I spent some time searching out information on the Ojibwa “Healing the River” walk yesterday. Thought it might interest others, so I’ve included my links in the next entry. Contemplating their walk prompted me to have a look at the charts and plan my own walk along the river. I chose to walk a mile above and below the Brownsville, Minnesota, birding overlook… and was rewarded by seeing several large flights of TUNDRA SWANS land directly opposite the overlook!!
They are not just at the overlook, however, but there seems to be a cluster just beyond several small islands just north of the overlook. They were not in the water, but standing or sleeping in the snow beside any open water…so look carefully!
Also abundant eagles, diving ducks, a pileated woodpecker! Walking along sparkling, open water when it is still cold and snowy is the next best thing to spring!!
With the river well frozen in most spots, January becomes and ideal time for American Bald Eagle watching on the Upper Mississippi River. Best spots for viewing are generally at the open water just below each of the Dams between Lake Pepin and St. Louis. But eagles will be found in trees, certain farm fields, and clustered–often in dozens or even hundreds–at any bit of ice where there is open water.
This week end, 1-25-2013, in Clarksville Missouri is Eagle Days an educational program hosted by the Missouri Department of Conservation. On Tuesday I counted 59 eagles from the Visitor Center in Clarksville. Clarksville was the first hosting site for the Eagle Days program starting back in ;the early 80′s when there were no nesting pairs in the state. Now there are between 100 to 200 nest in the state of Missouri. I hope everyone gets a chance to come see the eagles.
UPCOMING 2013 FESTIVALS: Prairie du Chien, WI, February 23.
Find more about EAGLES on the MISSISSIPPI by Search our Birding Categories, to the right, or by searching greatriver.com.
My American Queen friends from the early November Upper Mississippi River cruise will recognize this heavy piece of tubular, yellow striped cargo. We first saw it on a single barge being pushed down the Mississippi River south of La Crosse, WI.
Had no idea then what it was… still have no idea, but I recently saw it again!! …being towed by a tug down the East Coast of Florida off St. Lucie County. Would love to hear from someone what it is. It is exceptionally unusual to have seen it on the Upper Mississippi, and amazing to me that I have now seen it a second time. Anyone have any idea at all??
Nature’s alarm clock is back on! By 7 a.m. the calls of geese and cranes fill the marsh. Our next waterfowl alert will be the return of the White Pelican.
The pelicans normally follow the melting ice on the river, devouring the fish kill as they move north. Please post your on the comment pages of our Ramblin’ On Blog below!
Spring topics abound in the archives of Greatriver.com… Click HERE for www.greatriver.com birding archives or here for BIRDING archives from our RAMBLIN’ ON Blog. To find a vast array of articles related specifically to Eagles, or Cranes, or other subjects, use our SEARCH engines!
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Though rains and snow were both sparse this year, Spring always means a heightened interest inflood conditions along the Mississippi River. Use our search engine to find interactive flood maps.
Record warmth has also prompted a number of media mentions pertaining to the ICE AGE and past GLACIAL patterns. We’ve done a number of feature stories about past ice ages and the formation of the Mississippi River. Find them here….
With 70 degree days predicted for early next week, we will be seeing more and more of our returning songbirds and waterfowl. Sandhill Cranes, robins, red-winged black-birds, starlings, bluebirds and such are already singing, in addition to Cardinals, titmice and other year-round residents. Sandhills are still very quiet, so they don’t seem to be claiming their nesting territories yet. Send us your comments!! Click here to see our birding archive on the Ramblin’ On blog.
With so little snow this winter, spring flooding is unlikely this season. To see an interactive flood map, as well as past flooding accounts, click here.
The spring 2012 International Festival of Owls was held in Houston, Minnesota, last weekend. It is another harbinger of spring! (Snowy Owl pix, from Alan Stankevitz is left.)
[adsenseyu2]We had a beautiful barred owl in our backyard early one morning last week. Hawks are paired up and bald eagles are nesting. I’ll be watching for the return of white pelicans next… they follow the opening of the Mississippi River… perhaps looking for fish kill as the ice breaks up.
We have featured WHITE PELICANS, EAGLES and other large waterfowl for many years on www.greatriver.com
Please visit our dedicated Birding Index here at Greatriver.com It includes a long history of arrival dates for the sandhill cranes in the Upper Mississippi River valley.
This year has turned out to be one of the biggest Snowy Owl eruptions in many years. This has allowed many of us to see these magnificent birds that normally inhabit the tundra and it has been a great experience.
This event has resulted in a significant number of birds that have been found that are sick and injured. When they are found, these birds are taken to wildlife rehabilitators including the Coulee Wildlife Rehab Center in rural Chaseburg. These organizations always have trouble finding enough funding to help cover their costs and this event is adding even more financial burdens to organizations that often operate on a shoe string budget and are heavily dependent on donations in order to operate.
