Day 15.Home at last Epilogue with pictures

We left Utica IL at 9:30 and arroved a6 Grand rapid at 5:00 PM . THi sncluded a nice styop for lunch at a Cracker Barre; at StenensvillMI, and a truck and trailer wash at 76th strret just off the US 131 exit,.
But I idid promise some picture when  got home as th enternest is thefastest here,no doubt.

So here they are and again thanks fo follwinh along. I hope it was a vicarious experience for you .

I didn't show most of these before. This one was on the Tractor Run that we ran onto at the Covered Bridge in Madison County. They had a wagon for folks to ride, and of course a "porta potty" on wheels.  Very prepared farmers, they were.
 ONe of the Wildlife areas we visited north of Waukee, IA.

                             Getting a truck and trailer wash the last day on 76 th street at US 131.

 These are very  noisy, drying fans to dry the corn (I believe) in the bins after they have been harvested,, They were hidden behnd the corn field bnut we heard them before we saw them.

We stopped in a cemetery to eat lunch  (always a great quiet place to eat and usually some birds) (we saw two species) ,They may be related to our family as there were 7 graves with the "Lawler"name in that cemetery.  This was my maternal grandmother's maiden name. They were Catholic. (IT os a "divided" cemetery) so that is possibility.

 Very pretty white oak leaves in a wildlife area in Iowa

 A White Pelican taking off in Saylorville Dam area (Des Moines river)

 An introduced species are these Guinea Fowl seen along side of the road. (Wild)

This activity got more active the last week we were there. A full ombine with corn being unloaded to truck.

 The front side of Saylorville Dam looking west with the Lake on the right.

Looking down (south) the Lake at Saylorville. Like Red Rock, about a dozen towns were drowned when the lake was filled.

A rural scene in Western Iowa

This was trading stuff. Note the thickness of the blankets (each was sold for more beaver skins) 1", 3" 4")  Lewis and Clark Expedition)


A good cross setcion of the effect that dredging had on the Missouri River

                                                 A sunset in a puddle reflection

The MIssissippi River at Davenport going west… there was no barges yet. Two weeks later there were.

 Lewis and Clark took excellent notes on almost everything they saw and used.

 

A good comparison of the bird sizes. (above)     A computerized replica of Sgt Floyd's bust done the last few years. He was the only one that died on the trip west and was given fullmilitary honor where he was buried along the river route. (Sioux City area)

Hope you enjoyed the last pieces of the trip- Jim

Day 14 Sunday October 12, 2014 --Last night on the road.

   This is it! At least for awhile. Ruth and I last night tentativey planned our next longer trip for next spring. It will be most likely to see our favorite birding area along the TX coast , but with a "twist" . Can't tell you yet,but I will let you know in the spring.

   We got on the road early for us (9:15)  and spent  a little time with the nighbors who were trailering for the first time. They were from MN. I offered  a few 'tidbits" of help and two items to look for . 1) a "quick release" faucet attachment for water which really speeds up the activity and prevents dripping water., and 2) to always survey the ground that the trailer hitch  is standing. If it is gravel make sure it will not slip or slide before you unhitch from the trailer. (It is a tough job to get the trailer hitch back off the ground. (Been there, done that!)

   Probably the outstanding sight today on the road was the corn crop. No it is not that there IS a corn crop, but  that two weeks ago there was no corn harvested yet. Today about 50% of the corn and most of the beans have been harvested . The extended dry weather has allowed the farmers to get out and get it done. It appears from all the data that the crop this year is about an average yield.  ** See P.S.Below.

   The campground "Hickory Hollow" that we are in, is full and we were fortunate enough to get in. When I walked in to check in for one night, the two "70ish" ladies  with golden hair and purple shirts, at first said, "No' , but upon further examination found that one party had moved out early so that site was clear. Whew!  When the lady (Louise) started to write out the info slip (long hand, although they use a computer), her handwriting was just like I remember the nuns teaching in the Cathoic school. A beautiful cursive style. So, I asked her, "Did the nuns teach you handwriting?" and she answered , "Yes, it was from the Srs. of Mercy."  I knew it was true. So we has good discussion about those days when we learned cursive in the second grade. Both ladies went to the same school a few years apart. Imagine still working together after all those years. "It's a Wonderful Life".

