Photo Study of A Common And Some Sandhill and Hybrid Cranes In New Jersey

I went to Bridgeton, New Jersey on February 3rd, 2008 to try and photograph the reported Cranes. I got there at 7:30 AM, could hear them but couldn't see them because of the thick fog. Actually, it was so foggy for the next couple of hours that I couldn't see the end of my arm. Frustrated, I headed for Brigantine at 9:30 AM. Brigantine was also foggy would you believe? It lifted about noon and I hung around Brigantine until 1:30PM when I headed back to Bridgeton with no real expectation of seeing the Cranes. I introduced myself to the home owner and while we were sitting in his family room, the Cranes flew into the field adjacent to his corn field (4:00PM.) He and I then drove out onto the field and we were able to photograph the birds from about 70 yards away (using the car as a blind)...not great shots but pretty good under the circumstances.

In any event, in addition to the Common or Eurasian Crane (Grus grus) in the flock of sixteen birds, there appeared to be at least four hybrids and eleven Sandhills. Also, there have been debates as to whether the Common Crane among these birds was an escape or not. There was a reported escape from NY State farm a few years ago. However, this one known, documented escape had a withered, crippled foot and the Common Crane seen in these photos does not.

Please click on the captions or the thumbnails below to see a larger image...thanks!

   © Howard B. Eskin 2008       Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index                                            Please email any comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com