Already this year, Coulee Wildlife Rehab Center has had two Snowy Owls brought in to their center. The first was in the last stages of starvation and couldn’t be saved but the second is the victim of what is probably a power line accident and is in fairly good condition. It has an electrical burn on a wing that has required surgeries and it is under weight. However, there is a good chance that it can be saved.
Sue and Merv Broten, the operators of the facility, are working to improve its body mass and fight against aspergillosis. Snowy Owls are very susceptible to this fungal infection when they migrate this far south and one of the keys to prevention is to keep an owl from the stress of under nourishment. Starving Snowies can eat a LOT of mice a day, and at a cost of $1.00 to $1.50 per mouse, building their weight up is an expensive proposition.
In honor of this year’s eruption, the Coulee Region Audubon Society has decided to sponsor a special “Snowy Christmas” campaign to raise funds to help pay for the cost of rehabilitating these owls and to underwrite some of the operations of the Coulee Wildlife Rehab Center. We will match all donations made by our members and friends through the end of January up to a total of $200. We hope that you will consider making a tax deductible contribution to this campaign and therefore support the great work done by the Coulee Wildlife Rehab Center.
If you can help, please send a check to Coulee Region Audubon with a note indicating that it is to be used for this campaign or send a check directly to the Coulee Wildlife Rehab Center at the following address:
Coulee Wildlife Rehab Center, Inc.
E4485 Dodson Hollow Rd
Chaseburg, WI 54621
I hope that you will join me in supporting this cause!!
Dan Jackson, President
Coulee Region Audubon Society
La Crosse, Wisconsin
What a difference two weeks can make! River is frozen. Swans long gone. Ice Fishermen abound. Eagles will be searching out open areas in the ice field. And while you may see local fishermen out on the ice… BEWARE. River ice cannot be trusted, even from day to day. River currents EAT ice.
A fisherman friend relayed that he used a special truck for ice fishing… the top had been removed so that if he fell through the ice, he could immediately push off and head for the hole.
Well, it happened that he DID fall through, and he immediately swam to the surface break. Current is obviously a great enemy, but hypothermia strikes in minutes.
He found himself sitting on the edge of the fragile ice edge, kicking his feet in the water. He had to logically think, “this is not normal. I SHOULD be freezing to death.”
So he pulled his body up and ran for the highway where he had his “road truck” parked. He made it to the truck, started out onto Hwy 35. He did reach the highway… and stopped right in the path of traffic.
Another driver stopped behind him, realized something must be wrong, and found Harold hypothermic behind the wheel of his truck.
Falling leaves this year have revealed more huge EAGLE NESTS along the Upper Mississippi River than I have ever seen! Between Winona and La Crosse, yesterday, we spotted 6-7 at regular intervals. This is a great time to spot the nest you want to watch for nesting activity early next spring. Some of the nests still had adult birds hanging about.
The seed islands north of Stoddard have been crowded this week with pelicans gathering for the trip south. With November just around the corner, and our first frosts already in the air, it’s time to start watching for Tundra Swans! I heard from Al Stankevitz that he has seen a very few towards the center of the pool at Brownsville, Mn. So be on the lookout for the long white necks of the Tundra Swans. In a few more weeks we should have many thousands!!
Just a reminder, too, that we have an extensive BIRDING section in the Mississippi River Home Page!
Please use the REPLY link to update our fellow birders on your observerations! This will be a spam-free way to keep one another posted on birding along the Mississippi River!!
The largest steamboat in the world was recently purchased by The Great American Steamboat Company based in Memphis, Tenn., and it will return to America’s rivers next year.
The steamboat, which is 419 feet long and 90 feet high, holds 436 passengers was purchased for $15.5 million. It was launched in 1995 at a cost of over $65 million, but has been laid up in Beaumont, Texas since 2008, after the Majestic America Line decided to discontinue its cruise business.
“Our plans with it are to restore the service and return it back to its historical roots,” Greg Brown, executive vice-president of the Great American Steamboat Company, said.
“For two years we’ve been working on purchasing the American Queen, so this is the product of a couple years worth of work.” Brown said the American Queen will travel the “greatest hits routes” it used to travel, as well as some of the popular routes once traveled by the Mississippi and Delta Queens. He said itinerary for the American Queen will depend on the season, and it will travel the Mississippi River and many of its surrounding tributaries.
“We have it in the plans to get on the Ohio River for the Kentucky Derby season,” Brown said. “I think we’re a couple weeks away from having a firm schedule and brochure.”
Getting the American Queen up and running is expected to create more than 250 jobs, with 160 of those employees working on the steamboat at all times. Before starting out on cruises, Brown said the American Queen will undergo a $5 million renovation project. He said “she’s in very good condition,” but needs a new coat of paint, some machinery work, new dishes and bath towels, among other things.
Hurrah! for the Great American Steamboat Company. Hurrah! for America Rivers. 🙂
“Toots,” the original RIVERLORIAN for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company has written a memoir of the last cruise of the American Queen. Click link to visit.
