The temperature reached 50 degrees earlier this week. Finally!! I decided to take a drive in the
countryside to see what was happening.
Farmland ponds were beginning to thaw and this one was full
of gulls in constant motion. Their squawking filled the evening air.
This Ring-billed Gull appeared to be leading the
chorus. While this gull often
lives year-round in the Great Lakes region, its location in the pond made me wonder if
it’d been migrating from a warmer climate. You know, one of those snow bird types who are returning
home from a warm winter away.
On the next corner was another pond with mallards busy
eating vegetation off the bottom. I
also saw a Red-winged Blackbird perched on the top of a spent cattail. It was singing its distinctive
trill. I’d never watched this
breed execute its vocalization, but each time it did, it puffed out its body
and expanded its wings. How much
energy it expended!
Off in the distance, I could see a huge flock of something
in the sky. My heart quickened,
but as the mass came closer, I could see it was (just) geese.
Truth be told, I’d been looking for another critter, and I
found it in one of the most unlikely places. As I passed by Hency Marsh, I saw it. A Sandhill Crane standing in the
snow. It wasn’t moving at all and
it made me wonder if it was stuck or frozen in space. Or maybe, it wasn’t moving because I was there so I drove off to
give it a chance to do it’s own thing.
As I rounded the corner, I came upon two more cranes, this
time in a setting more natural to them.
What graceful birds they are as they moved nearly in tandem through the
field. The cranes were not happy
with my presence, however, and quickly turned their backs to me and continued
the walk in a different direction, bugling their discontent the whole time.
With sunset approaching, I wanted to return to the marsh
to check on the crane I’d imagined was stuck in the snow. When I returned, the crane was gone so I
felt relieved. I was just about to
leave when my eye caught movement in the red vegetation. Camouflage artist! With its red eye and crest, the crane
blended in perfectly.