Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: crane

When I was on a walk in South Glenmore Park a couple of mornings ago, I zoomed in across Glenmore Reservoir all the way to downtown Calgary. So, even though these buildings look like they are just behind these trees, they are way off in the distance, approximately to the north east. The Calgary Tower used to be the tallest building in the city. Now, seen next to it, the building under construction is the crescent-shaped buidling called The Bow. It will be 236 m (774 ft) tall, with 58 stories (storeys). Total cost : 1.4 billion dollars! "The Bow is a 158,000-square-metre (1.7 million sq ft) office building currently under construction for the headquarters of EnCana Corporation. It will also be occupied by Cenovus, which was spun off of Encana in late 2009. The skyscraper will be built in downtown Calgary, Alberta. The building will be the tallest office tower in Canada outside Toronto, a title currently held by the Suncor Energy Centre's West tower, also in Calgary. The Bow is also considered the start of redevelopment in Downtown East Village. It is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bow_ (skyscraper)

These birds are in an enclosure at the Calgary Zoo, unfortunately behind dirty glass/plastic, which makes photos difficult to take. Just love the wonderful crest that these birds have - reminds me of an old-fashioned shaving brush, or maybe a dandelion seedhead! "The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two subspecies. The East African B. r. gibbericeps (Crested Crane) occurs from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda, of which it is the national bird, and Kenya to eastern South Africa. It has a larger area of bare red facial skin above the white patch than the smaller Balearica regulorum regulorum (South African Crowned Crane) which breeds from Angola south to South Africa. This species and the closely related Black Crowned Crane are the only cranes that can roost in trees, because of a long hind toe that can grasp branches. This habit, amongst other things, is a reason why the relatively small Balearica cranes are believed to closely resemble the ancestral members of the Gruidae. The Grey Crowned Crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing, and jumping. It has a booming call which involves inflation of the red gular sac. It also makes a honking sound quite different from the trumpeting of other crane species. The nest is a platform of grass and other plants in tall wetland vegetation. The Grey Crowned Crane lays a clutch of 2-5 eggs. Incubation is performed by both sexes and lasts 28-31 days. Chicks fledge at 56-100 days. The Grey Crowned Crane is about 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and weighs 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs). Its body plumage is mainly grey. The wings are also predominantly white, but contain feathers with a range of colours. The head has a crown of stiff golden feathers. The sides of the face are white, and there is a bright red inflatable throat pouch. The bill is relatively short and grey, and the legs are black. The sexes are similar, although males tend to be slightly larger. Young birds are greyer than adults, with a feathered buff face. Like all cranes, it feeds on insects, reptiles and small mammals. Although the Grey Crowned Crane remains common over much of its range, it faces threats to its habitat due to drainage, overgrazing, and pesticide pollution. The Grey Crowned Crane is the national bird of Uganda and features in the country's flag and coat of arms." From Wikipedia website.

Though I have seen one Sandhill Crane flying high overhead outside the city, I had to get this close-up at the Zoo! The Calgary Zoo also has a ranch outside the city for it's breeding programs, etc., and they have Sandhill Cranes there, too.