The discovery of these magnificent, elegant, wild free and proud Sandhill Cranes was like a gift or treat bestowed on me as a reward for my perseverance, some woulkd say obsession. I discovered the Wetland Park right at the top of of Sheriden Street after an abortive attempt to find the Broward Bald Eagle nest. It turns out I was in the wrong place but whatever, I will be back later to find it. My day was being made special by the presence of stunning sights of a Loggerhead Shrike who was acting very territorially against a Mockingbird. Now and again the Shrike would chase the Mockingbird out of his "space" and perch high up and very close to me.

All the while the Mockingbird hunted amongst the grass and I got a magnificent shot of him eating a Dragonfly. (To see this picture full size, double click it and wait for it to open at my Flickr galleries).
 

Engrossed in this as I was, suddenly two dark large birds flew into the carpark about 50 yards away. My first reaction was Limpkin but after a second or two I couldn't believe my eyes………………Sandhill Crane. These birds do not breed in Broward to my knowledge and overwinter in Central Florida where I have seen them numerous times, but never in South Florida. Not being a native of theses parts I can't say how common a sight they are here and frankly I don't care becase they werre just a wonderfull and stunning spectacle that was, due to the unexpected nature of their arrival, one of my best ever wildlife experiences.

 

So, like I said they landed in the Carpark and immediately walked in my direction seemingly either oblivious to me or attracted to me, either way they just kept comming and comming, nearer and nearer. I took photos from all angles and all sides but stayed motionless in case I spooked them.

 Why did I bother because they eventually were 5 inches from me and I asked the meale to go back a bit becaue I couldn't get a good shot of him…………………..yes honestly

With aroud 100 photos taken they wandered away through the gate and on to the street where they proceeded too do a courtship dance and then get down to that thing that most birds are doind at this time of the year, copulation! I missed it on film due to a full memory card!
Now with the Cranes wandering of down the street towards the nearby shoppin/business centre I freed some space on the memory card……….. just in case good job I did because we were very quickly joined again in the carpark by a pair of Mottled Duck!