I walked out into the usual construction noise, but threading through Next Door’s pneumatic nailers and skilsaws came a new sound: softer, sorta familiar, and somehow very, very important. A rolling, repetitive, ratcheting trill . . . a cross between a toad and a fanbelt?
And then I looked UP.
Two giant Vs of Sandhill Cranes were flying high overhead, headed due north, toward where they breed.
What joy our city backyard is in a migration corridor!
And in another minute or so, here come more Vs, so high they barely show on my phone pics. And then, oh my goodness, comes a bigger crowd of cranes, much lower and not in V formation, but wheeling, freestyling. Riding a different wind? Taking a scenic route?
I texted Michael and he said, “Cranes against the sky! The originals!”
Nashville is a city of [construction] cranes,
but right this minute, Nashville is a city of Sandhill Cranes.
° ° °
INFO:
What in the Sam Hill is a Sandhill Crane?
Here’s a page from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency with photos, species info, and a link to the annual Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival.
I can’t upload a video here, but I put my 9-second crane video at Instagram (complete with pneumatic nail guns).
Sidewalk Nature 