Lately, I have mentioned several times that the sandhill cranes at Floating Island were getting attacked by the red-winged blackbirds every time they poked their heads above the reeds.
While watching these attacks I could not help but wonder what the red-winged blackbird had against the Sandhill crane. Well, today I found out.
I had the urge to drive some today, hoping to find Mini Mom, Quad Mom or Beryl Sow, during my journey. Of course, I did not find any of those. And, so, I kept driving and ended up along the Madison River, which is truly one of my favorite places – maybe because I got to know it before the other areas, while watching the rut.
Along the way I stopped in several pull-outs and that was when I found a pair of Sandhill cranes and two chicks. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Bucket list time because I have always wanted to see the chicks.
I grabbed bug spray, camera and tripod and made my way out across the marshy low land, getting dive bombed by the red-winged blackbirds myself. I got a little taste of how annoying those birds can be when trying to protect their nests.
Now, Yellowstone is very busy right now so you can not imagine how nice it was to be out in the middle of a meadow, all by myself, checking off an item on the bucket list. I erred on the side of caution and fairness for the birds and dared not get too close but I sure wanted to get a better look at those chicks.
When the adults – and, by the way, the mom and dad were doing everything together, which was very cute – crossed a small stream of water the chicks stayed on the other side. And, so, both parents went back across to get their youngsters to lead them through the water and then mom showed them how to get up the hill. Not sure how old these are because the ones at Floating Island haven’t hatched yet, though they should do so at any time.
I just fell in love with the little Sandhill Crane family unit. There are moments while watching wildlife that they are so very precious and one of the things I have been observing over the past week is the active part that the dads take with the chicks. The coots, the yellow-headed blackbird, the red-winged blackbird, the bluebird, the flicker and the Sandhills. I think that watching daddy coot bring special sticks to mama coot has been my favorite because that nest is so tidy and she is always messing with it. I could not park next to her pond tonight because the mosquitos are so bad but have watched them several evenings now.
Well, I stayed out in the meadow until the light was just not working for me and until they seemed to have had enough. I was going on to West Yellowstone when I realized that the family was close to a high area where I might be able to see the chicks better. Almost worked but a family that saw my big lens came jumping out of the car and running, sending the Sandhills into some reeds.
I sat on a log to watch anyway. The first thing I noticed was the red-winged blackbirds were going nuts and that there were a lot of them.
I was kind of excited about getting some more shots of the blackbirds diving at the cranes and so continued to watch. But, then daddy got mad and when daddy got mad things turned bad for the blackbirds. Daddy went and grabbed a chick from a nest and soon the blackbirds were coming out of everywhere and making quite a racket. Some of them actually got on the crane’s back and were pecking at him. And then I saw mom go get herself a naked blackbird baby that must have just been born.
Well, suddenly Sandhills were not innocents that are great dancers! I felt so bad for the blackbirds because they had been working darned hard to keep their families safe. Not sure how many of the new chicks were eaten but the Sandhills were busy for quite some time. I never would have guessed.
That is my Sandhill Crane story and I still want to see some chicks up close.
Afterwards I saw a young bison bull with its horn broke nearly in half, Rosie with her second fawn of the week and the badger family. Not a bad day for some quality photography. Though, a long day and time to head for the campground.
Love the action shots!
Glad you got to see the baby cranes Deby. We saw the same Crane family on our last day in the park June 3 so they are at least 3 weeks old. I’m glad both of the little ones are still safe. I wasn’t sure how the parents would do defending their area with fox and coyotes frequenting that lovely valley. Looking forward to more stories. Thank you!
What a great picture you got with all the back birds. Sad for the black birds, yes, but it almost sounds like they started it. And cranes gotta eat. Thanks for another great story, Deby.
So interesting! I get to be around the Sandhill Cranes all winter, after their breeding period is over. Never heard of this, but what a thing to see first hand. Just when you think you know a bird they totally surprise you.
I have watched a lot of sandhills but I have never seen them eat red-winged blackbird babies. It is hard for me to think of a bird with as beautiful call as a sandhill robbing other bird’s nest. But a really interesting thing to witness and I love the photo of the baby. We have to go to Island Park tomorrow. We will visit the cranes on the way.
I had no idea! That is really interesting. There is a pair of cranes close to me just north of the park and I enjoy watching them immensely.