Sandhill Crane eggs

When I go to visit my parents in Sarasota I always see Sandhill Cranes.  These birds are a subspecies, called the Florida Sandhill Crane and are resident and do not migrate.  They are pretty common in that area and can often be seen in parks and neighborhoods.  They are also often seen along roadsides which sometimes lead to unfortunate fatalities.  I have seen a pair on the side of a very busy intersection at University Town Center Mall...

Luckily some pairs to pick safe spots in parks or near private ponds where they can build a nest.  The nest that I have observed are usually just a few feet from the shore of a small pond on a raft of vegetation (cattails and various grasses).  In the nest they lay two cream colored eggs, with a speckling of warm browns. In a month the eggs hatch and a very fluffy golden chick emerges.

Last year, I carved two Sandhill Crane eggs from pine and painted them with acrylic paints; painting the eggs in light  watered down layers with certain spots showing through. This year, I displayed them in a Waterford crystal bowl with wetland plants from the front yard pond.

 Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis ssp. pratensis - eggs -carved from pine and painted with acrylics.

Waterford Crystal footed bowl with wetland plants including: cattail, fragrant waterlily, 

and a grass which grows very aggressively around the pond.

 

A close up of the two eggs.