I never thought the sound hundreds of Sandhill Cranes could have an awesome affect on me!

The Adventures & Outings (A & O) gang and I spent our day traversing meandering paths, both wooden and paved, around a small portion of the Cosumnes River in anticipation of hearing the Sandhill Cranes’ “trumpeting” song and seeing the huge birds in the sky.  If one were to stand next to my wheelchair, I’d be able to pat him on the head and he would me reach me from six feet away with the tip of his wing.  But, the skies were clear of their shadows all day, however, our excitement grew as we heard some trumpeting sounds in the distance.

Landscape of Marshland

As we were anticipating our Sandhill sighting, we did see Egrets, Coots, Herons, Grebes, and Mallards diving and dabbling for their food.  I found it incredibly entertaining to watch the Mallards dabble as their downy bottoms pointed up to the sky.  A couple of Coots “showed off” their agility as they hurriedly dove for the same piece of food only to surface in a “tug of war.”

The moment quickly came when we had to pile back into our BORP bus, but that wasn’t the end of our “adventure.”  Apparently, one of our adventurers found out where the Sandhill Cranes fly in to roost; it was only five hundred yards away. Dusk had fallen when we got to the roosting area.  There was only a sliver of burnt-orange on the horizon.  As we were amazed by the serenity of the sunset, we witnessed a flock of fifty or more Sandhill Cranes fly over our bus and land onto their roosting area.  They continued to fly in flock by flock until an area the size of a couple or more football fields were filled. The Cranes’ bluish-gray plumage seemed to glow in the twilight.  While the Cranes filled the roosting area, their trumpeting song enveloped the bus and left us enchanted.

We were all awestruck by the magical moment of Nature’s tranquility.  Adventures & Outings not only takes me out of my ordinary life, but it soothes my soul. There’s no better elixir!