Sorry it took so long, but I did manage to see one again and you’re absolutely right! I tried to get a pic but couldn’t. Thank you!
Or dirty.
It’s supposed to be nice until Friday so** Boyo Jim **will no doubt be back to help us out soon.
I know this topic is a bit old, but found this bird in my backyard. Same bird?
http://s23.postimg.org/6z05dxzyj/P1030126.jpg
That looks like a sandhill crane to me.
The sharp beak leans toward crane, not emu.
Sandhill cranes are often discolored, because they wallow down in the mud and dirt. The ones up by Horicon Marsh often look like deer at a distance, because they are discolored by the reddish soil. When clean, they are a medium gray.
Cranes are only about four feet tall, with their necks erect, so I’m inclined to think maybe emus from a nearby farm, which are escaping and going semi-feral all over the country. Sandhill cranes always occur in groups, small flocks or family groups, so three would not be unusual, but I think wandering emus are usually loners.
I have been unable to finish my breakfast since I read this:
That last sentence keeps cracking me up!
That’s pretty damn close. Might be it, though it’s hard to say because the ones I was looking at were upright. And it’s hard to tell how tall your bird might be if it was upright.
How many heads? Any chance it was a Pierson’s Puppeteer?
The thing is, Boyo, there are only a few species of really tall birds native to North America, and only a few exotics that could fit the bill. All the likely suspects have been named: sandhill crane, great blue heron, whooping crane, emu, rhea, or ostrich. Which was it?
Was it hopping? Probably Marco Pogo.
Tunnel Bob jumping out of the ground?
Scanner Dan?