Notes About Nature

19 February 2013

I've once again procrastinated on making an entry on here. Not much went on last week. However, on Saturday Jenna, Mom, Dad, and I made the three hour trip from Macon to Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Holt County, MO. This is the time of year that many of the waterfowl are moving from their wintering grounds in the South to their nesting grounds on the tundra and Squaw Creek NWR is a favorite stopping place for many of them. We made a quick stop by Fountain Grove Conservation Area. Here is the eBird checklist of the 41 species from Fountain Grove CA.

We arrived at Squaw Creek at little after noon. While taking a quick restroom break at the headquarters, I entered this checklist. We then drove onto the refuge and ate lunch. It's not everyday that you eat lunch in from of one million Snow Geese! The world population of Snow Geese is estimated at just over 6 million, so we were viewing one sixth of all of them on Earth. The sight and sound of this many geese in one area is something that really must be experienced to be understood. I have always struggled and still struggle to try and show the awesomeness of the geese through photography. It is almost impossible to show a wide enough angle to see all of the geese and still tell that the geese are even there. Here is one attempt showing about one third of the flock.

Another spectacle were the swans. We counted 271 swans. After looking through them all, we finally picked a couple of Tundra Swans out of the flock of Trumpeter Swans. Here is a picture of a Trumpeter Swan preening.

There were also several ducks, geese and small passerine birds around, but the clouds rolled in and the temperature started dropping. This caused us to see fewer birds at Squaw Creek (which is usually an astounding place to bird) than at Fountain Grove earlier in the morning. Here is the eBird Checklist, and here is one more picture of the Snow Geese in the evening.

On Sunday, Jenna and I decided to hike the Karst Trail at Rockbridge State Park. The temperature was in the middle 50's and people were all over Rockbridge. The topography on Karst Trail is littered with very large sinkholes. It's really a pretty cool trail that winds around for a couple of miles through both grass and woods. Here is the eBird Checklist.

On to yesterday, Monday the 18th. The temperature was once again pushing into the 50s, so I took a couple mile walk at lunch. Grindstone nature area was pretty birdy with 28 species in 45 minutes. Here is the checklist. Then last night the cats were acting strange around the patio door. When I looked out, I saw this:

White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus)

It was packing off some sunflower seeds I had dropped when filling the bird feeders. It would pack a few seeds into it's mouth and hurry off through the grass. About five minutes later it would be back for the next mouthful. I spent a couple hours watching the mouse and trying to get a picture through the glass.

Finally to today. A front came through yesterday afternoon. The temperature dropped from the mid 50s to the mid 30s in about an hour. Although today was sunny, the temperature struggled to reach the upper 20s and it was windy. I thought the 30 mph winds were going to cause frostbite on my 2 mile walk at lunch. The winds also kept the bird life down. Thirteen species in 36 minutes. Here is the link to the ever present eBird checklist. I probably won't have much for the next couple weeks expect for eBird checklist. That pesky Pennsylvania Marmota monax lied to us and winter is hitting again. They are calling for up to six inches of snow with a quarter inch of ice here by Thursday evening. Squaw Creek NWR is supposed to get 16 inches! Maybe I'll be surprised and have something to post.