   So to wrap up, I will post some pictures that  we didn't see before , some of plants, colors, and  scenes of the Iowa landscape.  ( I did not post the pictures as the internet is too slow here. I will when I get home tomorrow)  Again, thanks for reading along, and and if you care to comment + or - , you can connect with me at    2crazy4birds@gmail.com.    Just salute me with ,,,"Hi Jim".

P.S. This just came in from the Des Moines Register.
   DES MOINES, Iowa • The expected record corn and soybean harvest will be slightly bigger than previously estimated, the result of late summer warmth that helped fill cornstalks with ears and soybean plants with bean pods, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday.

Farmers are expected to bring in 14.5 billion bushels of corn, up 80 million bushels from the September estimate. It's the third consecutive month the USDA has increased its estimate of the corn harvest as favorable weather helped the crops develop. And soybean farmers will harvest an estimated 3.93 billion bushels, up 14 million bushels from last month's estimate.

It'll be a banner year for corn, with farmers expected to harvest a national average of 174.2 bushels per acre, a significant increase over the record of 169 set in 2009. Though the USDA lowered the number of acres planted by 1 percent to 90.9 million acres, the increased yield pushed the total expected harvest higher.

Day 13 October 11, 2014 --Tractors, John Wayne and last day birding

I am a man of my word and so the "Tractors" and the "John Wayne" birthplce wil be the features of the day. It will also be the last time I will be able to include our days in the campground as in the morning we will head east again, taking two days and one night to reach Grand Rapids Mi.

This is the home  in Winterset Iowa , Madison County, that John Wayne was born in, in 1907. He lived here 7 years and his dad, a pharmacist, moved a little further west where John was raised.  The house is a museum, entry allowed with a  guide, no pictures  but with plenty of things "John Wayne" that you can buy in the visitor center next door. All of his movies, and whatever paraphenalia you could imagine.  A new Museum center is being built and will be completed next year. This house wil then be open to anyone for free to visit , but all the artifacts will be in the new museum. The only things in this house that were there when John lived there, are the floors and the moulding!  John had 7 children and one comes each year to visit the house durng the bridge Festival in Winterset, Iowa. All of his three wives were Hispanic.
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Now comes what was, the BIG SURPRISE, for us yesterday (Friday) . We were seeking the second last of the Covered Bridges down a very dusty rural road  and as we rounded a curve there appreared  before us a row of five tractors with the drivers all bundled up heading the same way we were. I told Ruth that there was no use in passing them, as maybe they are helping each other in some sort of harvest  and going to the same place. It was quite unusual  to see that picture of 5 tractors going down a road. There were no other implements or wagons attached.

We came over a hill and they all turned into a drive which was actually the place where the Bridge was located. And, what did we see but a massive number of tractors all parked by the side of the road leading to the bridge. There were about 50 or more of them. Here take a look.

It was evident that this was something special , so in talking with the men and women, we discovered that this group of farmers from Madison County each year the day before the Bridge Festival, make a 56 mile ride to see all the bridges. Now they have SEEN the bridges many times, but it is a grand social event  that they do each year. These are working tractors, but some are heirlooms and in the following pictures you will see a few of them. If you know your tractors perhaps you will say, "Hey, I rode one of those".

An International above .



                               A 1963 "930" Case on right

 

a 1940 Ford "BN"

A Minneapolis Moline  (below) 

It was a lot of fun meeting some o fthe folks and talking with them. One of the tractors was pulling a trailer and on the trailer was a"porta potty". Next year I understand they are going to head for northern Nebraska  for a tour.  I guess they would cart their tractors on trailers and have a "sag wagon" or two?

Today was a trip to the "Harrier Marsh Wildlife Area". A small area set aside for wildlife in the middle of the usual Iowa farmland (corn and beans). There are  birds to be seen and we did see 29 species both there and along the way. There were a few ponds and the usual sparrows, Dickcissels, Blackbirds and hawks  as well. I remarked to Ruth yesterday that we did not see any swallows. But today we did see a very large flock of Northern Rough Winged Swallows with a few Tree Swallows mixed in.  At one time they were chasing a Rough Legged Hawk and it did not stay around long. I did manage to get a video of  the hawk. We also saw Northern Shovelers, Coots, Pied Billed Grebe, Bluebird,  Common Nighthawk and a Kingfisher that was hidden on a limb behind some trees. I don't know how Ruth ever spotted it. (She is good) .

