Sandhill Cranes at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge

I drove out to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge area before the weekend festival to avoid the crowds. I'd hoped to go at dawn, but the warnings about icy roads dissuaded me, so a sunset visit instead. There were several people at the observation deck- most with cameras or binoculars. I don't have a good bird/wildlife lens, but I took pictures anyway. I can console myself over my batch of unimpressive shots with the thought that maybe there's no one who could adequately capture the joy of standing for a couple hours watching thousands of cranes.