Change of season

November. The warm nights of October have slipped away as fall fades to winter. The days are getting shorter and long shadows are cast across the grass and reeds surrounding the wetlands. At Isenberg the sunsets hues are gold and orange as the first vanguards of storm clouds ring the horizon. This is the right time to visit the wetlands. The cranes have arrived in force and the fog and cold of December is still a handful of weeks away.

I made a quick trip to catch the sunset and watch the cranes arrive for the night. As the sun slipped behind the hills the cranes began to filter in. First only a handful at a time but then in waves numbering hundreds. As the light faded the sky shifted from a warm orange to a deep magenta as dusk crept away the cackle of the cranes filled the air. Half an hour after the sun sets the cranes still flying in to the wetlands, settling down gently in the darkness silhouetted against the last light reflecting in the water.

I only have a few more trips to Isenberg this season before the cold rain and fog obscure the wetlands for the season. I will have to get my last visits to the cranes in soon as we all prepare for the winter months ahead.