Autumn In Crex Meadows

A friend and I, after waiting a few weeks for our schedules to both be clear, finally made it for a full morning in Crex Meadows. We usually get there in the afternoon, or even at sunset one time. For those not familiar, it is a 30,000 acre wildlife refuge on the north side of Grantsburg, WI, the former location of Crex carpet factory. For us it's less than a 40 mile drive one way, heading across the state border to St. Croix Falls, then straight north. How much one drives once there is your individual choice. I've tried over the years but still haven't seen it all. 

The goal for this particular trip, aside from fall color, was to arrive as soon after sunrise as possible. The sandhill cranes are collecting there now, feeding heavily in the surrounding areas during the day and returning in the evenings for a safe staging ground before they fly south. Unlike the cranes everybody hears about in Nebraska which head south to New Mexico and Arizona, these head to the SE US, currently knows as hurricane central. Milton just hit Florida last night, if you need a bit of perspective on why they wait till late fall at Crex while stuffing themselves for their long migration. Usually they head out in late November, when numbers can rise to 20,000 birds .

Just after sunrise the cranes are lit from below in bright colors by the sun when the sky is clear, which we were lucky enough to arrive in time for. This time of year that means leaving home around 6:30 to 7:00... and being lucky. I will point out that sandhills can usually be indentified in flight because the neck is held straight out in front and the feet straight out behind, making them look much like a grey stick with wings. Other large birds tuck their necks, their feet, or both.

After most of the cranes have taken off for feeding grounds, the waterways are still full of trumpeter swans, in this case with three of this summer's cygnets. At this time it is possible to see a hundred swans when you visit...

and very dense flocks of ducks, also working on their southern migration. Hunting is allowed in season. In fact the duck hunters give a huge amount of financial support to the refuge.

 

Flocks continue to fly up and out  for around an hour in the morning, and can range from a pair of cranes to over a dozen, usually several flocks airborne at any given moment. Even if you can't see them you will hear them, their primordial sounding calls unmistakable, and audible long before they themselves are visible or they disappear again.

Fall colors can be spectacular this time of year. This birch has been dead for several years now, but is a great marker for where a stream meanders out of Fish Lake and a great blue heron likes to hang out.

I have summer shots of it, but the morning light down in the hollow was not kind so early this day, eight different shades of grey not quite making the cut, so I threw in a summer shot.

We decided to head over to the Phantom Lake area after a bit.

Driving north up the west side of Phantom Lake one can find cranes out and about hunting breakfast. Being omnivores, that can include anything they can catch and swallow.

Some will be off below the road in a large marsh.

This time we saw something very unusual, a road full of them catching some early morning rays along the road. I knew stopping the car to open the door and avoid shooting through the greenish car windshield would set them flying.  They would have already been gone had another car been on the road that morning before we were on it. My friend did manage to get photos reaching her camera out the window and aiming forward, but even that motion set the nearest couple in flight. Yes, she got great shots of them launching while I was driving. I both envy her and celebrate her success. C'est la vie! Creeping forward another few feet set the next pair off, and an oncoming car (finally!) set the rest off to cross the lake.

By this time, most of  what there was holding still enough to catch a good shot of was literally rooted to the ground.

Our last half hour was spent shooting trees in all their glory. They didn't fly, nor make noises without aid of some wind, and their glory is short lived each fall. But if you can be there within the correct but ever changing range of days, they are not shy to show off for every visitor.