Maybe somedays I am not the most observant person, focused on some thing in particular and excluding other sights that should also command my attention. I have ventured out in a limited fashion this year in Siouxland looking for critters and migratory birds but to me it seems that the migration passed me by or is not following a pattern of what I have observed in years past, which could easily be the case.
I have ventured already to some familiar places looking for migratory birds in December and January but have not found much of any thing. Even local wildlife that hangs out at such places. And my birding skills are vastly inferior to others I know, not seeing flying geese or other birds isn’t the same as finding certain species of song birds that pass through the area and are no larger than say a house sparrow.
I never mind getting out and taking a look, but am ever hopeful that my interest my at least afford me an opportunity to pull my camera out of its bag and make a couple of photographs. Of course, in the kind of weather as we have been having, I fault no feathered visitor in finding a warmer, more user friendly place to shelter in and hang out until conditions are better for its journey. I bitch and moan a bit about getting out in sub degree weather to look for these guys, and am not the “one on the road” traveling to a destination looking for fair winds and smooth sailing.
Nature always amazes in good ways and sometimes bad and a recent outing in Siouxland brought the unexpected fun of watching bald eagles fly and fish at the spillway of Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, SD. This is a stopping off point for a variety of migratory fowl with open water most times in nearby lake areas at the Lewis and Clark Recreation area and at the dam’s spillway which regulates water flowing downstream of the Missouri River.
It’s truly amazing watching the bald eagles fly about and then dive, somewhat, into the flowing water of the river to catch fish. Sometimes it was like watching “touch and go” maneuvers that military aircraft sometimes perform during training. And as it was still during a holiday week a number of spectators came out to watch these majestic creatures perch in trees or look for food.
It was also challenging from a photographer’s standpoint in trying to follow the action which sometimes pivoted on a dime acquire focus as these creatures made their way over and near the water. Although I might be somewhat disappointed with the results of my photographic experience, I was not disappointed in the opportunity to watch these birds perform their aerial acrobatics, successes and near misses all being equal.
I could think of worse ways to spend part of a day, not withstanding with a day temperature of 45 degrees in late December.
Sometimes while out and about in Siouxland looking for and visiting new nature places one gets a pleasant surprise. I had seen a body of water along an interstate highway that runs through Siouxland and occasionally would see “white floating bodies” in the water and guessed they were pelicans. I first spied pelicans while visiting with a friend at Snyder’s Bend recreation area in Woodbury County a year or so ago. Watching them circling overhead as they began a migration run.
I drove out on a county highway I often used then started driving some back country roads along the stretch of the interstate hoping I might get lucky. I didn’t know the place I was looking for was called Badger Lake at the time. And a week or prior I had driven some other backroads further north of this area looking for same body of water, but to no avail.
But on this drive meandering through various roads that also run parallel to the Missouri River I got lucky. And I couldn’t believe that I was witnessing possibly 200-300 American White pelicans in the body of water some resting and preening while others worked as a group in a circle to “herd” fish so they could then enjoy a meal.
Nature can always amaze one. A novice when it comes to birding and really spending time to understand critters in the wild, I do enjoy the quiet and no distraction of “white noise” while watching and occasionally photographing any and all creatures that allow me to get close enough to do so without disturbing them. But I have need more practice and look forward to those opportunities.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
lostinsiouxland 