The Cranes Have Arrived

For some weeks now I've seen Canadian geese in the fields up and down the North Valley. Of course, some are year-round residents, but their numbers and the size of the flocks jumped up markedly since mid-Oct. But today, while working in the yard, I heard the unmistakable trumpeting of the sandhill cranes.

It took me awhile to find them--they were circling low over the bosque to the west, perhaps 50 of them. Its times like these that I feel sorry for the folks living in the Heights with their wonderful views, up close to the foothills. They never hear the singing of the cranes.