I installed blinds on Ducks Unlimited property near the tiny town of Marcelin. The area has been the epicenter of fall migrators for the past several years. The wetland where I placed the blinds turned out to be a magnet for roosting whoopers this fall. I saw from 60 to over 100 whoopers on average the nights I was there. These numbers were unprecedented until a couple of years ago. I got lucky.

I captured hours of behavior and interactions among families, family groups, sub-adults and adults, and other species too. And I watched a glorious full moon rise. I was also introduced to “The Church Family” whoopers, with one adult (White-Green-Red). I gave them that name because their nightly roosting location was just outside my blind, with Marcelin’s 100-year-old Catholic church in the background. Over time, these birds became my daily muse.

Later on this trip, I shot aerials with the Mitcheson Flight Service of the northern edge of the Great Plains prairie potholes—mostly in agriculture—capturing the mix of post-harvest, fall color, and drought. I installed a timelapse camera on the Ducks Unlimited wetland next to my blind, set to take photos every hour from dawn to dusk for the next year. Canadian Wildlife Service biologist John Conkin installed another timelapse camera near a crane sandbar roosting site along the Saskatchewan River near Saskatoon, charged with doing the same thing.

I also made friends with folks running a mom-and-pop motel in Blaine Lake. I alternated nights in the blinds and nights at the little motel for two weeks. My water bottles froze in my sleeping bag one night. The highs were generally above freezing. The lows were generally in the low teens.