I don’t have a lot of time for a blog post tonight.  I’m doing a weeklong training session at work, and I’m exhausted.  Stuffing definitions and acronyms into your head all day is hard!

I keep promising more pictures of adorable Sandhill Crane colts, so tonight we’re going to start that series.  Regular readers of my blog may recall the amazing day back in April when I got to witness the hatching of a Sandhill Crane colt.  It was without a doubt one of the most amazing experiences that Nature has shared with me.  So of course, I returned to visit “my” babies the next day.  And the next day.  And the next day.  I’m still processing images from those wonderful moments.

Tonight I’ll share a video of my family of cranes, taken on the night after the babies were born.  The youngest chick was about 24 hours old at the time, and his big brother was only about 12 hours older.  They returned to their nest after a long day roaming in the grass with Mom and Dad.  They were covered in grass seeds, so Mom told them to take a bath while she tidied up the nursery.  But being normal kids, they didn’t listen well to Mom, and instead started fighting.  Somehow the younger chick ended up on his back, with his legs flailing in the air.  Mom seemed unconcerned by the state of her youngest offspring.  I guess she wanted him to figure his own way out of his predicament!  Dad flew in a little while later, but he didn’t help the little guy either.  Finally it was Big Brother who helped him up…by poking at him until he rolled over!

My little colt looked over at me and seemed to say, “It’s not easy being me!”  Then he continued fighting with his brother.  The next morning, I confirmed that neither of them got their baths that night! :)