Sandhill Crane Flyby from Lake Woodruff NWR

Here are a few more images from our photo trip to Florida. We picked a few of our favorite locations to visit plus some we passed along the way. Years ago we liked Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in DeLeon Springs, Florida. It had suffered quite a bit of damage from hurricanes years ago. We have not been back for many years since then. So on our way home we stopped at Lake Woodruff NWR to see how it was and see what we could find to photograph. It is a huge refuge at 22,000 acres. The refuge contains a myriad of habitats, among them are marshes, swamps, creeks, hammocks and uplands.

Some of our favorite subjects here are the Sandhill Cranes & Swallow-tailed kites. You usually do not see them often at other refuges in Florida. On a previous trip years ago we saw a Whooping Crane in with the large flock of Sandhill Cranes. It was fun to see and photograph them, especially flying by.

On this trip we only saw 1 pair of Sandhill Cranes with a colt walking along the dykes and another one that did a close flyby. I will start with the flyby images of the Sandhill Crane.

7 Comments on “Sandhill Crane Flyby from Lake Woodruff NWR”

Eliza Waters
June 13, 2019

Your images here well illustrate the miracle of bird flight.

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- Reed Andariese
  June 13, 2019
  
  Thanks Eliza! They are fun to photograph! Their wingspans can go up to about 7 feet, so they are a BIG bird. Fun to see them fly, especially in large flocks. But this day there were only a few around.
  
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  - Eliza Waters
    June 13, 2019
    
    Some day maybe I’ll get to the Platte in March to see thousands of them.
belindagroverphotography
June 13, 2019

Impressive photos Reed. Beautifully sharp!

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- Reed Andariese
  June 14, 2019
  
  Thanks Belinda! It was a BIG Target to focus on!
  
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bayphotosbydonna
June 15, 2019

Beautiful captures, Reed! The first time I saw one of these in Florida, I was quite excited. There was a recent sighting of one at Blackwater NWR. I didn’t get a chance to go find it. 😦

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- Reed Andariese
  June 17, 2019
  
  Thanks Donna! Never thought there would be one at Blackwater! We first saw these at Lake Woodruff NWR in Florida. Back then there was a large flock but they had 2 Whopping Cranes that flew with the flock. Pretty cool to see! That started my interest with bird photography! Years ago there here was a sighting of a Golden Eagle at Blackwater. We never thought we would see it. But on our way out on the main road it flew out of a tree and flew over the car. It was one LARGE bird!
  
  Reply