I was at the Coast for three weeks so watched wildlife. Birds were seen mostly. The species I will show in the next few postings can all be seen at Kootenay Lake — herons are common here year round, cranes are at the south end of the Main Lake in the summer.
Of course, the Great Blue Heron is a staple of Kootenay Lake. However, its fishing success in this coastal pond seemed far greater than what I had noticed here.
At the same pond was a family of Sandhill Cranes. It was the first time I had seen a chick.
Sandhill Cranes are opportunistic feeders, but most often they eat plants and grains.
But they also scrounge for small animals.
Adults have a red patch on their heads that the chicks lack.
Plumage is a variable grey and is often streaked with brown from the iron-rich mud used when preening.
A heron and cranes were in the same pond; Occasionally size comparisons were possible.
Sometimes the comparisons even extended to mallards.
I did not know that the sandhill cranes were so much bigger than the herons. It looks almost dinosaur size in one of your photos.
Birthe, I too was surprised at the difference revealed in the picture. Yet, the crane is about 60% heavier than the heron.
Thanks for the size-comparison photos! Really helpful, and surprising. I’ve always wanted to see a crane chick, they start out so tiny compared to their gigantic parents. Thanks for this blog, Sarah