It’s that time of year all around the U.P., when the critters are busy raising up their youngsters. Beth Jukuri saw these two Sandhill Cranes on her mail route this past week and they did everything they could to slow Beth down and distract her. They kept running and flapping their wings in front of her, because they had a newborn chick on the side of the road and they wanted to “lure” her away from that little baby of theirs. It is actually pretty amazing how these animal parents know to protect their young by distracting any predators that are nearby their babies. From the looks of that Sandhill Crane Chick, it wasn’t very old and Beth said the grasses on the sides of the road were so tall and thick, the baby would have had trouble walking in there. She only saw the one chick, but it is possible there was another in those tall grasses.

Beth had to slow way down of course, so she was able to record the Sandhill parents as they flapped their wings and ran ahead of her vehicle, luring her away from their baby. Make sure you have your speakers turned up, so you can hear their prehistoric sounding call during their performance for Beth.

What an opportunity for Beth to be so close. They are usually so shy. I've never been within a couple hundred yards.

I took this moment to read up some more on Sandhills. One thing I noticed was the long list of mammals and other birds that prey on adults, chicks and eggs. One animal on the list was the alligator. This wasn't anywhere near Lake Placid, was it? Oh my!

Happy "recognized" 4th. Pretty soon they'll move everything. What's next? Christmas? News Years Day? They'll never touch my birthday I'm telling ya

Nice pix...I really dig the chick, man.
D.A....it's a real jungle UP there.

LOL D.A. & Alex.... Nice looking Cranes & Baby. I
see a nice looking gravel road like that and it
takes me back to the 70's and my old Chevy and
working on my drifting skills. Sure went thru the
ol bias-ply tires back then!!

We see so many of these this year. Fun to
watch and listen to.