Demoiselle crane

The demoiselle crane is the smallest crane in India, measuring only about 95 cm in height. It is a winter migrant, arriving from as far as Siberia! To do this, they assemble in large flocks and fly south over the Himalayas (over 20,000 feet!) to North India, arriving in September and departing in the reverse direction by March the following year. By this time they total over 20,000 birds and congregate in a remote village called Khichan, where philanthropists and simple poor village folk spend thousands of dollars feeding these birds daily until they return. It is an amazing ritual that I consider a divine blessing to witness!
Species: Demoiselle crane (Grus virgo)
Location: Khichan, Rajasthan, India
Date: Feb 2009
Equip: Canon 50D, Canon 100-400 at 275
Specs: ISO 320, f 7.1, 1/1000s, hand-held on foot

Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/critiques.

Ajit, I am not familiar w/ the species , so thankyou for sharing the additional info. I like the composition and the details look nice.

Very nice light, good wing position and BG. How much of a crop is this? If not too much, I might sharpen the bird a tad more.

Thanks for sharing the story, it's always great to know that some people care so much about animals.

beautiful flight pose Dr., nice details and comp too, congrats...

Indian bird history book in modern era can not get complete without Khichan
lovely image
TFS