Maple River

Maple River State Game Area, north of St. Johns, Michigan. Taken last spring; scanned from a slide.

Maple River State Game Area, north of St. Johns, Michigan. We saw Sandhill Cranes, Herons of several sorts, lots of ducks, a few geese, and some hunters setting out decoys. A fine afternoon.

At Maple River State Game Area, north of St. Johns, Michigan. The bridge spans a ditch between two dikes. A very different view, here .

I've shown you this bridge before . In that picture it seems an old, weathered, wooden footbridge. From this angle it's revealed as a steel (or perhaps aluminum) structure with a wooden superstructure. Still attractive, but not exactly what it seems. But likely durability's an issue. Maple River State Game Area, north of St. Johns, Michigan.

There's a heron wading on the far edge of the pond. (There generally are. That's one of the reasons we visit.) I was fighting the camera's autofocus the entire walk. This shot came out all right. Mostly the others didn't.

Canada Geese at Maple River State Game Area, north of St. Johns, Michigan.

What with yesterday's excellent weather, we made our way to Maple River State Game Area and wandered around on the levies. We went mostly to walk, but it's a bird watcher's paradise. Yesterday we saw: * Paired-off Canada geese, nesting. Hundreds of 'em. * Hundreds of ducks. Lots of variety. * A few gulls. * Some swans, possibly tundra swans, in the distance. Joan was hoping for more, and closer. * What was likely a golden eagle, but too distant to be certain. * The usual small birds. Mostly starlings this time. We also heard lots of frogs, which was fun. I didn't bring my DSLR, as we were out mainly for exercise, and the still-brown foliage and flat terrain makes for dull pocket-cam photography. But this family brought serious gear, and presumably got some fine views (& photos) of the geese.