All prints are made-to-order and will require one to two weeks’ production time before being shipped. Each order will be acknowledged after payment has been received to confirm the shipping date. To customers who order prints of the same image subsequent to their original order, there may be slight variations in image density and/or contrast when compared to the initial print. If exact matching prints are desired, these should be ordered at the same time.
All prints are shipped flat, durably mounted on high quality backing board with two inch borders top and sides and a five inch border at bottom.
Custom Matting and Framing crafted to fit the Mount Board Size shown will be required to complete the presentation. The bottom border will show below the lower right corner of the image the photographer’s signature. Due to slight size variations please await receipt of your mounted print before ordering custom matting and framing.
Reproduction or publishing of prints sold on this website and related websites in whole or in part in any form, photographically, digitally, or otherwise, is strictly prohibited. The purchase of a print on this website is intended for buyer’s exclusive use in a single display location, and buyer accepts these conditions without modification. Please see Terms and Conditions of Sale for further clarification and additional terms and conditions for the sale of prints.
Sand Hill Cranes Taking Flight, Monte Vista, Colorado, March 15, 2020
During their morning fly-off, sandhill cranes leap from the water where they have slept for protection against predators. At first just a few birds take flight, but the pace quickens in short order. Soon all are gone to various dispersed feeding areas on the vast National Wildlife Refuge in Monte Vista, Colorado. These feeding areas are farmers’ fallow fields stocked with a particular type of feed suitable for these migratory birds. Over the course of the daylight hours flocks of sandhills take off and land several times in search of food on the refuge. At dusk they all fly off in a grand cacophony of loud bugle calls and honks that one never forgets, once heard. Then, after a magnificent spectacle involving thousands of these prehistoric creatures, the flock flies back to the riparian areas where water and wetland vegetation provide shelter to the thousands of sandhills that stop here annually on their migratory journey.
The accompanying photograph was made at first light with a Nikon D5 equipped with a 600mm f4.0 Nikkor VR lens.