Notes About Nature

01 February 2013

We're in Washington, MO this weekend for Jenna's Grandma's funeral, so there won't be much about Nature. She was the one of the sweetest ladies I've ever known in my life. Even though I never really know her before she had Alzheimer's, I knew her when she was a lot better than she was towards the end. I've never seen anyone smile so much in my life. She continually made jokes and toward the end often asked me a question only to smile and say, "You'll have to tell me again in about five minutes." She will be missed by many and as the visitation tonight showed, she will be missed by many more than I think anyone could imagine.

On the nature side I got two new birds for Franklin County and a new species for the year. Trumpeter Swans have been pretty rare in the past but have been making a strong comeback. In fact, last week they saw 364 Trumpeter Swans at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in extreme northwest Missouri. Well, even though it's not as uncommon to see Trumpeter Swans anymore, I was ecstatic to see one land on the lake at Jenna's mom's house. Although I have had them in Missouri already this year, it is a new Franklin County bird. There have also been 12 Canvasback on the lake. This made species number 77 for January. Last year I had 100 species by the end of the month. I guess that's what higher gas prices and having to work on Fridays will do. :)

Here's yesterday's eBird Checklist from the lake at Jenna's mom's house. Not too shabby for an urban impoundment. I've included a picture of the Trumpeter Swan on the checklist. It's not very good, but I did take it with my phone through a pair of binoculars.