Crane Spotting......

Mid April.....our neighborhood is starting to green-up and some days are very spring-y. But then, at least along the lakefront, the wind picks up and temperatures drop. Mother Nature reminding me that, in Wisconsin at least, spring comes on a Wednesday.

The last few weeks we've seen so much bird activity as some pass through on their migration route north, others come to find their partners and set up house keeping for the summer. Red wing black birds, robins, goldfinch, so many different kinds of ducks. I'm not too good at identifying most of them but I do enjoy the activity and color as I walk Fenway.

Driving the country roads to do errands my eyes sweep left and right.....tom turkeys on full display in front of five or six females. The peregrine falcon nest at our local electric company's nesting box now boasts one egg. I spot hawks sitting on fenceposts and telephone wires.

But my favorite "gotcha" is when I spot a pair of sandhill cranes. They're back!

This is not my photo, but the fields along our back roads are still pretty "dead", the corn isn't up yet, so spotting these tall birds as they move around is not too difficult. It won't be much longer until each twosome will be shepherding a few babies and teaching them the rules of the road. 

Growing up we were always told that seeing your first robin meant spring had arrived. Since moving back to Wisconsin and learning just what to look for, it's now the sandhill cranes in March/April that tell me we've made it through another Midwest winter.

Yea! Crane spotting!