After spending the night in Chapleau, I started the 400 km drive to Terrace Bay early on this cloudy morning.
MYSTERY BIRD
I will identify the species at the end of the post.
The Trans Canada Highway in the north of Ontario doesn’t have a tremendous amount of traffic but there is enough to make it a little dangerous to pull off to the side.
For this reason I always take the highway that runs between Chapleau and Wawa. It is full of gorgeous scenery and, today, there was perhaps one vehicle every fifteen minutes. Perfect for regular stops. I was rewarded with very close views of a Sandhill Crane.
I saw a few of these but this is the best I could do for a photograph:
Other birds:
a few insects:
Some botany:
MYSTERY BIRDS
They took off as soon as they saw me – Ring-necked Ducks
MAILBOX
Forced to share her nesting platform with two muskrats and a turtle that seems to be sunning himself on the only convenient “rock.”
Birds – Scott Rykken (smugmug.com)
NATURE POETRY
Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays. – Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94)
Miles Hearn
Are these Sandhill Cranes part of the group of cranes that gather yearly in the mid western United States?
Are they an endangered species?
If you started near Massey, which highway did you take to Chapleau, Miles? Again, wonderful photos! Beautiful sand hill cranes. It’s a treat to follow your journey.
your pictures always remind me how beautiful this country is!!!!! the sandhill cranes are very beautiful and majestic. The reindeer lichen is so neat, looks like antlers……..I can’t thank you enough,Miles, for sharing the beauty of this land with us…….THANK YOU…….
Terrific pictures, and yes, the scenery is positively breathtaking! (For me, a literal intake of breath!) Thank you so much for sharing this fantastic trip to the north, Miles!
Miles! What a great encounter you had with the Sandhill Cranes, to be so close. It reminds me of when I saw them for the first time at Longpoint earlier this year. Brings back the thrill of having seen them. Thank you for sharing!