k-hawinkler
Well-known member
They must not have been reading the weather reports. There is a lot of snow ahead of them. What type of cranes are these (I'm used to seeing European storks around now, but they have more black on them than these.) and what is their wingspan. I'd guess these were flying at anywhere from 300' to 1000' elevation.
scott
Many thanks scott. Much appreciated.
Since November these Sandhill cranes were at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Southern New Mexico.
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wildlife Refuge is about 135 miles south of our location.
Quoting from http://whozoo.org/AnlifeSS2001/melimass/MNM_SandhillCrane.htm:
"The sandhill cranes travel as much as 350 miles per day while migrating.
They fly at anywhere from 14 to 51 miles per hour in a V formation--often as high as 12,000 feet."
"Wingspan of 6 feet (1.8m)"
Folks around here live at an altitude of about 6500 to 7300 feet.
The highest mountain visible from our backyard is about 13,000 feet.
In the thermals the cranes gain altitude to very great hight.
Here is a shot of a flock of cranes some distance away from me and at great hight.
Then they glide to the next thermal.