OK, there I was, in a 9 knot thermal down by Willard, climbing through 13,000 MSL. Cloudbase is about 1,500 above me and the lift is abundant; big, wide, smooth and strong. I saw several groups of migrating Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis tabida) during the flight, but most of them were fairly distant. Normally, Sandhills migrate in the typical "V" formation, harvesting energy from the wingtip vortices of the birds staggered along each leg of the "V." However, I had seen smaller groups on this flight actively circling in thermal lift. I noticed that they seemed to prefer thermalling in formation, with the entire group on one side of the circle, as opposed to other soaring birds like vultures, whose thermal flight path is much more like ours. They pick their own circles, and sometimes even turn in opposite directions.

In this particular thermal, there was a group of cranes circling several hundred yards away and climbing at least as well as I was. They seemed to have more skill (or a lower sink rate and tighter circling ability) than I did and were generally gaining altitude faster than my trusty Pegase 101. With each of my circles taking about 15-20 seconds, there was a substantial period of time when they were behind me and out of sight. I tried to pick them up visually as the nose came around each time.

I felt a sudden surge of stronger lift (over 10 knots now), so I tightened up the bank a bit and took another circle. When I came around again, I didn't see the cranes. One more circle, and I was suddenly in the middle of an aerial rush hour. The damn things had apparently seen my increase in climb and, like some experienced competition leech, came over and joined in the fun. At least they were going in the same direction, but the ones in front of me weren't looking back and my speed was higher than theirs. There was a furious bit of wing flapping and wild maneuvering on their part as i blew through the pack.

Do you know how big a Sandhill crane is? WRONG! THEY ARE MUCH BIGGER! Like, really big! Wikipedia claims a wingspan of 2 meters and a weight of around 9-15 lbs. Personally, I thought they were at least 500 lbs. with a forty-foot wingspan. Once my heartbeat calmed to about 300% of normal, they got smaller again. But it was a very tense situation for a few moments. As soon as I was clear, I dumped the spoilers and banked away from them, let them climb above me and carefully rejoined the thermal, with a few hundred feet of vertical separation, which i carefully maintained until the group rolled out of the lift, formed up in the "V" formation and continued southbound.

So, what would have happened if one or more had actually collided with me? Depending on the relative angle and speed differential, it could have done anything from causing minor scuffing to the fuselage, and (hopefully) no harm to the bird, up to catastrophic damage to both of us. Blown canopy, elevator ripped off, wing leading edge crushed....and probably a crippled bird spinning to its death, possibly followed by me as I struggled to get out and rip my fingernails off clawing for the ripcord.

All in all, it would have definitely affected my OLC score for the flight.

So, if you are out there merrily boating around in your plastic airplane and you see some cranes, wave politely, and keep a good eye out on them. Don't get too close- things can happen pretty darn quickly. Note that none of them were equipped with FLARM.

By the way, we've all heard the terms to describe groups of different birds.. (Murder of Crows, Exaltation of Larks, Parliament of Owls, etc.) I couldn't find one for cranes, and after this experience, my first choice would probably be rejected by the Audubon Club censors.

So, what do you think about "A Hoist of Cranes?"

Fly safe

Thanks for sharing.
Given the plot, how about "A Neck of Cranes"?

On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 7:26:54 PM UTC-7, Ido Millet wrote:
> Thanks for sharing.
> Given the plot, how about "A Neck of Cranes"?

siege of cranes
skein of geese

On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 9:10:27 PM UTC-6, Doug Bailey wrote:
> On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 7:26:54 PM UTC-7, Ido Millet wrote:
> > Thanks for sharing.
> > Given the plot, how about "A Neck of Cranes"?
> siege of cranes
> skein of geese
You can find some tracking of Sand Hill Cranes here, https://explorer.audubon.org/explore/species/1390/sandhill-crane/migration?sidebar=collapse&zoom=7&x=-1709020.3137860007&y=2907470.4084357563&range=0.7505%2C0.8691

No GPS equipped around Moriarty but many over Las Vegas NV

Good story. Well written.

I would suggest a "CRASH of cranes". 😄

John (OHM)

On Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at 6:01:00 AM UTC-7, Ron Gleason wrote:
> On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 9:10:27 PM UTC-6, Doug Bailey wrote:
> > On Monday, October 9, 2023 at 7:26:54 PM UTC-7, Ido Millet wrote:
> > > Thanks for sharing.
> > > Given the plot, how about "A Neck of Cranes"?
> > siege of cranes
> > skein of geese
> You can find some tracking of Sand Hill Cranes here, https://explorer.audubon.org/explore/species/1390/sandhill-crane/migration?sidebar=collapse&zoom=7&x=-1709020.3137860007&y=2907470.4084357563&range=0.7505%2C0.8691
>
> No GPS equipped around Moriarty but many over Las Vegas NV
That's a nifty map! It shows the Sandhill cranes migrating through our area of eastern Washington State last Spring. The town of Othello, WA, has a festival every March in their name. I've thermalled near their gaggles, but they've never joined me, and when I tried to join them, they switched to cruise mode and left me. They are big, they seem to climb well, leave the thermal when it weakens, and cruise with a fairly high McCready setting.