alabama. We went to see the Sandhill Cranes, which have been coming here in increasing numbers since the 90’s.

One of the first things you see when you get out of the car in the parking lot is this wooden fence with peepholes in it.

When you look through one of the peepholes you see Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis), lots of them. The refuge leases land to local farmers with the proviso that they leave some of the crop in the fields for the cranes when they harvest.

Look in a different direction, and you see lots more.

Individual cranes are quite handsome birds. They stand close to four feet tall, and each is crowned with a red patch on their forehead and gold-colored eyes. The sexes are alike.

There were so many flying around, that I was able to get lots of pictures of cranes in flight.

Mixed among the Sandhill Cranes was one bird that looked distinctly different. It was all white. Can you see it in the center of the photograph above?

It is A Whooping Crane (Grus americana). This is an exceedingly rare species. At one time the total wild population was reduced to 21 individuals, but extensive recent efforts has enabled the population to increase somewhat. This bird has apparently decided to migrate with the Sandhill Cranes. There are lots of bands on the legs of this one, because conservation personnel try to keep track of each individual bird.