Blue Planet Special

Family Life 1

Looking at these photos, you might think I set up a blind near a freshwater marsh and hunkered down for a few weeks to watch a momma sandhill crane deliver her young-ins. But if the truth were known, I stumbled onto the beginning of this unfolding scene while driving into a parking lot at the Arcadia WalMart to buy some water shoes. Ma and Pa Crane were hold up in a fenced-in retention pond under the noses of thousands of busy shoppers who came and went over a 4-week period. There is much these photos don't show that is more obvious in the 3-4,000 images I shot. Like how the parents raised the marsh-nest after a heavy rain, their methods and stages of feeding, how mom separated the more aggressive chick, how she worked with the weaker one, and Dad's role in the upbringing.
I hope you enjoy!

fossilx@earthlink.net