We camped at a small private RV Park in Oak Hill, FL with a great site overlooking Mosquito Lagoon last week. While there we had the chance to do some birding at a nearby roadside marsh. There's even a small pier into the marsh there that provides a great viewpoint of all ongoings. We arrived early in the morning and had settled into watching the quiet great blue heron and pair of ospreys perched nearby when to our delight, two sandhill cranes landed in front of us and began foraging. Sandhill cranes may not be the rarest of birds but they are magnificent in every sighting and demand attention with their elegant plumage and monumental stature.
They actively foraged for a while until, upon encroaching on the nearby
stationary heron, suddenly becoming confrontational. I was lucky enough
to get both pictures and videos of the event. The heron seemd
unperturbed at first until the cranes came close enough to cause alarm
and suddenly it turned and took off, squacking loudly in discontent.
While I like to think a great blue heron would be more than a match for a
sandhill crane in (imaginary) combat, I suppose it would have a hard
time against two...
Not long after we had another suprise when a hen-sized bird suddenly sprang out of the mangroves directly in front of the pier to the opposite side of the narrow channel. Upon getting a better look as it foraged along the bank for a few moments before disappearing into the vegetation again we determined it to be a clapper rail, the so called "marsh hen". Though clapper rails are fairly common, like most rails, they are not often seen and this one was certainly a lifer for us.
Eventually things quieted down as the sun rose higher in the sky. As the cranes busied themselves preening, we moved on to look for birds elsewhere.
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