F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.
Sandhill Crane
What’s the problem with jogging on New Years Eve?
The ice falls out of your drinks!
Interesting Fact: Sandhill Cranes are known for their dancing skills. Courting cranes stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow, and leap into the air in a graceful and energetic dance. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 160.
Common Gallinule
Why didn’t the skeleton go to the dance?
Because he had no-body to go with
Interesting Fact: Common Gallinules build nests to raise their young, but they also build platforms of matted vegetation to display for potential mates. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Gallinule )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
American Coot
Why was the broom late?
It over swept!
Interesting Fact: The ecological impact of common animals, like this ubiquitous waterbird, can be impressive when you add it all up. One estimate from Back Bay, Virginia, suggested that the local coot population ate 216 tons (in dry weight) of vegetation per winter. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Coot )
F/6.3, 1/125, ISO 500.
American Coot
Can February march?
No, but April may.
Interesting Fact: The American coot is a highly gregarious species, particularly in the winter, when its flocks can number in the thousands.[20] When swimming on the water surface, American coots exhibit a variety of interesting collective formations, including single-file lines, high density synchronized swimming and rotational dynamics, broad arcing formations, and sequential take-off dynamics. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_coot#Behavior )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Sandhill Crane
What do Snowmen call their offspring?
Chill-dren.
Interesting Fact: Sandhill Cranes mate for life, choosing their partners based on dancing displays. Displaying birds stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow, and leap into the air. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Common Gallinule
Why did the boy tiptoe past the medicine cabinet?
He didn’t want to wake the sleeping pills!
Interesting Fact: Common Gallinules expanded their range northward during the twentieth century. They started breeding in Pennsylvania for the first time in 1904; now they breed as far north as the Maritime Provinces of Canada. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Gallinule )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 160.
Common Gallinule
Why shouldn’t you marry a tennis player?
Because love means nothing to them!
Interesting Fact: The Common Gallinule has long toes that make it possible to walk on soft mud and floating vegetation. The toes have no lobes or webbing to help with swimming, but the gallinule is a good swimmer anyway. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Gallinule )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 200.
Sandhill Crane
What did the tie say to the hat?
You go on ahead and I’ll hang around.
Interesting Fact: The elegance of cranes has inspired people in cultures all over the world—including the great scientist, conservationist, and nature writer Aldo Leopold, who wrote of their “nobility, won in the march of aeons.” ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/ )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Sandhill Cranes
How do you make fruit punch?
Give them boxing gloves.
Interesting Fact: Sandhill Cranes are known for their dancing skills. Courting cranes stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow, and leap into the air in a graceful and energetic dance. ( Sandhill Crane Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 320.
American Coot
How do you get a squirrel to like you?
Act like a nut.
Interesting Fact: The ecological impact of common animals, like this ubiquitous waterbird, can be impressive when you add it all up. One estimate from Back Bay, Virginia, suggested that the local coot population ate 216 tons (in dry weight) of vegetation per winter. ( American Coot Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
Through Open Lens 