The little brown fuzz balls were hard to spot over the grass, but baby Sandhill Cranes are called colts because of their long, strong, well-developed legs. A day after hatching, colts are already able to run after their parents. Sandhill Crane chicks can leave the nest within 8 hours of hatching, and are even capable of swimming.
Sandhill Crane Colts
The bird feeder this morning looked like a busy airport and it may need air traffic controllers to route the birds in. With a very cold start of the day at -18ºF, the birds (and squirrels) are trying to fill up on seed.
Air Traffic Controller Needed
Yesterday I saw a lone trumpeter swan flying low by my place and it was checking out my pond but continued to fly by since my pond was totally ice covered yet. Other places reported their arrival yesterday, although the southern part of the state already seen their arrival last month, even if not a lot of open water for them then.
Course it is hard to get a picture when both heads are up when they are foraging for food but when they are in sync, they both have water running off their noses.
Trumpeter Swans
The old train engine from yesterday might be retired, this commercial fishing boat isn’t and as soon as the sea gulls hear the motor start up, they leave their resting spot on the water and flock to the boat, following it out of the harbor in the hope of a snack.
The steel hulled Courtney Sue has seen 65 years of work and still heads out before sunrise in search of fish on Lake Superior. The Courtney Sue is 39.4 feet in length and 4.2 feet in depth which was built by the Hugh Lee Iron Works in Saginaw, Michigan in 1948 for the Halvorson Fisheries in Cornucopia, Wisconsin.
Sea Gulls Chasing the Courtney Sue
Maybe Punxsutawney Phil was right about an early spring, even if my groundhog predicted a long winter, since flocks of geese have been seen as well as the return of some swans by a friend of mine.
My pond isn’t big enough for the Trumpeter Swans to land in or raise a family, but there are spots in the state where they do. The Trumpeter Swan was hunted for its feathers throughout the 1600s – 1800s, causing a tremendous decline in its numbers. Its largest flight feathers made what were considered to be the best quality quill pens.
Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old. The pair stays together throughout the year, moving together in migratory populations. Trumpeters are assumed to mate for life, but some individuals do ‘divorce’ and switch mates over their lifetimes. Occasionally, if his mates dies, a male Trumpeter Swan may not pair again for the rest of his life.
I’m still think it will be a long winter because there are hundreds of finches attacking my bird feeders right now and that makes it seem like they are stocking up for another snow storm!
Trumpeter Swans
