Snow Geese on Sauvie's Island

Today looks to be the last of our sunny clear weather for a while...guess we will be back to rain within hours! I decided to enjoy the day knowing that soon it will be hard to get outdoors for good shots, so off I headed for Sauvie's Island....my second trip there! This time I was by myself, so not on anyone's clock, and I was able to explore more and found some wonderful areas and many geese and breathtaking scenery. This really is a slice of heaven right near a metropolitan city...we are fortunate to have such beautiful spots, and to have them so well protected for wildlife!

I really thought I was in heaven today....i decided to park in a Oregon Wildlife Parking Lot (yes, I bought a yearly tag for parking), and then saw a road across the street that seemed to go towards the sound of lots of geese. It was posted as a no driving area, but it did not say I couldn't walk (ha!), so off I went. The fields in front of me were alive with Snow Geese and Canada Geese. I also saw some larger geese, but wasn't sure what those were. As I approached (this was a good 5 blocks in) several groups took to flight, and the sound was so amazing. I just felt wonderful standing there in the middle of the island, all by myself, listening to the racket!!

As I got closer, I could see that there were sandhill cranes. I had seen these on my first trip to the island, but they were so far away, the photos were terrible. This time I got them taking off! They really are amazingly beautiful.

I've posted the day's shots....and have a bird that I'm not sure on the ID, so maybe some of you birders can help me. Check out those photos on flickr, CLICK HERE!!