A human couple watched a sandhill crane couple build a nest in the pond near their house. The cranes cared for an egg and then a chick. The humans fell in love with Chickee, and took many photos of its infancy. Last night, during a tremendous thunderstorm, the humans told me that Chickee had been washed away in such a storm, and the parents had walked around for days, calling for their chick.
Last week, on a boat tour along the Tennessee River, a naturalist pointed out herons on the shore. We were not at all close. The experience made me grateful for living in Tampa near a pond regularly visited by cranes, ibises and various herons.
