Red Beach, Red Cranes ... Red Everywhere

Summer's over, by the way. If you happen to be writing about yesterday's typhoons and Asia, flooding in Southeast Asia, and Southern China ... it's not the worst weather of the Summer, because it's happenning in the Fall. It did rain in Northeast China yesterday, but today was sunny.

So we drove out to Red Beach. Red Beach is a misnomer actually, because technically. Red Beach is a swamp. It's part of the tidal waters around the mouth of the Liao or Liaohe River. I think the map calls it "Liaohe Kou." Not important really. It was a couple hours drive and we hired a guide for 300 Yuan, which might have included the entry fee.

The red color is caused by a swamp plant which one website refers to as a sea blight. I need a Botanist about now. as you can see it's red in the fall and there's alot of it.

It is ... I'm guessing ... part of the habitat of the "endangered, threatened and nearly extinct" Red Crane, which according to my friend, there are only a few left. The picture shows a couple of them, a breeding pair if I understood the conversation correctly. It is possible to feed this one a few fish from a bucket, but it appears his beak doesn't line up quite right.

I struggle a bit with the presence of oil pumpers and pipelines in the midst of a seemingly fragile environment. Is it bad or good?