Grace. That’s a word that comes easily to mind when we think about – or better yet, see – cranes. Long legs, long neck, long wings tucked back when they stroll across a field. It’s a quality that commands extra attention.
The two Sandhill Cranes found by the authors at their “pop-up” pond. (Photo courtesy of Allison Wells)
Across the world, there are 15 species of crane in all their graces. Here in Maine, we have just one: Sandhill Crane. A few weeks ago, we witnessed cranes that grace Maine.
As we drove toward the “pop-up” pond in our favorite hayfield that we check regularly after rains, we jokingly said, as we had many times before, “We should see a Sandhill Crane here.”
When we turned the corner and saw a tall creature standing in the wetland, we pulled the car over and stopped a few hundred yards away. We scrambled to get the binoculars out of the backpack in the back seat and peered, unbelieving, at the first Sandhill Crane we’d ever seen at this spot. Keep in mind, we’ve been visiting this locale for 20 years!
Only this was a first by way of a crane at one of our favorite birding places, we’ve been fortunate to see Sandhill Cranes over the years at many places across the U.S. and Canada. We have some particularly fond memories of viewing the non-migratory Florida subspecies of Sandhill Crane in lots of places during visits to the Sunshine State. One year, there was a small family group of Sandhill Cranes that hung out in the retirement community where Mother Childs lived. The crane family had apparently become habituated to being near people. Our son, who is now more than six feet tall, was, back in those days, shorter than the cranes. He was a bit intimidated by these massive gray birds with their red crowns, big black bills, and yellow eyes. We all were intrigued to see the massive birds watching us as we watched them from, perhaps, 20 feet away.
Some Sandhill Cranes in other parts of the country have become accustomed to human presence. This one was strolling around just outside a retirement community in Florida. (Photo courtesy of Allison Wells)
We remember how rare it was to see a Sandhill Crane here in Maine at all when we started birding. Many people, ourselves included, were thrilled to see one that appeared at Scarborough Marsh in the 1980s.
But Sandhill Cranes kept increasing here in Maine. Eventually, they were documented nesting in the state in 2000 in the marshes at the south end of Messalonskee Lake. They have steadily increased across at least the southern half of the state since that time and have been found at dozens of spots during the summer period, indicating potential nesting locations. Incredibly, as many as 81 Sandhill Cranes have been documented in recent years amassing together in fields in Norridgewock in the fall.
Still, finding one of these remarkable birds standing regally in our “pop-up” pond after years and years of hoping for one to show up there was a thrill beyond comparison. Because it was quite close to the road, we took extra measures to be sure we didn’t scare it away. We drove by slowly without stopping, attempting to snap a quick photo with the iPhone as we passed.
Sandhill Cranes flying in Fryeburg, by Tom McLaughlin
As the car approached, there was more grace: We had been so intent on seeing and photographing the Sandhill Crane that we hadn’t seen a second bird resting on the ground in front of it nearby. Both birds stood as we glided by snapping one quick photo.
We’ve stopped by our “pop-up” pond a number of times since that day. We haven’t seen the cranes again. Maybe they will be back. Maybe they are somewhere nearby and we just haven’t found them yet. Either way, we were blessed by the presence of the cranes that grace Maine.
—Jeff and Allison Wells
Banner photo: Sandhill Cranes in flight in New Gloucester, by NRCM member Ted Anderson
I would like to start off by saying… Please excuse the poor grammar! I was born in 1971 and am now 54 years old. I think back to when I was younger and sometimes think that I probably had some kind of learning disorder as a child. In school some things stuck and some things (as my mother used to say) went in one ear and out the other! And English class was one of those “out the other” kind of classes.
As I said… I’m 54 years old and when I was 5 or 6 years old we lived with my grandfather in Bucksport here in Maine. He owned quite a bit of land and my brother and I used have fun exploring through the woods just climbing trees and finding new fishing spots. Yes at 5 or 6! It was in the middle of nowhere and times were much different back then.
One day my brother and I were exploring and we were following the stream and it ran into a big swampy area. I remember seeing this huge bird standing on a wood stump out in the middle of the swamp. We must have spooked it because all of a sudden it spread it’s wings and lifted off! We were both wide eyed and in awe as we’d never seen anything like it. We thought it was some kind of a dinosaur or something .
So we ran through the woods, back to my grandma’s house and tell everyone what we had seen. We described what it looked like…we said that it had a long neck, long legs, huge wings and was blue-ish gray. My uncle laughed and said ” you didn’t see a dinosaur! You saw a crane!”
As I said, I was born in 1971 and was 5 or 6 when this happened. So that would have been somewheres around 1976 or 1977 when we saw the crane in Bucksport.
38 or 39 years later…I haven’t seen another one in the wild!
Thank you for sharing! That sounds like a magical experience, one that is always a treat, seeing surprise birds in unexpected places. One species call “crane” is the Great Blue Heron, which is more of the blue-gray color that you describe. Sandhill Cranes are more sandy-colored and are less typically seen standing on stumps, etc. That doesn’t mean your bird wasn’t one. Either way, your experience was striking and one you will never forgot! We appreciate hearing about it!