anthony_r.1 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 There appear to be two types of birds here. The gray ones in the foreground I believe are sandhill cranes. Can anyone identify the darker colored ones in flight with the distinctive white V pattern on the tail? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) Those seem to be sandhill cranes on the ground. A closer image with a telephoto lens may help. Sandhill cranes below Edited October 26, 2018 by ShunCheung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Vongries Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Unless I am mistaken, the ones in the back are Canada Geese. Search Canada Goose Photos Flying Away and you will see the same white V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Unless I am mistaken, the ones in the back are Canada Geese. Search Canada Goose Photos Flying Away and you will see the same white V. I was also thinking about Canada geese, but they are quite small in the image and it is a bit hard for me to judge their size. I used to work for AT&T in Holmdel, New Jersey. They had a large (human-made) pond outside of the building. It attracted so many Canada geese that they were a nuisance; in particular their droppings got the entire lawn dirty. It got to a point that I no longer photograph them much. They are abundant here in California also. Here is one of the few Canada goose images I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Sorensen Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 definitely Canada Geese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 There are definitely cranes of one sort or the other there too - the 'look-like-an-SST' of the bird world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_r.1 Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share Posted October 28, 2018 Thanks for the responses everyone. This was the best shot I could get. They were already in flight and I would have missed any shot at all if I had tried to switch to a longer lens. So I had to get what I could with the lens I had on the camera, which was a 17-55mm. I cropped the image to get a little closer look but I didn't want to crop too much. It looks like Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Dale Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes without a doubt. Can I suggest that anyone requesting an ID in future include the location as it can help narrow down the species considerably. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 By any chance the original image was captured in the Central Valley in California? E.g. in the Sacramento area, you can easily find those two species around this time of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcstep Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 They're commonly together all over the USA, Canada geese and sandhill cranes. I tried hard not to get any geese in my SHC shots, but here are a couple, down near Monte Vista, CO: See me dance... by David Stephens, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Vongries Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 (edited) Actually, here in MT, I have not seen the cranes with Canada Geese, usually a pair alone or small group but the other day saw Great Blue Herons with the geese - first time ever but too short a lens to capture without trespassing. Edited October 29, 2018 by Sandy Vongries 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcstep Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Actually, here in MT, I not seen the cranes with Canada Geese, usually a pair alone or small group but the other day saw Great Blue Herons with the geese - first time ever but too short a lens to capture without trespassing. Sandy, do you see many cranes at all? We only see them in CO on their migration. In other parts of the USA they hang around a lot. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Vongries Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 We don't have flocks - a pair to three pair at the most - sometimes a pair with a singleton. They are usually feeding in fields at some distance from the road, June through early / mid October. I am talking about Central Montana in areas near my place. I haven't seen them further West or North in the state. They may well be there, but I wouldn't have missed seeing them if in quantity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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