I love the sloughs in northwestern North Dakota. A slough--pronounced 'slew'--is a pond at low elevations. They are a mecca for ducks, geese, and other water birds. And since I love ducks (especially mallards), I gravitate toward the sloughs with a camera when I travel back to my Mom's home.
One of my favorite haunts is "Ernie's Slough." It's several miles from Mom's farm, across the road from where Ernie Maki used to live. This is a huge slough that never dries up, even in the driest of summers. Ducks, muskrats, coots, and geese call Ernie's Slough home for much of the year. By late fall, they migrate south, and the water freezes over for the winter.
In the summer, when the sloughs dry up around the edges, or even the entire body of water if shallow, farmers/ranchers cut the "slough hay" for feed. (This was taken in early spring before it greened up.)
A slough along the Belden cemetery road.
Another slough across from the cemetery. Notice the flock of Canada geese on the far left shore.
