{"id":10691,"date":"2026-03-25T14:24:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/?p=10691"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T20:02:56","slug":"monte-vista-nwr-2026-cranes-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/25\/monte-vista-nwr-2026-cranes-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Monte Vista NWR, 2026 — Cranes In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Soon after arriving at Monte Vista, we headed out to the National Wildlife Refuge. During the late afternoon, Sandhill Cranes try to organize themselves by finding a roost for the night. I made the image below as a group of cranes flew past. I like the combination of the stack of cranes on the diagonal.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3340-0064-Five-Sandhill-Cranes-Stacked-In-Flight-Monte-Vista\"
Five Sandhill Cranes, Stacked In-Flight, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During the next day, we spent a few hours in the morning and afternoon, to spend some time in the wildlife refuge. In the image below, a pair of Sandhill Cranes were arriving at the feeding ground. It is always difficult to capture decent images of cranes in flight, especially where there are hundreds of cranes in the area. Fortunately, this pair found an area that was relatively clear.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0073-Sandhill-Crane-Pair-Arriving-At-Feeding-Ground\"
Sandhill Crane Pair Arriving At Feeding Ground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the following image, another pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in, with “landing gear down”, to the feeding ground.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0360-Sandhill-Crane-Pair-Landing-Gear-Down-Monte-Vista\"
Sandhill Crane Pair, Landing Gear Down, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I like the following clean image of a Sandhill Crane coming to land.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0135-Single-Sandhill-Crane-Coming-In-To-Land\"
Single Sandhill Crane, Coming In To Land.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here is another image as another single bird is about to touch down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"3341-0250-Sandhill-Crane-Landing-Monte-Vista\"
Sandhill Crane Landing, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am always fascinated with the images that I capture Sandhill Cranes coming in for a touch down. As the crane alights with wings wide open, the air flow disrupts the tips of the feathers along the wings. The wings look like an “untidy mess” as the feathers lift up, as can be seen in the following image.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"3341-0210-Sandhill-Crane-Landing-Ruffled-Feathers-Monte-Vista\"
Sandhill Crane Landing, Ruffled Feathers, Monte Vista.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

That completes a selection of some flight images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soon after arriving at Monte Vista, we headed out to the National Wildlife Refuge. During the late afternoon, Sandhill Cranes try to organize themselves by finding a roost for the night. I made the image below as a group of cranes flew past. I like the combination of the stack of cranes on the diagonal. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[30,2087,2030,2088,1360,425,831],"class_list":["post-10691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general","tag-cranes","tag-feeding-grounds","tag-in-flight","tag-landing","tag-monte-vista","tag-sandhill-cranes","tag-wildlife-refuge"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t