Sandhill Cranes and the Message of Mud Creek
My spiritual, revelatory experience canoeing on Mud Creek in Winneconne, Wisconsin with my husband, the sandhill cranes, Canada geese, red-winged blackbirds, great blue heron, and green heron.
About an hour before sunset last night, my husband, Dave, and I went for a canoe ride up Mud Creek in Winneconne, Wisconsin. Whenever we go out in the canoe, Dave steers and paddles from the back, and I paddle from the front. Last night he suggested I take my nice camera along. When I started to paddle, he insisted I relax and take pictures.
The water was peaceful and the first thing we saw when we came out of the channel were several families of Canada Geese. The little goslings followed behind their mothers while the fathers took up the rear, staying with stragglers and making sure everyone was safe.
As we drew close to the flocks, the parents ushered their little ones into the cattails.
There was a lot of moss and duckweed in the water, and Dave worked hard as we went into the more congested areas. At one point, Dave spotted a Great Blue Heron through a break in the cattails and took us into some water that was about 18 inches deep. He paused there, letting me take photos of the majestic bird.
After the great blue heron flew away, we realized we were in some intensely thick vegetation. At this point, it took both of us, pushing along the bottom of the creek with our paddles to get going again.
Next, we came upon lots of red wing blackbirds. The males flitted and chased each other over the cattails, solidifying their territorial rights. Other males puffed and fluffed and moved about, I suppose to attract the attention of the females in some form of mating ritual. I was able to get some great photos of these striking birds.
We went under a bridge, and I got some incredible photographs of a green heron flying from a dead tree into one with lush green foliage.
After passing this bird, which Dave says is usually incredibly shy and hard to get photos of, Dave grew excited about his next find … a sandhill crane off in some cattails. He navigated us through the break in the cattails and instructed me to look on the bank of the creek by a tree. It took me a few moments to see what he had indicated.
If you haven’t guessed yet, Dave is my spotter and navigator with birding. He finds the treasures, points me in the direction, and I do the photographing. It’s become our system this year since he gave me the Canon Rebel T7 for Christmas.
My Spiritual Experience with Sandhill Cranes
As we paused, facing the riverbank, I finally saw the sandhill crane’s slender neck, long beak, and oval body in the brush. The bird went back and forth from one side of the opening to the other calling out in its distinctive fast drum-like noise. Soon, we heard a second sandhill crane answering back from the other side of the marshy area.
The two conversed back and forth. I turned to look for the second bird, hoping to get a photo of it. All of the sudden, something unusual happened. Sitting there amidst the cattails with my husband behind me in the canoe, with these two prehistoric birds communicating with one another, and the sun going down in the distance, I had the most intense feeling sweep over me.
Tears formed in my eyes as the thick emotion took over my entire being. I sank into it, relishing in what I realize now was a combination of awe, wonder, and joy. It was as if time stood still until the second bird took flight. I didn’t even bother to take a photo. To do so would have disrupted the moment. I wanted to stay in that feeling.
Dave turned the canoe, and we headed out of the cattails. Not until we were out of the area where we’d seen the sandhill cranes did the feeling subside. Afterward, I told Dave what a surreal experience I had.
It was then that Dave told me that sandhill cranes are supposed to be very akin to the birds in the dinosaur era. He thought perhaps I was feeling something primal on a visceral level in witnessing the communication of these two prehistoric birds.
I wasn’t sure exactly what I was feeling at the time. There were no words.
The Message from the Sandhill Cranes and Mud Creek
This morning as I pondered and sank back into that sandhill crane moment, I realized that what I had felt was a mix of things. My husband had navigated me into these waters to witness something incredible. His strong arms had paddled us into the murky marsh and positioned me in the ideal spot to receive this experience.. He worked hard to do what he knew would bring me a fun experience and memorable photographs.
His divine masculine role as provider was radiating in its royal splendor … I felt safe in an area I might otherwise have been nervous about. I knew he could get us in there without tipping the boat. I knew he could get us out of those cattails. I knew his keen observation skills would point me toward birds. And I knew that all the effort he was making was his way of showing his love for me … doing all he could to bring his wife a blissful experience.
From this space, I could sit in the front of the boat in my divine feminine and RECEIVE the splendor of this encounter with God’s creations … a connection between a male and female sandhill crane as they communicated, most likely about their current or future nest.
In that moment, I was there, witnessing the primordial dance between masculine and feminine, giving and receiving, providing and nurturing, protecting and relishing in that protection. The birds were living this divine collaboration between masculine and feminine. I was living it. All of nature was living it around me.
Divine love radiated through that moment, filling that marshy cove. I realize now that the theme had played out through the entire evening — from the Canadian geese parents protecting their goslings to the sandhill cranes, to Dave & Marnie Kuhns riding a canoe up Mud Creek.
