Five years ago, Pure Muskoka posted a photo of these two giant birds running through a marshland. They were tall with white feathers and red heads. I’d never seen them before, or heard of them, but learned they were called sandhill cranes and that they only pass through Muskoka for a brief period every year.

After that, I really wanted the opportunity to see and photograph these birds. I started getting into wildlife photography during Covid. I’d already owned a DSLR camera, but the slow pulse of the pandemic months gave me the opportunity to learn how to use it, and the lack of human activity meant that I turned my attention towards nature.

My first sighting of Sandhill Cranes on a dreary April day.

A few months after Pure Muskoka posted this photo, I started working at their store in Bracebridge. I’d grown up with the owners’ daughter, and my brother had followed their page since the beginning. Over the last five years, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute my photography to the team. I’ve been lucky enough to photograph a number of different species around Muskoka: deer, owls, loons, herons, to name a few. And I’ve widely extended my knowledge of local wildlife and nature. But something I still hadn’t gotten the opportunity to see was a sandhill crane.

Earlier this week, I was chatting with my boss, Cindy, about a hike she’d just gone on at the Torrance Barrens. She mentioned briefly seeing a couple of sandhill cranes before they disappeared into the bush, and it reminded me that we’re currently in that brief window of time when they pass through Muskoka. I said I’d still never seen one but really wanted to, and knew that if I wanted to try, I’d have to do it fairly soon.

The Torrance Barrens is amazing. Even on a foggy, rainy day.

The next morning, driving to work, I see these two giant birds standing in a park. My first thought was that herons had returned after the wintertime, but as I kept going, I realized the birds I’d just passed were much bigger. I used a side road to turn around and headed back to the park. I pulled into the parking lot, and sure enough, across the field were two sandhill cranes.

One unspoken rule about being a wildlife photographer is that you should always have your camera on you , and in this particular moment, I didn’t. I got out my phone and zoomed in on two blurry blobs that one could decipher as a pair of birds, but at that point it was just some sort of proof. Still, I was excited about the encounter and couldn’t believe they appeared after I’d just talked about never seeing one! They ended up flying away after a minute or two and I carried on to work, but this gave me even more motivation to head over to where Cindy had seen them while hiking a few days before.

A few days later when I was in the area, I made a point to bring my camera. Just in case. I’d been wanting to go out, but it’d been raining all week and there was a chance of thunderstorms. By the time I finished work at the end of the day, I only had an hour-long window to head over to the spot. I didn’t have big expectations, because wildlife is a subject that you can plan for and wait hours at a location to see, with no luck. Or, you could have one of the most amazing encounters when you least expect it.

Two Sandhill Cranes, appearing from behind Muskoka rock.

I parked the car and grabbed my camera. It was drizzling outside but not too badly. I walked down the path and when I reached the opening, I looked to my right, and there was a sandhill crane grazing on some plants, probably 30 feet away from me. I froze as soon as I saw it. And when I looked up, there was another.

They noticed me because I came out of nowhere. So they wandered away and kept foraging, but didn’t fly. I kept my distance and watched them for probably 40 minutes; just me, these giant birds, and my zoom lens. I couldn’t believe my luck. I saw their tall legs and white feathers and red heads. And as I stood there in this marshland, I heard the spring peepers for the first time this spring.

They're natural posers.

Eventually, the sandhill cranes carried on into the bush, the rain started coming down hard, and I had to get going.

So, here we are, five years after Pure Muskoka posted that photo. I’ve gotten to see and photograph sandhill cranes myself…And now Pure Muskoka has some new photos to share. ;)