Coming In

Went in search of the Whooping Crane (which this is not) reprortedly spotted and identified at the Univ. of FL's Beef Unit. Whoopers are one of Florida's "most spectacular" birds. They stand nearly 5ft tall and their wingspan can reach 7ft. The Whooping Crane is on the U.S. Endangered Species List and we are fortunate in Florida to have an established flock. The Lone Whooper I was searching for has been traveling and hanging out with our visiting Sandhill Cranes for the past couple of weeks. 

I did spot the Whooper today and was able to take some photos of it with my 70-300 lens. It was a long distance away and didn't look like it was planning to come any closer any time soon. So here are two shots of the Whooping Crane...https://www.flickr.com/photos/maura143/16051723335/. Notice the Green and Red Tags attached to it's legs. I don't think they're Holiday Decorations!

The beautiful large bird coming in for a landing in my blip today is a Sandhill Crane and here's another photo of the same landing...https://www.flickr.com/photos/maura143/15865972707/.