A week ago, we took our first Limo ride of the season on the La Crosse River Trail, which crosses a few miles of marsh as it leaves town. I packed the “good” camera, just in case…

On our way out, we saw blue herons, egrets, and Canada geese… the usual suspects. As we stopped at our favorite bench, a sandhill crane passed closely overhead.

Once I got the camera out, they all hunkered down…

A heron and an egret stay low and far away, out of reach of our long lens.

A sandhill crane alongside the bike trail suspiciously watches human activity a quarter mile away.

After we got on our bike for the trip home, we were greeted by geese with a group of newly hatched young. The cranes and the egrets came closer.

Then on the city marsh, we saw this:

A flock of pelicans forages for food on the La Crosse Marsh.

Thankfully, after a day of watching the “usual suspects” keep their distance, the unusual visitors came close to say “Hello.”