I'd written before about Sam and Sally, the two Sand Hill Cranes living in the backyard. They sublet their cozy apartment and flew the coop to parts unknown. A new couple has moved in and show no signs of flying back to Nebraska anytime soon.
Big Guy is huge. He's almost as tall as me. His wife, Little Girl barely comes up to my hip. They come each morning and stare at the patio. As soon as they see us moving around inside the house, Big Guy flaps his wings and does a dance. Breakfast is on its way! Little Girl hangs back until I'm safely back inside again. Big Guy wastes no time in digging in.
Even Ginger can't scare these two off. She barks her fool head off at them and they just ignore her. I tell her that they get fed her the same way she does. She barks anyway.
Little Girl didn't come by for a couple days. I feared she'd been eaten by an alligator. Big Guy came right on time all by himself. One morning I could hear his squawking. Their call is very distinctive but I swear I recognize his voice. I looked out and couldn't see him. He called again. Finally I spotted him on the far side of the lake.
"Hey Big Guy. You're a good bird," I yelled over to him. He squawked and then flew off. A few minutes later he's in the backyard accompanied by Little Girl.
"Phew." I wiped my brow in relief and threw more seed in her direction. I wonder if she's been sitting on an egg. Or maybe she'd gone on a girls only weekend with some friends. I'm not too well versed in the ways of Sand Hill cranes other than they mate for life. Obviously she was hungry and told him to check to see if we were home before she flew all the way over here. He did and we were.
I hope that some day soon a third little one will join us for meals. Ginger might have something to say about that but life doesn't get any better than renting out the backyard to a pair of grateful birds.
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