Cranes in the Rain
A Photographic documentary of the birds feeding on the fields
It was just another rainy day. It is fall, and next to many sunny days, the rain must come. I woke up in the morning to the arrival of the cranes and their calls. I knew they were settling down on the fields next to us. Just for the day. For a feast.
I assumed they’d disappear with the rain, but they didn’t. Their calls appeared less frequent, but they were still there. Feeding on the fields.
As the rain was getting less, I grabbed my umbrella and headed out there. This was exactly how I had damaged my lens in the first place, with a handful of raindrops. But now it doesn’t matter anymore.
Right at the edge of the trailer park, the cranes were picking seeds from the field.
Quietly I walked a few steps forward trying not to disturb them.
A flock of crows was leaving the forest flying above the feeding cranes. They were loud too, in their own ways. As crows are.
The cranes felt disturbed, took off, and settled down just a few meters further down again.
Later that afternoon the rain stopped, and the sun even came out again. The cranes got louder, and I decided to head back there. It’s just about 50 meters from our trailer. So yes, they are really close to us.
The harvester was out on the field taking down a few more rows of corn. The cranes didn’t seem to be bothered too much, but they were chatting actively.
I’m not sure if I got too close or the harvester did, but a few cranes started a chain reaction and all of a sudden the entire field was up in the air.
I didn’t come any closer but just tried to keep the birds in focus.
A wonderful spectacle opened up in front of my eyes as hundreds of cranes were lifting up.
They created a cacophony of calls you won’t believe. It was loud. Like very loud.
They were circling above the field. They didn’t take off to any heights. Just moved again a few hundred meters down the field.
And this was it. My documentation of the cranes in the rain and their feeding time in the fields.
“A miracle constantly repeated becomes a process of nature.” — Lyman Abbott
More about the migration of the cranes:
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