You hear them before you see them -- that purling, purring, somewhat cackling, creaking cry as they circle high in the sky. At first they are higher than the unaided eye can see, and then gradually they come in lower and lower, and the congregation assembles for midday or evening rest.
I really miss the old telephoto lens I had with my previous camera. With what little zoom power I have and some judicious cropping, I can get closer, but never close enough. The cranes attitudes in flight are so striking!
Of course, it's when they are massed on the ground and in the shallow water that their numbers are so impressive, as they are this year at Twin Lakes outside of Willcox, Arizona.
I'd need to do a video and sweep across the whole crowd to show them all adequately, but my favorite shots are those with the twin peaks of the Dos Cabezas Mountains in the background.
