Look at those long legs!

Much as I'm a big fan of environmental responsibility, I'm not as involved or knowledgeable as I would like.  I figured that the cranes I had been watching grow from little fuzzy chicks to sizable adolescence in the swamp I run by every day had flown away by now.  This morning on my run I heard the neatest sound, e voila!  There, on the back edge of the swamp, were the pair I'd been watching, and their two chicks, now nearly the same size as mom and dad!  


Sandhill cranes stand about 4 feet tall, and when they fly, have wingspan exceeding 6 feet.  They live for 20 years or more, and keep the same mate for life.  They migrate between the northern states and Canada to the southern US and Mexico.  Some of the migration flocks are in excess of 10,000 birds.  I recently learned from a naturalist friend that there is a very large migration stopover here in Southern Michigan.  The Michigan Audubon Society works to provide safe haven for the thousands of cranes who fly by each spring and autumn at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary.  There is even a Sandhill Crane & Art Festival in Belleville Michigan celebrating these magnificent feathered creatures.  


Take a moment to watch this video of a pair of cranes and listen to their song, which I have often heard on my morning journeys.  I have no need for ipod and earphones with this music to entertain me as I run.


Até amanhã... 
8/23/11 - 3.3 miles | 33 mins | 5.7 mph | 334 kcal