Big birds come to River Falls

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Sandhill cranes: Standing four feet tall and with seven-foot wingspans, they are some of the largest birds in the world. They also perform a mating dance where they face each other, bow, jump in the air and flap their wings while uttering loud cackling noises. Recently these birds were seen nesting on the city's south side.

One woman in her neighborhood heard the cranes a half-block from her home.

They were in the backyard of another home next to a gravel pit.

The woman said the cranes allowed her to come within 40 feet before they stalked away.

"I watched them there every day since last Friday, April 27," she said. "They meandered around the pit, near the pond and several people's backyards."

For more on this story, please see the May 9 print edition of the River Falls Journal.

Tags: river falls, outdoors, environment