Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Friday, February 15, 2019

A Special Guest Among Thousands of Sandhill Cranes~



~It's time to take charge once again and I think it will all work out~

My blog began as a Blogger blog, but we needed more support and Google came in and asked that we switch, but I was reluctant to do so.  Other bloggers explained it to me and so I did switch over and it worked beautifully until last year when so many comments could not be found. As of December ending Google had announced that they are no longer going to support our blogs and in fact will be deleting all Google+ comments by February 4. On Google+ alone I house 9,352 comments and those are mine, they are my gifts from over 400 of you cherished friends and followers from Blogger and over 725 on Google+ and yet they are going to DELETE all of them by April 2. The Notice says: 

Your personal Google+ account is going away on April 2, 2019!
All your Google+ comments on all sites will be deleted starting April 2, 2019!
My blog has such great meaning to me and causes me such joy and this is something that was mentioned in a December notification that never made it into my Gmail notifications. Google showed the Email address as pending, though it is the same email address attached to my blog since it's inception. 

I was very wary to switch back from Google+ profile to Blogger profile because there are so many questions with different answers out there and no real person to speak with.  I online chatted with a Google specialist for over 45 minutes last week and at the end he said, he was very sorry, but he had no solutions.
When I saw that all of the 9,352 comments had already been deleted from my blog on Google+, words cannot adequately describe the feeling I felt simply devastated! 
Then one day I was thinking wait a minute... I have kept every single one of my blogs notifications via Gmail and every one of those Emails holds each comment. Every single one of them ;) ! Gmail is not being affected by the deletion of the Google+ and so I still have all of my comments from the Google+ just no longer seen under each post published.  
Yesterday I did switch back to my original Blogger profile and held my breath and clicked on SAVE and then took a few deep breaths before viewing my blog.  All is just well!    

Currently I have 726 wonderful people who follow my blog via Google+ and another 236 who have followed me on Blogger.  When Google+ shuts down April 2, I will lose 490 of my friends across the country and around the world.  I hope that some of you who are using Google+ will try and stay in touch.  I appreciate everyone of you all so very much~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after    you have read the narratives~


I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:
Saturday's Critter


Anni at:
http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 
I'd Rather Be Birdin'
   
Angie at:  
Mosaic Monday
https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/


 Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global 
   http://communalglobal.blogspot.ca/

Stewart for:



I got a call back from the INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION and have learned a great deal about the Whooping Crane that I reported to them last Tuesday. 

The male bird is going to be 7 this Summer and his parents were born in the wild, but his egg was taken from the nest by the "Forced Re-nesting Program" and then raised in captivity by costumed handlers. One of the reasons this is done is because of a terrible little insect called Blackfly and they hatch about the time the young Whooping Cranes are hatching out, and they try and take eggs from the first nesting of the season so that the young birds are not plagued by these insects. The second nesting clutch no eggs are usually taken. This chick was given a name after his hatch of Fire Weed and then he became #1612 as part of the Whooping Crane Ultralight-assisted Migration program and went all the way to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida from where it was born at the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin his first year. He has had another male Crane that has been his buddy and they usually travel together, but this year his buddy met up with a female and now they are together as a pair. #1612 tends to be a loner and there is a single female nearby and the team at the foundation are hoping that the two will pair up. There are also two females that hang together and they lay eggs, but they are not fertile. It was absolutely fascinating to learn about this remarkable bird that I was blessed to come upon last week~ 


Some of the some thirty thousand Sandhill Cranes observed from the warmth of my car for over an hour Saturday and then this grand finale happened. I was an audience of one the entire time and I was in awe. This was when the birds gave me their grand finale. Yes...I wept tears of joy, God had truly blessed me. Be sure to turn up your volume~

                   https://www.facebook.com/MaryHowellCromer/videos/10216321645226790/



I love this image!  The Crane was tossing and kicking corn shucks up into the air as part of his elaborate dance to show off~



Hey Down, Ho Down ;) kicking up their heels~








These are a few more both above and below that out of over 1,000 images taken hit an easy top of the list for favorites~
















Some pretty little bird mosaics to brighten up your day~

Female American Cardinal~




Male American Cardinal~



Fox Sparrow~


Chickadee~





Red-breasted Nuthatch~


White-throated Sparrow~



American Goldfinch~



Female Brown-headed Cowbird~


Tufted Titmouse~



16 comments:

  1. We have been seeing ...and hearing 100's of Sandhill Cranes flying over these past couple of weeks. They are flying North now and most are high overhead! What an amazing time you had seeing that huge flock! Enjoy your weekend!

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  2. I love all your photos. It is very clear in your images that you have a love for nature. I could see some of these images featured in a magazine. What wonderful birds!
    Stopping by for Saturday's Critters.
    https://riacabralart.blogspot.com/

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  3. Hello Mary! Awesome post and photos. You are lucky to see the Whooping Crane. I love all the Cranes, they are beautiful birds. All your birds and photos are beautiful. I never made the switch to Google plus for my blog. I am glad your still have all your comments. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day! Have a happy weekend! PS, thanks for the comment on my blog.

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  4. Wow! Wonderful photos of the Cranes!
    All the other bird photos are great, too!
    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  5. HOLY MOLY

    Some of your best photography (and models) ever, today.

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  6. It’s a great pleasure to read your Blogsite. I enjoyed this Post.
    Happy MosaicMonday!

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  7. Absolutely stunning!!! I just got home from finding TWO W. Cranes. I love them so.

    Thanks for sharing Mary. (I'm in Hootin' Anni's blog admin, but this is for your linking at I'd Rather B Birdin...much appreciated.

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  8. Oh my gosh, that Whooping Crane! What a great sighting ...Amazing....I am thrilled just to see occasional Sandhills here in Florida ....we saw Whoopers only once years ago when we wintered in Texas. Your little birds (in comparison) are also beautiful...wonderful photos. I’m sorry about all the changes you have to put up with...I hate that kind of thing. But I’m sure your followers will find you. I’ve never been on google blogger or google plus, but I have you on my Feedly list so I *am* a faithful follower even if I’m not listed as one!

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  9. I'm so sorry about your comments - it's a terrible thing to happen. Your photos are gorgeous - I do love cranes.

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  10. Mary - it's amazing to me that the International Crane Foundation could tell you so much from your report about the Whooping Crane. I assume it was the bands around its legs that allowed them to make the identification? I am excited that the sandhill cranes are on the move - it means they are headed in our direction … Your mosaics are delightful - I admit to being partial to the female cardinal and the fox sparrow - gorgeous! Thanks for sharing the bounty of your photographs with the Mosaic Monday crowd! Enjoy the week ahead!

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  11. My, oh my. These are such beautiful photos of these amazing birds, Mary. Visiting from Angie's Mosaic Monday.

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  12. Your crane photos are absolutely stunning - and so are the other little birds, cardinals included. I don’t know so much about birds, but always enjoy seeing photos of birdlife.

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  13. Beautiful birds all. And thanks fot the info on "Forced Re-nesting Program
    Happy Mosaic Monday

    Much🌻love

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  14. Wow, those cranes. Such elegant birds! Great photos. I never made the switch to Google + for I found it very unfriendly to comments. I'm glad you have your comments in your gmail.

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  15. I wanted to stop by again and let you know what has happened to my happy Lavender Dreams blog. I've started a new one to let everyone know the details and I hope and pray blogger will restore my old one SOON! Please visit me at lavenderdreamsnew dot blogspot dot com I could sure use you support and encouragement. I know you will understand how I feel! Hugs, Diane

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