Blue Cranes

Blue Cranes & Karoo Landscape
Karoo Landscape with Blue Cranes

Since May, a pair of Blue Cranes has settled on Silvermere. It is really quite unusual that they have made themselves at home here. Yesterday, while hanging out the washing, I heard their wistful calls and saw them circling high overhead. Usually we only see the occasional visiting cranes just passing through. We used to say that they were a rain omen, one of the many that farmers in our part of the karoo use to predict the rains.  I have taken a few photos of ‘our’ pair, and felt inspired to paint them again, for the first time since way back in 1995 & 1997.

Pair of Blue Cranes
Two Blue Cranes

In those days, we saw big flocks of them in the Caledon district, and several paintings followed. But, more recently I photographed a flock that we saw on a trip home from the Nieu Bethesda district. This big watercolour depicts the cranes in the landscape where I saw them.  The other 2 sketches were drawn from photos of our new resident pair of beautiful and graceful Blue Cranes.

 Blue Crane sketches
Sketching Blue Cranes

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Comments

5 responses to “Blue Cranes”

  1. Sue Pownall Avatar

    These are lovely Barbara.
    I hope they bring as much rain as you need.

    1. Barbara Avatar

      Thanks Sue, and actually we have had some good rain this past month so their omen must have worked :)

  2. Jerry O'Neill Avatar

    Do you know that the oldest crane was a siberian crane named Wolf. It lived for 83 years!

  3. Abby Bristol Avatar

    Just beautiful!

    1. Barbara Avatar

      Thanks Abby !

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