Down to the River

Today was unseasonably warm, and my family decided to go for a drive. My parents and I picked up my sister, who lives just two minutes away, and we drove out to Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, which is located near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers - in the bottom lands.

(Here's the official website.)

It was really gorgeous out - sun shining, blue sky... I started out wearing a sweatshirt but ended up in just a T-shirt by the time we were done.

The whole area is a flood plain, but it was fairly dry this time around, and the road was clear. There's a whole series of wetlands, alternating with cultivated fields. The old cornstalks, cattails and other plants were really glowing golden in the sun!

We stopped first at the boat ramp, and almost as soon as we got out of the car my sister Joanne spotted a bald eagle flying! We had two pairs of binoculars so we all got a good look, even though it wasn't close enough to get a picture. It stayed in sight almost the whole time we were there, gradually making its way down the river.

We walked down the ramp to the river's edge. I found a couple of beaver sticks - evidence of wildlife, even if I didn't see the actual animal! The river was brown as always, but with the clear blue sky there were some bright patches reflected in the water as well. The brown of the river, the gray-brown of the trees, the golden-brown of the plants on the bank... the blue of the sky, the blue-brown of the reflections... it was quite a complex color palette, once you really started looking.

Looking across. 

More squirrels!

The squirrels in our yard are getting used to having birdseed put out. We've seen six, even seven or eight at a time out on the patio or the yard nearby! They have begun to notice that there is also seed in the squirrel-proof bird feeder hanging over the patio, and have begun to test it... It's been fun to watch.

At first the challenge was that of getting up to the feeder in the first place. Quite a few times we would look out just as a squirrel was trying to climb up the pole - only to be unable to get to the feeder once he was at its level! Although the funniest was on a rainy day, when the pole was wet, and evidently slippery - resulting in a frantic scramble of "climbing in place", ending with a hopeless slide back to the ground...

Now they have gotten to the point of getting onto the feeder itself - sometimes by climbing the pole, sometimes by leaping from the top of the cinder block nearby. However, as I mentioned, this is a squirrel-proof feeder - the wire cage around it slides down when something as heavy as a squirrel lands on it, and this covers up the holes. So I now keep seeing squirrels who have made it onto the feeder but cannot understand why they can't get any food out of it...

They also jump down really fast when you suddenly open the back door!