Sandhill Crane

[Mike Milicia]

EOS-1D Mk IV, 500mm f/4, 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 800
Manual Fill Flash
About 75% of Full Frame

Photographed last week at Seney National Wildlife Refuge on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I was confused by the coloration on the Cranes at Seney but found this explanation on the web : <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>38</o:Words> <o:Characters>222</o:Characters> <o:Lines>1</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>272</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>11.1280</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotShowRevisions/> <w:DoNotPrintRevisions/> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:0 2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->*</style>

"During the spring and summer, the plumage of sandhill cranes in regions with iron-rich mud acquires a rusty brown hue, due to the bird’s habit of preening the reddish mud into the feathers. This artificial coloration is lost in the autumn when the feathers are molted.<o></o>"

This explanation was confirmed by one of the refuge biologists.

Looking forward to your comments and critiques ! <!-- / message -->

[Tony Whitehead]

Good pose and great record of the plumage variant - thanks for the explanation, Mike. I think a small crop from below and right would worth trying

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent pose , nice details and BG here
TFS

[Fabs Forns]

Lovely setting for this wonderful portrait. Interesting about the feather coloring, I was wondering the same thing. Nice and sharp too.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the soft light, setting, BG and pose. Interesting to see this kind of plumage.

[Jim Fenton]

MIke...

Really cool coloring on the plumage and thanks for the explanation!

Really enjoy the soft light, pose, eye contact / and crop.

Exposure and sharpness looks right on.