Season Of The Soaring Sandhills

It's cool in Georgia this week and the previous week was by far the coldest of the season.  The coming week looks promising as temperatures should reach well into the 70's for a few days and reinforce the promise of spring. It is after all that time of year when cool mornings give way to pleasant afternoons and sitting on the patio in the warming sun. Some early spring flowers are already in bloom and even casual observation of the woods reveals a hint of color from sap rising into the young branches. But not all of the activity is at ground level. It's time to look up, way up, for the magnificent Sandhill cranes.

Although year round resident populations of Sandhills have been increasing in Georgia in the last few decades for those who feel the urge to make the journey it's time for the big move to begin. Reports from watchers all over north Georgia confirm that that the great migration is indeed underway. For the next month of so over Atlanta, flocks ranging from a few dozen to as many as several hundred push north and northwest on their journey to summer habitats in the western Great Lakes and central Canada. They are a pleasure to watch with their shapely "v" and wide arc formations as well as their "kettling" in uplifts prior to departure. 

In our woodland setting I always hear their distant croaking - "ka-roo, ka-roo, ka-roo" - that leaves me hoping they fly over my clearing. Most of the time they do because they fly high, sometimes into the thousands of feet. At those altitudes it's hard to imagine that you are looking at a bird that may stand five feet tall and soar on a seven foot wing span. Several hundred-thousand will migrate from their wintering ground in Florida and Georgia. Coming or going, they always bring a smile and leave me looking up for more.