Crane Watching at Sunset

There’s a moment each evening, right around golden hour, when the cranes along the Del Mar shore shift from hunting mode to roosting mode. You can see it happen — they stop their patient stalking, lift up, and glide to their evening spots on the rocks and along the lagoon.

I’ve started timing my evening walks to catch this. A great blue heron in flight against a pink and orange sunset sky is about as good as it gets for beach photography. Their wingspans are enormous — close to six feet — and they move with this slow, deliberate grace that makes them look prehistoric.

Last Tuesday I counted seven cranes visible from the waterline near Dog Beach. Three herons working the shallows, two more perched on rocks watching the waves, and a pair of egrets picking through the tide pools. The sunset behind them turned everything gold.

The cranes are always the last ones on the beach. Long after the joggers and surfers have packed up, they’re still out there, standing in the fading light like they own the place. And honestly, they kind of do.