migrants on Fox River

migrants on Fox River --

geese sleeping on the gravel bar,

white egrets fishing

On the way home from Chicago, we stop at the Fox River to take a gander at the slalom race course. The water is way down, so the course is barely recognizable from previous whitewater races.
          We walk downriver on a gravel spit, one of many elevated by the drought. A small colony of Great White Egrets are fishing along the far river bank, standing stock still or slowly stalking prey on their gangly black legs, sinuous necks curved, sharp yellow beaks poised to spear. One egret seems to notice my presence and takes off downriver, its neck retracted in flight.
          I am so engrossed in watching the elusive egrets that at first I don't notice a flock of Canada Geese sleeping on a gravel bar between me and the white herons. With their black heads tucked into their backs, their rounded gray and white forms blend in with the gray and white rocks. At the upriver end of the bar, I spy a lone gander standing guard, eyeing me as I move back upstream. He makes a little warning sound and some of the sleepy heads suddenly pop up and stare at me, but no one seems inclined to move from their warm spot in the afternoon sun.
          Today we're migrants on the Fox River -- Great White Egrets, Canada Geese and a couple of curious humans -- all heading south.