Playing games with Sandhill Cranes….

Here in Florida, we have a wide variety of large birds. My personal favorite is the Sandhill Crane - large, light brown body with a long neck, topped by a small head, red colored capping, and long beak. Although they walk like the 80s "King Tut" dance, they truly are graceful. Each spring, a tiny, orange puffball or two are often spotted, awkwardly following around their  tall parents. It is amazing how much personality is packed into their tiny brains - curiosity, their social nature, the way the tilt their heads while listening... Even though we have never fed them, our pair, lovingly named Bernard and Bernice, strut around for a "talk," gracing us with their presence while we sit on our pretentiously named lanai.

One day (clearly we were bored…or just facetious), we opted to find a video of Sandhill Cranes mating. Playing it on my phone, Bernard became all flustered, making the Raptor like call-back sounds to the unseen cranes. He urged Bernice along (who I swear had a "seriously, Bernard, you aren't falling for this?!" look on her face) and then went looking for the invisible others. I suppose that was more of the start of the story than the end, though. It was after having our little fun that the pair became frequent visitors.

Sassafras, our cat, is especially intrigued by the pair, which tower over her in height. She likes watching them…and Bernard, well, he likes watching Sassafras, as well. He will slowly creep closer and closer to the screen, listening to Sassafras's little squeaks and gurgling responses. (Again, Bernice stays far removed, watching Bernard like he has lost his mind, occasionally turning away from him completely - her stance against his insanity!) The first time Bernard and Sassafras met, I thought he would try to poke his beak through the screen (or Sassafras would jump up and tear it) - nope. He will put his beak downward and push in a bit, gurgling all the while…until the cat-like instinctual need to jump up a bit occurs and he flutters back a few steps…and does it all again. It is entirely too entertaining to watch, nature channel in real time.

Bernard approaching Sassafras - let the games begin!