Sandhill Cranes and Tundra Swans

On our way back from Barrie we turned off the highway to check out the huge empty corn fields where we had seen the Sandhill Cranes last fall.  We were wondering if they congregated in the spring like they do in the fall.

Looking across this huge corn field I was sure I spotted a small group of Sandhill Cranes in the distance, looking like dark dots even through binoculars.

Similarly in this photo, I was sure I was taking a picture of a pair of the birds in the distance.  But no luck when I enlarged the pictures.

We drove some distance down the pothole-filled gravel road and then stopped beside another pair of birders.  They pointed out these Swans on the other side of the road.  We're looking at the west edge of the enormous Minesing Swamp here, one of the largest swamps in southern Ontario, which floods widely every spring.

We had seen the high water level earlier, where the highway crosses the Nottawsaga River.  The actual river is over beyond those trees on the right.

These Tundra Swans have already started pairing up, though further south you can see fields of thousands of them.  Tundra Swans mate for life.

With a heavily cropped photo, we did see a few Sandhill Cranes with a mixed flock of ducks and gulls in the far distance.

I was more surprised to spot a section of old pine stump fence!  Decades ago when I was growing up in Woodstock, Ontario, I read the story of these fences after seeing some in the townships east of town.  Archeologists have concluded that these represent former areas of White Pine forest, growing on sandy soils.  White Pine are an early successional species if growing naturally, so they concluded that these represent in turn former areas of native settlement.  Sandy soils would have been the easiest to clear for growing their staple crops of corn, beans and squash.  Archeological finds have confirmed this, leaving me wondering if there was native settlement nearby.  There are hardly any old pine stump fences left in Ontario now.

Meanwhile here on the home front a cold front went through late yesterday, leaving a dusting of that white stuff this morning.  But it's been a bright sunny day today and it's virtually gone now.