west shore of mobile bay, waiting for a crew boat, i heard something behind me and saw an enormous bird. we stared at each otther for a moment before he took wing.

they are much bigger than a blue heron or great egret.

I am originally from Mobile, and I know I heard my dad talking about the Sandhills around Dog River. He was a big naturalist (E.O. Wilson once worked for my dad, back in the late '40s) and Dad always tracked the Sandhill cranes.

And yes, the Sandhills are big birds! I've been photographing Sandhills for several years now, mostly on the Rio Grande flyways and the Texas coast. Earlier this year I got to spend some time tracking their distant cousins, the Whooping cranes. Now that is a BIG bird!


Whooping Cranes of the Texas Gulf Coast

after every hurricane it seemed to need it.

that i-10 construction north of pascagoula is not very far, by air, from mobile, and that stretch of highway was desolate. (good mushroom hunting in late summer).

there are some magnificent birds, esp. since the pelicans are coming back., but my photos were victim of katrina.

at first when i saw the crane i thought it might have been a whooping, but that would be too rare and wonderful a thing to even talk about.

you know, every year one of our cajuns seems to shoot a whooping crane. how crazy is that?

It was pure luck that I happened to be in the right place to see those majestic birds when they emerged from the grounds of the elementary school my daughter had attended years before, sauntered down the street, and continued on their way for a while before dropping out of sight again. It was magical, seeing them appear and then disappear again like that.