More Squaw Creek Photos

Two Turkey Vultures and a Great Blue Heron perched in a tree


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Then they were "attacked" by a small flock of Red-winged Blackbirds


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The Turkey Vultures flew away, and the Great Blue Heron is now standing and alert


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I'm Glad...

that Benjamin Franklin did not prevail when he thought the Turkey should be the National Bird.


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There is a nesting pair of Bald Eagles at Squaw Creek NWR. There are presently two nests on the refuge. This is one of them


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The other one is quite a distance from the road and hard to see when there is foliage on the trees. I stopped by the Visitors Center and asked about the nests. The volunteer (bless all volunteers, they perform so many needed services) said there is only one nesting pair. He said that there had been three nests, but the third got blown down in a storm a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, the eaglets had not fledged and they didn't make it. He was unsure which nest the eagles used this year, but two eaglets did fledge this year.

All the photos I took the past three days at Squaw Creek NWR can be found here.

Day Two At Squaw Creek

It was a lovely coolish September day.

I got a decent photo of the Little Blue Heron


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And several nice photos of a Double-crested Cormorant


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And a neat photo of an Osprey


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All the photos taken can be found here.

I Was In Three States Today...

I have been checking the site for Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge for the last several weeks for the waterfowl surveys and the shorebird surveys. Yesterday afternoon it became apparent that the trip I had hoped to take next week was not going to be possible. At this point, my mother's health tests take priority over my gallivanting. So I decided spur of the moment to give myself a booby prize. And so here I am in St. Joseph, Missouri. To get here, one has to pass through Iowa, hence the title of this post.

I couldn't leave until late afternoon. I made one quick pass through Squaw Creek this afternoon. I saw lots of Great Blue Herons


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And lots of Pied-bill Grebes


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And I got a new life bird today. A Little Blue Heron. Took one really awful photo. Hopefully next time I see one, I'll get a better photo

More photos to come tomorrow!

A Good Birding Day!

The title says it! Finally, for a change, I had a good birding day!

Saw and heard lots of Gray Catbirds


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And then there's this little guy


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There were lots of gulls, including this guy which I think is a Franklin's Gull


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Also saw Pelicans, Double Crested Cormorants and my first Pied-billed Grebe of the fall season.

Then there was this guy


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So what is it? There were actually three of them, together. They were grazing along the side of the road. They seemed quite tame. They were moving along at a pretty good clip. I stopped the car, and watched them for a bit. I started the car and they paid me no attention. I backed up, to try to get an angle for a photo, they paid me no attention. Most wild critters would have bolted when I started the car up, to say nothing of backing up...So what is it?

Some of the photos were taken at Branched Oak Lake

UPDATE: Thanks to Cogresha for identifying my mystery bird as a Helmeted Guinea Fowl. He provided this site as verification, and for more information about the bird.

Another Spider

Sunday I posted a picture of the yellow form of the White-banded Crab Spider. Today I took a picture of the white form.


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Yellow Spiders

A Goldenrod Crab Spider


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A White-banded Crab Spider


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A Yellow Garden Spider


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UPDATE: August 15, 2010
Recently several people have clicked through to the larger images of the above photos and have left messages regarding whether one or the other of these spiders are poisonous if they bite.

I'm an amateur photographer. I'm not a biologist, a spiderologist or whatever those who study spiders are called. I most certainly am not a doctor, or member of the medical profession.

The best I can do is refer you here. None of these spiders seem to appear in this article. However, for goodness sakes, if you have been bitten by one of them, call or visit a medical facility immediately.

Oooh That Stretch Feels Sooo Good

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A Change of Pace From Butterflies!

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I have no idea what kind of fungi these are...but I thought they were kind of neat

I Was Once Tall And Proud

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