Christy Yuncker Photo Journal

1996-2003

• In the summers from 1996 through 1998, two cranes were feeding around the pond.
• In 1999 and 2000, cranes were present for a week or more but we saw no nest.
• In 2001, the cranes made a nest but were chased off by a fox on June 10, just when eggs are expected to hatch. While the pair remained at the pond for most of the summer, they were dive-bombed mercilessly by several pairs of nesting mew gulls and wandering Bonaparte's gulls.
• In 2002, there was another face-off between crane and fox in mid-May. Nest defense apparently was successful that year, since we spotted a small crane colt in mid-June. The gulls harassed the crane family wherever they wandered about the pond. At the end of June, the colt was gone.
• In 2003, a colt survived long enough to develop wing feathers and a bustle, and to flap its wings as it ran about, but after mid-August, it was not seen.

Peter Pan-04

In 2004, we began to photograph the cranes and to record daily observations. Our photographs show that the same pair (Millie and Roy) have occupied the pond every summer since 2004.

6.7 million acres of forest burned in Alaska and for much of the summer, the sky was dark with smoke. Millie and Roy produced twin colts.

Woodstock-04 became sickly in early September and lay down frequently, with his head under his wing. In the photograph taken the day before Woodstock died, Peter Pan-04 is lying down close to Woodstock and peering at him.

Peter Pan flew off on migration with its parents a few days later.

2005

It was an excessively wet spring and the water-level in the pond rose two weeks after nesting had started.

In the heavy rain, Millie and Roy each took turns adding grasses to the nest and trying, with a beak, to roll the eggs to the highest spot within the nest, but the eggs did not survive.

Barabaro-06

Twin colts appeared on June 18. One of the twins disappeared two weeks later, but the remaining colt, whom we named Barbaro-06 was a delight to watch for the entire summer and flew off with Millie and Roy in early September.

Barbaro's growth is chronicled in a photo gallery.

His dance training, preflight training, and first lift-off are shown in other galleries.

2007

The nest was flooded and no colts hatched. The cranes reamained at the pond for the rest of the summer.

Oblio-08

In 2008, heavy snows came in April and the arrival of all birds was delayed. Roy and Millie dropped out of the sky on the morning of May 3 (5 days late). Upon landing, Roy settled down into the grass, spread his wings, and started to pick up nest materials. After desultory attempts at nest building over the next 10 days, Roy was spotted sitting on a nest on May 13. On June 14, we spied a new colt whom we named Oblio-08.

Oblio was somehow injured in July and was not able to run well for a month. Her flight training could not start until she could run, but eventually she recovered enough. Roy and Millie delayed their departure for migration until she could fly. Their compensation is describer in our Blog.

Three Photo Galleries to the right show Oblio in June, July-August, and finally in September, when she was able to fly, albeit with the injured leg hanging down a bit.

Jacques-09

Roy and Millie returned on April 29, 2009. Two colts, Jacques and Phyl, hatched on June 10/11 (see Blogpost of June 11, 2009).

Phyl died on the night of July 1 and suprising behavior followed, reflecting the emotional impact after the death of the colt. See Blogpost of July 10, 2009 and the gallery "Wake and Visitation".

Jacques left for migration with his parents in September.

Lucky-10

On April 22 - Millie and Roy returned to the pond and danced on the ice on Earth Day. For the next two weeks, they danced, mated repeatedly, and explored the neighborhood. Several times each day, Roy streted nestbuilding at various sites across the cranberry bog. The image to the right shows the pair examining a nest site and starting to build their final nest during a snowstorm).

Millie began to incubate on May 4. The twin colts hatched 31 days later, Lucky on June 4 and Chance on June 5. For the next two weeks, the colts and family foraged, including two half-day walkabouts

On the morning of June 19, Lucky, the larger twin, was the only surviving colt. In July, she continued to gain independence in foraging, danced with her parents, and began pre-flight training.

Lucky's first flight was on August 6, earlier than for most other colts. In the week thereafter, she flew on day-trips and overnight excursions with her parents.

The family departed for migration on August 30, 2010.

2011 events

• April 26 - Millie and Roy return.
• Late April - Dancing, feeding, mating, and exploring.
  Roy repeatedly tests nestbuilding at sites across the cranberry bog.
• May 6 - First egg laid and incubation begins.
• May 16 - As shown in the video below, Roy expels red fox from nest territory with Droop-wing Threat display.
• June 2/3 - A lot of activity, especially piling of grass, near the nest.
• June 8 - A single colt seen. It was named "Hastings", after an ongoing forest fire.
• June 9-11 - Roy, Millie, and Hastings walked 3/8 mile to a nearby pond, spent two nights, and then returned.
• July 5 - Hastings uses a Droop-wing Threat toward a squirrel.
• July 8 - One-month-old Hastings dances for the 4^th time with Roy and Millie. Hastings is a bit timid, probably because during the 2^nd dance (several days earlier) Roy bumped the colt and Hastings fell down (see video below).
• August 9 - Hastings fledged, and for the rest of the month of August, he flew with Millie and Roy on excursions (lasting an hour or more or overnight) around Goldstream valley. Hastings was a very precocious colt. He danced often with his parents and foraged independently, in addition to being fed by Roy and Millie.
• September 1 - In the early afternoon, the crane family took off and flew toward the ridge that borders Goldstream Valley on the south. Christy watched them spiral up, counting some 30 rotations until they turned south and disappeared over the ridge. We concluded that they had left on migration. However at 5:10 pm, the family reappeared, foraging in Bog Central. We expect imminent departure.
• September 3 - The family departed on migration.