Sweetie and I got home yesterday and realized that we hadn't quite found the perfect vantage point for seeing the cranes. So, after a bit more research, we ventured out again this afternoon. We first drove down across a bridge, and turned into a curious little village. If you want to know more about that, you'll just have to ask me.
We eventually reached our planned destination, but there were too many trees in the way. Sweetie scrambled down an embankment slightly, but then the 1000+ cranes all flew up and relocated further up the lake (someone assured us the cranes were NOT skittish...).
So, we rumbled back to the car in the zero-degree windchill weather. And headed back to the state park and our original vantage point on New Year's Day.
We eyed the mudflats, and having heard yesterday that someone else had walked across them, we decided to try. I had my long camera lens and its teleconverter. So, it was worth trying to get closer. We made our way down the mudflats and looked north to find a suitable crossing point (ie: one that did not involve crossing 20 feet of thin ice). We eventually made out way to within about 60 yards or so of the cranes. The low light made picture-taking challenging, and as I told Sweetie, there was NO WAY I was dragging my tripod out there and setting it up. As it was, I think we were mildly hypothermic, certainly I was, by the time we made it back to the car.
At any rate, it was an incredible site to be so close to thousands of cranes. At one point, they started flying around up above us and their sound is so distinctive. Truly a New Year's to remember!
1 comment:
Oh, shades of Japan. I always saw one or two in the local rivers, but never a thousand together. It must have been breathtaking!
Happy New Year to you both in this Tiger-Burning-Bright year.
:)
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