Reifel has been one of our favorite places to visit over the years, but even it wasn’t spared the effect of COVID. They had to close back in March, and didn’t reopen until late in July. Justine and I finally got to head back this past weekend, and while the experience was a little different, it was still great to get back.
A blue heron drying its wings.
The major change that Reifel made was reducing the number of people allowed at one time, and requiring reservations.It wasn’t a big change but it does take some of the spontaneity out of our usual trips. This time of year is also generally quite slow, so our expectations were not that high.
After getting in and starting to wander, we did notice that there was a whole flock of sandhill cranes off in one of the fields that they are not normally in. The colours made for nice pics.
We also saw one of the odder things we’ve seen at the Sanctuary - a snake swimming across one of the ponds.
Definitely not a bird…
Northern harrier hunting the marshes.
After a pretty quiet visit to Reifel, we stopped at one of the local farms, as there was lots still in bloom.
