Baby Sandhill Cranes

It's been quite a week at the office, and I don't mean in terms of work. For the last four weeks we have been hosting a pair of killdeer, a type of shorebird, that lives on the grassy plains of Wisconsin, while the brood their 4 eggs. I'll share more on that little family in a day or two, but because I've been playing expectant Auntie, I've been bringing my camera to work. 

Driving in as the sun rose this morning, I found 2 sandhill cranes standing in the road. It was still pretty dark, but they're big birds and hard to miss. I waited for them to move and checked on my killdeer. 

Later, when a co-worker arrives, she said get your camera. There's two cranes with babies outside the gate. I jumped up and ran outside. It took some time to find them, and the photos aren't great, but there they were. 

Cute little buggers. 

This little family wasn't expecting visitors so I left them alone after I fired off 5-6 photos. 

The parents are 3 - 3.5 feet tall (1 meter).  Those little chicks have a lot of growing to do.