photoartflightSandhill Crane Portraits
Posted on June 19, 2019
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
Sandhill Crane Flyby from Lake Woodruff NWR
Posted on June 13, 2019
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.
