DODGING RAINDROPS

 

The evenings this past week have been mostly dark, wet, and rainy.  Not the best weather for photography.  While it wasn’t sunny, there was a break in the rain Sunday evening so I headed out.   

 Right away, I saw my family of three Sandhill Cranes.  They weren’t in their regular area, however.  Instead, they were grazing in a cornfield a couple of blocks away from their normal habitat.

 

Up the road a bit, where I typically see them, were two more adult cranes pecking in the grasses for food.  

I headed over to the marshland near Anderson Creek.  I hoped to catch the Great Blue Heron I’d been stalking much of the summer.  Two cars were headed my way and my heart sank as I thought they’d flush it from the marsh.  I was right and the huge Great Blue immediately took to the air.  I caught it in flight this time, though.  

 

But the biggest surprise of the evening was the amount of fall color that was already showing, this last week of September.

 

Some trees were already showing red-orange color, and others were turning yellow.  I didn’t have my wide angle lens with me, but my long lens captured enough of what was happening.

 

Even though the skies were gray, the colors in this stand of trees were vibrant.

 

A light rain had begun to fall so I called it a night.  I was excited that the fall color season was beginning, perhaps a bit earlier than usual.