Low water as usual. ~ 2 comments
There are a lot of Sandhill cranes here, I don't know how many. But rangers in the past have told me that they've had as many as 20,000 cranes here at one time. I don't know if there are that many here now, but there are at least as many as I've ever seen before, and yet there's only about half the amount of water in the lakes that I've seen in the past.
Another thing there are a lot of mosquitoes. And you all know how much I hate mosquitoes. I've been coming to Whitewater Draw for eight or ten years, and I don't recall ever seeing a single mosquito. And now there are bunches of them. When I was walking around the lakes about lunchtime, there were no mosquitoes. But this afternoon, they were everywhere. I thought maybe it was just a problem for me, but I wasn't the only one leaving the lake and complaining about mosquitoes. I thought, "No big deal, I'll just get some insect repellent out of the camper," but when I started digging around for insect repellent, all I could find were yard-guard type sprays and nothing to spray on me. Early mornings and late afternoons are prime crane time, and prime mosquito time, so I’m not sure what I’ll do. I wonder if I can spray myself with Yard-Guard?
Theboondork
11 a.m., I walk down to the lake to see what's going on. Apparently, nothing is going on. All the cranes are at Burger King for lunch.
12:30 The cranes have eaten every hamburger at Burger King, and now they're back at the lake, relaxing and having a beer. These cranes know how to live.
The cranes fill the sky when they're on the move.
The cranes are amazingly graceful when they're flying by.
It's hard to tell how many cranes there are. They don't all stay in one place. There are two or three different groups that stay in different parts of the lake.
I can't believe I get to see sights like this…. I'm so fortunate.