In Search of Sandhill Cranes (Again)

It was late August when we last went for a drive in search of Sandhill Cranes.  They aren't due to form their big flocks prior to migration until the last week of October, so Mrs. F.G. obviously enjoys the drive for its own sake!  We go slowly through the marsh to see what we can see, before reaching the back road where we saw the enormous flock last year, always in recently harvested corn or soybean fields.

This time was very similar, except that the Egrets have already left.  Never-the-less, the marsh was interesting as always.

Looking across the open water Mrs. F.G. saw a white dot, right below the taller tree in the centre.

I zoomed in as much as I could, and there were two blurry swans.  Likely these are Trumpeter Swans, the biggest bird in Ontario, reintroduced a few decades ago from eggs produced by birds in Alberta.

A troop of Canada Geese stood on a nearby island.

Looking across the nearer marsh was a sea of lily pads.

Lily pads, rushes and trees turning colour!

We really must come here in spring sometime, to see what water levels are like then.

We reached the end of the marsh and turned down the sideroad, but immediately saw the soybeans were still not harvested.  Our hunt for Sandhills won't likely be very successful...