Dance of the Sandhill Crane
He danced for her,
life partners,
he danced for her.
Waves of wind,
they beat the air
gliding above my head.
He flew with her,
he danced for her,
They moved as one.
One of the most beautiful creatures with which we share this central Florida environment is the sandhill crane. They stand about 5 feet tall and mate for life. Slowly humanity is edging them out of the area. One particular pair nest in a tall pine in our neighborhood. As we walked our dog this evening, they were standing on the side of the road.
It is wise to give them a wide berth. They aren't aggressive, but the male will defend his mate. We stopped as it appeared the female was about to cross the road to our side and we wanted to give her enough space to walk by without feeling threatened. But then the male began dancing. He jumped straight into the air, threw his head back, spread his wings and called out. He did this three or four times. She stood there, in the center of the road, politely ignoring him. We walked quietly by.
Turning back to look, we found she was even more firmly centered in the road; he moved to join her. My walking partner then did an imitation of the jumping dance we had just witnessed, in jest, and got a reaction we didn't expect. The pair cawed loudly and began to run down the road. As they lifted off of the ground the beating of their enormous wings was incredibly loud. They flew not five feet above us and retreated to the sky.
The dance and flight of this pair of grey feathered mysteries was a gift beyond my words.
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