On the Highway: Whereas the birds are nonetheless right here

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OK, it certain regarded like a mud cloud.

I’d seen just a few tractors out within the fields as I rolled alongside and so they had been trailing mud as they went in order that’s what I assumed it was. Nonetheless, although, one thing wasn’t fairly proper. As a substitute of hanging within the air, it was shifting throughout the horizon, altering form, disappearing for just a few seconds after which showing once more.

And as I watched it, abruptly, I spotted what it was. It wasn’t mud.

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It was birds.

I’d left city unsure what to do with my day. First, I believed, perhaps head to the mountains and scout for wild horses on the way in which. Then I remembered the tamaracks up by Caroline and Burnstick Lake. They’d be wanting fairly good proper now. Both one sounded good. Each selections meant heading northwest in order that’s the path I went.

The morning was nice, a contact chilly however sunny. The poplars and aspens had been brilliant and golden and I hadn’t gone far after I got here throughout slightly moose that was attempting to cross the freeway to get to its momma. It had picked a foul spot, although, so I paused simply lengthy sufficient to seize an image. I hope the little man made it OK. I’m certain it did.

From there, I hit the Beaver Dam Creek valley by Madden and continued on north. I nonetheless wasn’t certain the place to go however tamarack nation was beginning to pull slightly bit tougher than the mountains so I rolled over the ridges towards the Little Crimson Deer River.

However pausing to take just a few footage by a sunny, dewy pasture — good mushy mild — I noticed a bunch of geese on a pond shut by. The autumn grasses and shrubs had been casting a bronze reflection on the water, the geese had been swimming with mergansers and mallards and as I shot my footage I believed, OK, the mountains ain’t going nowhere and the tamaracks will doubtless maintain onto their needles for some time but.

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However these birds aren’t going to be right here for much longer. So on the subsequent intersection, I turned east.

As soon as I began on the lookout for them, there have been birds in every single place. In a lavatory up the highway, I discovered a snipe poking round and a pair of canvasback geese on the open water. Additional east there have been ring-billed gulls and yellow-legs wading in a shallow slough.

Flying excessive and out of attain for even my longest lens, skeins of geese and household teams of swans. On the larger ponds, an entire number of waders and paddlers. And loads of color.

I nonetheless didn’t have any vacation spot in thoughts however since my stomach was telling me it wanted a pecan Danish, I headed for Linden in hopes the day’s pastry run hadn’t bought out. On the way in which, although, I’d be following Kneehill Creek and Linden Creek simply to the north.

The aspens and poplars had been nonetheless hanging onto their leaves and patches of brilliant yellow lined the valley sides. Down within the backside, thickets of roses and willows had been orange and crimson whereas the downy seed heads of thistles and hawkweed caught the solar. Birds right here, too, tiny locals like chickadees and migrators that didn’t cease lengthy sufficient for me to acknowledge.

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Placing up my little copter for an aerial view of the bends in Kneehill Creek — I missed the pastry run, dammit — a flock of small birds flew underneath the copter. American pipits, I feel. I might hear their voices as they flew by.

The creek valley was filled with autumn color, mushy browns and a little bit of inexperienced with the occasional lone aspen including a brilliant splash of gold. The fields round it had been blonde with trimmed stubble, inexperienced the place winter forage was rising and even yellow with volunteer canola that had sprouted and bloomed within the heat fall climate.

I discovered the birds I used to be on the lookout for simply up the highway at Swalwell Dam.

There are all the time birds right here, even in winter when the cattails alongside the banks throng with them, and at present was no exception. The shallow finish of the impoundment held Canada geese and dabbling geese like mallards and shovelers whereas tundra swans and snow geese paddled on the deeper water.

In amongst them, extra yellow-legs and even a willet. Coots bobbed alongside and a flock of pipits — for certain, this time — whizzed by at cattail-top stage. Within the grass across the banks there have been meadowlarks and household flocks of partridge. White-fronted geese flew in and landed with the snow geese and as I aimed toward them I noticed there have been just a few blue geese amongst them as nicely.

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Watching them, I questioned if there may be extra birds on the opposite lakes additional south so I headed again throughout the Kneehill Creek valley towards Irricana. On the way in which, I noticed that mud cloud.

Usually I wouldn’t go chasing a mud cloud however after seeing the way it was shifting and understanding there have been migrating birds within the space, I simply needed to go examine. Different clouds that I’d seen had turned out to be flocks of geese or geese so I actually needed to take a look.

Not this time, nope, not geese or geese. This time, it was starlings.

Extra starlings, in truth, than I’ve ever seen in a single bunch. I don’t know what number of there have been however there needed to be nicely over a thousand. The flock was so huge I couldn’t get all of it in a single picture and there have been a few different, smaller, flocks shut by. They whirled and swirled, dropped right down to a area and disappeared into the stubble solely to emerge and fly off once more in a roar of wings and peeps.

Man, they had been laborious to {photograph}. In contrast to the massive flocks of geese I’d seen a pair  weeks again, these flocks had been made up of hand-sized birds. Specializing in a single hen left a smear of out-of-focus blobs behind them and taking pictures into the flock was like attempting to get a ball in focus. The one factor that’s sharp is the curve that’s closest to the digital camera.

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Nonetheless although, superb to see. I watched them till they spun away past the horizon.

I saved look ahead to extra birds as I rolled south towards the lakes close to Irricana and stopped to fly my little drone over the sand hills and ponds south of the Rosebud River. Fairly nation pocked with pothole ponds and grassy dunes however no birds. A few Hutterite gents stopped by to see what I used to be as much as and we had a pleasant chat earlier than I moved on. There have been just a few gulls on the close by lakes and some tundra swans far off on the water however there have been no extra flocks till I hit Bruce Lake east of Keoma. There, a fair-sized flock of snow geese huddled alongside the shore with their white-fronted cousins whereas on an island additional on the market had been extra white-fronted geese. Past them, autumn-bright poplars and a pleasant crimson barn.

The birds had been fewer from there on. A flock of ring-billed gulls sat by a shallow slough close to a feedlot west of Nightingale. They flew off when a harrier got here by. After which, nearer to Strathmore, I discovered just a few pintails. Beautiful geese, I haven’t seen very lots of them in any respect this yr.

After that, nothing. Which is simply as nicely. It was already 5:30 and the solar was heading west. The times are nonetheless stunning however they’re getting shorter. Time to go again to city.

Nevertheless it had been a reasonably good day contemplating I had no thought what I used to be going to do. Did I make the precise alternative choosing the path I went?

Properly after all I did.

As a result of in southern Alberta it doesn’t matter what path you select to go, you’ve made the precise alternative.

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