Creating a Theme in Siouxland, Iowa Lakeside Labs

Sometimes when out photographing in Siouxland I will revisit a subject or see a new one and work to create a different image or selection of images. There are those days when the light helps you and others when you wished it helped you a little more. So it was visiting the Iowa Lakeside Labs in Wahpeton, Iowa, along East Lake Okoboji. At least I think it is the East Lake. After a couple of years of visiting I am still not certain. This time I concentrated on the stone of the buildings along with nature in its proximity. Winter season was still “in bloom” in the area there with the lakes completely frozen over with only water showing near the shoreline.

A research building at the Iowa Lakeside Labs in Wahpeton, Iowa Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

 

Research buildings at the Iowa Lakeside Labs in Wahpeton, Iowa Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

The sky and sunshine was a bit muted with the light diffused and so looked at angles and patterns.

One of the research buildings at the Iowa Lakeside Labs in Wahpeton, Iowa Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

These buildings were constructed in the early 1900’s and has been a constant field study laboratory site and so many trees have sprung up around the buildings. I wonder if planted to partially shade them to help cool them in the summer, and partly by nature’s design rather than man’s.

A detail look at one of the research buildings at the Iowa Lakeside Labs in Wahpeton, Iowa Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

 

A detail of nne of the research buildings at the Iowa Lakeside Labs in Wahpeton, Iowa Thursday, March 15, 2018. (Photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

I always find it a good exercise to try and see new in the places I have been. Challenging myself after a few visits when the time of year is full of browns and not spring’s new growth and greenery that helps spruce up a place as the life cycle continues.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

The Owl Prowl in Siouxland, Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

Hoot. Hoot, hoot, hoot. Cue the wind, hear the leaves rustling in the tress as visitors to Sioxland’s Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center head out for an evening stroll along a trail to hear, if not see, some of the Center’s nocturnal friends, particularly the Owl.

” We’re here at the Dorothy Pecaut Center for a program called the Owl Prowl. And we’re just here to learn the types of owls that live in our area. What they sound like. What they look like. A little bit about them and then we’ll see if we can find some out on our trails,” so said Woodbury County naturalist Therea Kruid, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2013 at the Nature Center.

Kruid explained that around the Center and in Stone State Park that borders the Center she has seen or heard three specific types of owls, the screech owl,  the barred owl and the great horned owl. Even though there are other types of owls, these three are the predominate ones people will find in the area.

She said that owls’ eyes are large, for hunting nocturnally, and by comparison that if people had eyes like owls, they would be the size of tennis balls.

“Most birds have the really stiff edges to their feathers and then owls have really soft frayed edges, so that it kind of quiets the sound a little bit, (while they’re flying), she explained. “So quiet, sometimes you just don’t even know that they’re there.”

Kruid said she remembers sitting around a campfire one evening and an owl flew just overhead of the group she was with and no one heard it or even knew it was there until it was right over head.The group hiked in darkness for about an hour, periodically stopping along a trail in the wooded area while Kruid played different owl calls from an electronic device she had. Previously she said owls would respond to the calls, especially during mating season. But even though some people said they heard one owl call in return to the electronic call, no one saw one or heard one. The naturalist also explained that owls eat all sorts of things. Mostly rodents and insects, and said that the screech owl loves moths and June bugs. She stated that feathers on owls  cover their ears and even there legs and right down to their talons, where as other daylight birds of prey, raptors, the feathers stop higher up the leg. Kruid said naturists believe the feathering was due to the owls hunting at night so needed the extra warmth, as the day time birds of prey needed speed. She also mentioned that tests have been done concerning owls’ eyesight and it was found they could see a rodent a distance that incorporated the length of a football field.

The Hase family of Sioux City, Iowa, Greg and his daughter, Madison, said they didn’t see any owls during the prowl but heard one and Madison believed it was a screech owl. Mr Hase said the family just wanted a fun night out while the temperatures were a little warmer.  The Nature Center sponsors different events throughout the year and also camps for children. These activities can be found on its website.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa