What Is That Noise?

Going out to greet the day is common for me. I do this almost every day around sunrise each morning. This morning I was just a bit late when I went out. First thing out the door, I heard a strange sound. Extremely loud and coming from the neighbors.

The QR code below will take you to the noise I heard. Open your phone camera and go to the link that comes up. October 2019 is probably the closest.

I decided to videotape the noise and ask friends on Facebook what the noise might be. I was hoping that something or someone wasn’t being murdered! Such a relief to have so many helpful friends.

First, I was told it was a raccoon, then that it was very strange, then it was velociraptors, a sasquatch/bigfoot, and finally, my niece said sand hill cranes, and she sent along recordings above of the noise for me to listen to and compare. We have seen these birds in our field over the years, but I haven’t heard that sound before.

Another friend mentioned how lucky we are to have cranes, and still another confirmed sandhill cranes. I also received some information that comes from the Dictionary of Bird Totems. See below.

And another friend sent pictures of her cranes from her yard. She said a couple of cranes visit yearly and will bring friends some of the time. She said they are enjoying her husband's freshly cut grass in the photo below.

Sandhill cranes appear to enjoy wheat fields and swampy areas, according to what information I was sent. Our neighborhood fits both of those descriptors. This year, though, the crops are primarily corn.

We have birds galore

They love to explore

Each year, there is more and more

We have bird books to keep score

of all the birds that we adore

Well, maybe not adore, but I swore

with all the birds, we will never bore!

Chickadees, redpolls, juncos, warblers, finches, sparrows.

Then robins, eagles, hawks, and crows

that don’t eat out of the feeders

They have their babies close by, and they are eaters

of the worms in the ground, and their mouths open wider

and wider when we pass them nearby.

Time to close this and say goodbye

for now. More information as I have it.

So long for now, and I’ll see you in a bit.