I was taking Sasha for a walk down an abandoned rail line when I spotted these two cranes waaaay off in the fields. I was unable to get very close (and I didn't want to disturb them), so this is not a great shot sadly. But I post it because it shows how well they blend into the dry vegetation, and because it shows the brown colouration on their backs. Some Ornithologists think that the colour comes from ferrous content in some of the mud they feed in, and that the colour is spread onto their backs when they preen.