Shillapoo Part II

Early morning on the way to Shillapoo I noticed a large flock of Sandhill Cranes in a farm field. I stopped in the middle of the (low traffic, no shoulder) road to quickly capture the moment. “Often heard before seen,” these tall birds have a distinctive loud, resonant, “wooden-sounding bugle with rattling or rolling quality.” It’s true, they do.

They’re uncommon in the Portland-Vancouver area except during migration so I was pretty excited to find them. I even took a short (and shaky) video. I tried not to dawdle in the middle of the road. If there had been a safe spot to pull over, I would have enjoyed more time watching these amazing creatures.
 

I encountered a few other beautiful birds on my trek to the park:

 
The birds seemed to enjoy the warm sunny day as much as I did. Cheers to spring!

Audrey