chasing cranes...

...unsuccessfully.

The cranes that spend the afternoons & nights here where I'm camped fly out at daybreak to feed in the nearby corn fields - nearby means up to 40 miles away. So, this morning, I drove around where these cornfields are to see if I could find any of the cranes out there eating, but without success. 

Before driving around, I watched the cranes fly out around sunrise. 

This pond is very close to the one I'm camped at. This egret is quite happy there, but it doesn't attract cranes, as they want an open area around their pond.

These info boards were at the other nearby areas with ponds for the cranes. 





Just west of my spot here is the Wilcox Playa (a dry lake bed). 

When the winds picked up early this afternoon, it picked up sand & salt from the playa. 


A short time later, the blowing sand completely obliterated the view to the mountains beyond, & the winds were fierce until nightfall. 

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