On a return trip from Coon Rapids, I took the back roads on the north side of the Middle Raccoon River. I was pulled over by a DNR officer because I was "poking along" on the opening weekend of the 2nd deer shotgun season. Asked if I was hunting, I said, No, but I was doing a lot of shooting, then showed him my camera. The rest was pleasantries.
There were a couple Bald Eagles over the river in Highland Township (all sightings reported here are in Guthrie County). There must have been some open water, but elsewhere, when I got close enough to the channel, I didn't see any. On a hilly section road west of Willow Creek there were many young to middle-aged red cedars, with 25 or more American Robins feasting on a heavy crop of berries. I scanned for a Saw-Whet, but didn't trespass to look closely. On a dead-end to field entrances near the Middle Raccoon, a large hawk in a tree turned out to be a typical Rough-Legged Hawk. Springbrook State Park held two surprises: a total of four Belted Kingfishers on the stream below the dam of the lower lake. When I walked the stream, a Wilson's Snipe flushed. Continuing on, it flushed again, then took a big circle around me and landed somewhere downstream. I thought that was a lot of Kingfishers in one spot, but the stream was entirely open, too. And a Wilson's Snipe in December, replete with vocalizations. Finally, there wasn't much at Bay Branch Wildlife Area - not much except for about 2,000 Canada Geese in a cornfield on the west side, south of County Road F-31. As soon as I glassed them, I noticed that all were facing into the wind. They remained that way for about 15 minutes, talking amongst themselves. Just as I began to drive away, the entire lot lifted off. That many makes quite a din, and I feared a repeat of an incident many years ago in which a much smaller flock of mixed geese species wheeled about to conduct an air raid on my position. Alas, that didn't happen today. Had it, I would have laughed myself silly. All in all, a good day seeing sights in the Raccoon watershed. Lee Searles Des Moines --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]. Unsubscribe at http://iowabirds.org/Reporting/Listserv.aspx.
