Rowe Audubon Center

I spent the afternoon at the Rowe Audubon Center which is 

20 minute drive from this hotel. Here a flock of snow geese are coming in. Snow geese are all over the place here.

I am signed up for the crane experience at 5 p.m. I did this once before. A friend and I came about 7 years ago and did the evening crane experience twice. I forgot my camera at home. My friend refused to share her photos. We aren't friends anymore.

This place is run by volunteers from all over the United States and Canada.

Red winged and Brewer's blackbirds fly in for a snack.

Pine siskins and gold finches.

Now it is 5 p.m. We wait for the cranes to come in. The two ladies next to me are very talkative. One of them skis at Lutsen. The other one's sons attended St. Olaf College. As a child she spent summer vacations on Ottertail Lake. She frequented the corner store. They tell me the Platte River is running dry because of the drought.

Here they come. Time is 7 p.m.

With my binoculars I watch one crane circle the group three times before landing. I can relate. I do that in my car too.

Wow, the sky is full of cranes. Our guide rates this as a 7 out of 10 experience.

The crane center has a crane camera. One volunteer I spoke with has the job tonight of moving the camera and panning in with close ups. She said it is her favorite job. She is from Steven's Point, Wisconsin. She volunteers here for a full month for seven  years now.