Sandhill Crane

Seeing this large crane feeding in an open field in Hoyt was an exceptional sighting for me yesterday, as a Sandhill Crane is a (R) rare bird to be seen in New Brunswick. There have been other reports of their presence in the province, at other places, other years, but this is the first I have seen here. (Hoyt sighting pictures above and to the left)

Whenever we recall our very first sighting of Sandhill Cranes we laugh at our reaction at the time. My spouse and I were driving through South Carolina in 2000 and we were still very new to birding. We had been making a list of all the different birds we saw when suddenly my spouse said,

"I think I just saw an Ostrich!"

My reply was, "You couldn't have seen an Ostrich", and my spouse replied:

"I know, but will I write it down on the list anyway?"

What we had seen of course, shown above, was our very first sighting of Sandhill Cranes.

I have read that these cranes are sometimes found in large flocks and this was the case when we saw a large group in a field near Blind River, Ontario in 2002.