Like the renowned Return of the Swallows to Capistrano, the Sandhill Cranes have arrived in Macon County right on time! You may not be able to set your watch by them, but you can certainly pencil them in on your calendar! Their trek begins as far north as Alaska and Northwestern Canada, and ends in Florida or The Carribean. They fly down by the thousands! This year, I have seen several flocks of 3,000 -4,000. I am estimating that there were approximately 10,000 at their peak!

They mostly hang out in already-harvested peanut fields and cotton fields. Where you see the vivid green fields, the farmers have already planted their Spring Wheat. They are omnivores, and seem to eat just about anything. You can see them foraging through the fields, eating insects, tubers, worms, seeds, leaves, and of course, peanuts! They have barbed tongues, used to spear small fish, crawfish, crustaceans, and other marine biologics. They love their “watering holes, too!

The question always arises, “Why do some of them have brown feathers?”. Well, the answer is simple – they “dye” their own feathers with mud, and here in Georgia, the mud is, of course, good old Georgia red clay! They do it more or less for the same reasons humans wear makeup – to look attractive for their mates. Speaking of mates, like most birds, they mate for life. One of the ways they show their affection is by their “Courtship Dance”, which can be seen in several of these photos. They leap high in the air, flapping their wings, and dart at each other. It is a sight to behold!

I promised myself, and several of you, that I would start posting more videos of the things I see. I’ll have to admit, it’s not as easy as still photography – at least for me. I’m still learning, and hopefully I’ll get there soon! I will post a couple of videos here. I won’t make excuses, just please accept that I know they aren’t great. I’m posting them anyway, because they really do add some perspective to the whole ordeal. You can see the size of the flocks, and how they behave, as well as hearing them constantly babbling. It intensifies when they fly, especially when they ALL fly.

I will break some of these up into categories, to make it a little less mundane to view. I apologize up front for having so many photos. I simply couldn’t make up my mind about which ones to post. Many are very similar, but still intriguing, I believe. 

Please leave any comments below. I love hearing from everyone! You can also e-mail me at danny@dannyswildlife.com . Either way, I look forward to hearing from you!

I want to welcome all newcomers to this site! I hope you will enjoy these photos, share the posts with your family and friends across all social media, and take your children and grandchildren out to see God’s Splendor and Beauty yourselves!! You’ll be SO glad you did!

Thank you, and God bless you all!