Rocket Man
I had been watching some hooded mergansers off to my right when I heard some sandhill cranes flying overhead. I trained my camera on one and took a sequence of shots, just playing around and not intending to keep them, but I like this shot of a crane coming in for a landing above the fall colors of Ridgefield. It reminds me of the rocket man who tours the world demonstrating his jet packs.
Cornbirds
This small cornfield is a reminder that much of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge is converted farmland. Sandhill cranes love the corn and there were several proposals to modify one of the units to grow more corn and attract more cranes, but I never heard the outcome. The proposals also included either lengthening or shortening the auto tour, depending on the impact to the birds, and possibly a new trail.
Fog
This crane was one of a handful off in the distance on a foggy fall morning at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge sits down low near the Columbia River and the fog can be pretty intense during the colder months. It wasn't too thick on this morning, but a few days later the entire refuge was fogged in until the sun burned it off a couple of hours later.