Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Saturday, October 6, 2007

We left home at 7:15 a.m. and arrived at Sandhill Crane Wildlife Center near Babcock, WI just prior to 2:00 p.m. (as instructed). We had registered to participate in an overnight "workshop" on Sandhill Cranes, and met at the Activities Center with several other couples and one family. Our group was led by a DNR education employee and a number of area volunteers.
After getting acquainted, and learning a bit about the area and its history, we were driven to where we could set up our tents. Afterwards, we were taken to bog area and finished the trip by foot. Watching where you walk takes more effort when you're admiring the colors...
...and the plant material. The milkweed pods and their seeds were plentiful.
Hopefully the Monarchs had been, also!
After walking along the top of a dike, we spaced ourselves and sat along the edge within the plants and foliage. As we sat, we heard Sandhill Cranes calling and waited for them to appear. We watched the birds and the sky... absolutely beautiful.

Sandhill Cranes are large birds with a wide wingspan, long necks and legs that hang behind them as they fly.







They are also very observant. We were instructed to wear very dull colors and/or camouflage clothing. We had to be very quiet and remain as motionless as possible in order to not be detected. The following video clip is a bit of what we heard and observed!

By the time we returned to camp, it was dark. A delicious dinner was waiting for us! After some visiting, we headed for our tents. The morning agenda started early!

4 comments:

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Looks like you had a great time. The pumpkin festival looked like fun. You got much better pictures than I did. We have never been to Babcock, WI, I will put it on my list of places to see.

Shady Gardener said...

We did have fun. You'd enjoy it, I think. I'll be posting today on the Cranberry bogs we visited. Very educational and enjoyable, also. I'm sure you'd like it.

Cheryl said...

We had fun looking at the pumpkin boats! --Cheryl and Linus

Shady Gardener said...

Want to try one??? ;-)

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I enjoy being outdoors! I also love that I've two children (now grown up with families of their own)and six young grandchildren! :-) Sure would like to see them more often!!