A Great Morning Walk and a Freight Train

Another beautiful morning in Utah so I headed off with the intention of seeing the Sandhill Cranes and the old freight railway that runs in front of Carlo & Sidne's house in Mendon.  

This is the railway line which is in a poor state of repair and the huge freight trains that run along it have to go at about 10 miles an hour maximum to avoid damaging it further. There is one train a day and I never expected to see it but today was going to be my lucky day. 

The closest I could get to Sandhill Cranes was two fields away

The view ahead of me on my walk. This is really a very beautiful area. 

Looking westwards back at the house we are staying in shows how lovely a view it has in every direction. 

The view north and more mountains

More Sandhill Cranes flying overhead 

While I was in the marsh area I heard a train klaxon way in the distance so I headed to the level crossing to catch it. It took about 20 minutes to arrive as it was going so slowly. It passed me at a brisk waking pace and had about 40 units in tow. 

We Arrive in Mendon

When we left San Jose an hour late we flew over Fraser in his office at Apple Park. Its an amazing place but I won't be able to visit it on this visit to California as they still don't allow visitors in. I would love to walk round the gardens with the recently planted 7000 mature fruit trees, most of which ar Apple.  

This is Carlo and Sidne's house in Mendon taken from the back garden. It's even more spectacular from the front but the sun was shining into the camera so I will take a photo tomorrow morning. 

Carlo has about 5 acres of Alfalfa which should be harvested soon. He needs to irrigate it twice a week or nothing would grow, but there is plenty of water from the snow run off in the mountains and underground springs.This is only one of his 2 fields.

The view of the side of the house

The view from our bedroom window. The town of Logan is in the distance but in between is marshland so there should never be any development there. There are lots of Sandhill Cranes that have spent the summer here and will shortly be heading off to Mexico for the winter.

Crane Hunting and a Visit to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

This morning after breakfast Carlo and I headed of in his buggy to find some Cranes. We soon found them in the marshlands and although they were quite a distance away I managed to photograph them

It was a bright but very cold morning with new snow on the mountains

Two Sandhill Cranes with their distinctive red heads

The mountains to the north of the Cache Valley

In the afternoon we headed to Brigham city and a visit to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

The Refuge has a visitor centre but the best part of it is a 12 mile Auto tour at the delta of the Bear river which is at the north end of the Great Salt Lake. There is about 50 square miles of marshland and one of the finest places to see migratory birds in the USA 

Not sure what these birds are but will find out and post the names soon

The reed beds stretched for miles

Two Pelicans

Closer view of a Pelican

More reed beds 

The road that stretches for 12 miles round the delta

The canal that helps control the water in the delta

A Canada Goose