On our visit to Lake Wooodruff NWR in Deland, Florida we were lucky to find a few Sandhill Cranes. Years ago when we were there, we saw large flocks of Sandhill Cranes. But on this quick stop we only saw a scattered few. All these photos are taken with a 400mm f/4 DO lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter as we were walking along the trails there. Lake Woodruff NWR does not seem to gather the large crowds of people as a well known Ding Darling NWR attracts. It has a small parking area and usually you only see a few people as you walk the trails and explore. In a way it is a little strange in that you feel quite alone there in this vast NWR. But it is a huge NWR in area and seems more relaxing to explore there. We visited on our way home so we got there in the afternoon when the birds are less active. Next post will have Sandhill Cranes with a Colt (Chick) foraging with the parents.
Sandhill Crane greeting us on the entrance path on our way in. 2 horizontal images to make a Vertical Panorama, handheld. They are a LARGE Bird so even trying to shoot a vertical image Crane did not fit in image area.
Sandhill Cranes deeper in the Refuge
Sandhill Crane Composite – 3 images. Reminded me of a wanted poster
Great shots, Reed. Love the ‘wanted’ poster! 😉
Thanks so much Eliza! They are fun to photograph! Plus they are a BIG photo subject. I had trouble sometimes because they kept coming closer to us photographing them. I even had to do 2 shot panos on some to get them all in.
Such a stately, majestic bird! Great shots, Reed, I too love the ‘wanted’ poster! 🙂
Thanks Donna! It was fun to photograph them! They did not seem to be wary of us. So we were with them for quite a while.
Excellent photos Reed. The last one is a lot of fun!
Thanks Belinda! They are one BIG Bird to photograph!