Canada geese

Fall flight

lindastaatsphoto2 Comments

In my last post I promised to share images from our camping trip to the west. But that will have to wait – fall has arrived in all its glory here in northwestern Wisconsin. The colors started to turn in early October, but we then had a week of unusually warm weather both during the day and the night. With that, the change of colors seemed to stall. And then strong and gusty winds blew all the color onto the ground.

A second phase soon developed, and our rich autumn colors have progressed to peak. It is a glorious time to be out and about. Every road and every field is alight with color. The golds and yellows, reds and oranges, and the deep russet of the oaks – they are all appearing in a symphony of color right now.

With this there is a great migration of birds coming through and starting their journey south. The loons were gone by the first few days of October. The males left first and were followed later by the females, leaving the young ones to fend for themselves and then to head south on their own. It’s amazing to me that these loons that were only born a few months ago can navigate their way south by themselves.

The Canada geese and the wood ducks are gathering. The sandhill cranes are feeding in the harvested fields. Soon all of these will be leaving. The last birds to come through our area seem to be the hooded mergansers. They will arrive and yet leave a short time later. And then our lakes will start to freeze.

But this is the time to know that the cycle of seasons continues once again, and we can appreciate Mother Nature’s palette of colors before we transition to winter.

Mergansers migrating through

lindastaatsphotoLeave a comment

Although the lake had some ice forming a few weeks ago, the unseasonably warm stretch with temps in the 60s and 70s has kept the lake open.  And with that there’s been a steady “parade” of waterfowl on the lake.  The grebes, or helldivers, have been plentiful and there has even been a passing pair of loons.  The Canada geese are honking loudly as they fly past and then skid on the lake surface to land; their flocks seem to be getting larger as they’re preparing to migrate south in their signature V formation.

And there have been an unusually large number of hooded mergansers swimming in the lake.  I have counted up to 50 in one area, taking their turns at diving down for small fish and other food.  This evening as the sun was setting, the pink color of the sky reflected onto the lake surface as the last gasp of sunlight hit the distant shore.  Soon our lakes will freeze over and all the waterfowl will have left the northern areas and gone south in search of open water.

On the wing

lindastaatsphoto2 Comments

The days are shorter.  The nights are colder.  The first snow of the season has fallen.  And our lakes are starting to ice over as we begin to slide into winter.  Along with all these changes there is an increase in the activity of the ducks and geese.  One of my favorites sights and sounds is a flock of Canada geese flying overhead — the beat of their wings and their honking is music to my ears.  Since I live between Lake Como and the agricultural fields of the University of Minnesota I am on the path of the geese flying from the water at the lake to the food at the agricultural crops at the U.  So many times I am stopped in my tracks to look up and appreciate their flight overhead.  I know that soon enough the majority of geese and ducks will have migrated south to warmer climes and we will return to the hush and quiet of the snow and the cold of winter.  In this week of Thanksgiving, the geese and their winged flight are one of the many things I appreciate and am thankful for.