A typical road in the wildlife area today. 

Trying to follow the Rough Legged Hawk.

One of the ponds that did hold both Coots and Shovelers

We stopped for lunch at a quiet place a saw a few birds. Yep,  it was the local cemetery. It was quite a revelation as well, as there were buried there at east 5  individuals who bear my grandmother's maiden name. I took pictures and will see if they are related, at another time. The name is "Lawler" and they came nto the USA from Ireland (pre Civil War)  through New Orleans and into Missouri.

We might get off a short one tomrrow and wrap things yup. Thanks for following especially all of those who did follow across the globe. Your interest is appreciated.

Day 12 October 10, 2014 Pumpkins, Covered Bridges and (zillions of tractors)!

Easy there, as we will take them just one at a time!

After a cool start to the morning we drove a bout 20 miles to a dried flower farm (Howell's Nursery and Trees) that was also a "Pumpkin Patch" compete with rides on ponies, petting zoos withy goats, corn mazes, pumpkins, tractor and wagon rides and everything for the children and families to be entertained with, all in the great out of doors. The ladies had barns full of fall decor and even some Christmas things in one of the stalls. Flowers emphasized mums of course, and when we arrived Lisa ( hired help) stated that there would be 500 young school children there , and some were there already as the busses beat us through the gate.  We did pick up some nicely priced mums  and a pair of orange colored coneflowers on sale.   There were more than 40 employees working the "Patch" that day.Here is a look at the "Pumpkin Patch". Oh,by the way they pronounc ethe holiday …"Howelleen".

                                             














      The children gettin' a ride to the "CornMaze" 

                                One of the 30-40 goats in  the petting zoo.

                          

 Ruth has her costume for Halloween , Now, if we can just find one for Jim!!!

There were all kinds of gourds and pumpkins

And the children and parents took home many.

I'll bet the schoolbus drivers had fun!

And, of curse lots of pumpkins! Iowa raises just 800+ acres of pumpkins 

each year. Michigan ranks in the top five with CA, OH, Il, and NY 

       I can see I may have to have two entries today or save some until tomorrow,  as there is too much to tell. But,  let's move along to what was next. That was the main part  the day and was the "Covered

Bridges of Madison County"

   There are only six of them and one is concrete which we didn't visit. But getting to them was arduous and circuitous, as Iowa 169 , the main road into the town of Winterset, was closed  two miles north of town so getting to three of the bridges meant going the "long way" around. But we did survive and got to all of them by 3:30 in the afternoon. Here is  a shot of each of them, Their history is probably more exciting than the pictures, but they are historical works of engineering and safety. (For the horses of course!) Tomorrow and Sunday is the Bridge Festval and a big day in Winterset. It was good we went today as there were no crowds.

The Cutler Donahue Covered Bridge just outside of Winterset Iowa. It is 79 feet long and was "renovated"  in1997 for $35,000.

The Imes Bridge (pronounced 'eyems'),  has been moved three times. It is the oldest of Iowa's bridges. It was renovated in 1997 for $31,000.

The Hogback Covered Bridge  just northwest of Winterset. It is 97 feet long and renovated in 1992 at the cost of $118.000.  It was difficult to get to today because of the road blockages. 

No fun loking at just the outside so here is the inside of the Holliwell Bridge. It was featured in the movie, "The Bridges of Madison County", and is the longest of the bridges at 122 feet. It was renovated in 1995 at a cost of $225.000. Wait til you see the next one!

IT doesn't look like much more than the others, this Cedar Covered Bridge, but it was burned to the ground in Sept 2, 2002, and was completely rebuilt  and opened in 2004 during the Bridge Festival. You can drive through this one.  The cost!!!! was over $700.000. 

So there you have it for tonight. I will save the two other venues for the day, until tomorrow which will be our last full day here. The two items are : THE BIRTHPACE OF JOHN WAYNE, and A TRACTOR 'RUN' THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN . See ya tomorrow.!

Day 11 THursday October 9, 2014- Cancel Covered bridges, off to Saylorville Lake

   The plans were changed by the rain that we had overnight. After those two sunny cloudless day, I guess we could deal with a weather change. It rained at night so that didn't really stop the day activites, but they just started later. After reviewing what was in the "Makoke Trail" book, I had already marked the Saylorville Lake as a possible place to visit  for some  birding.

   Back to the "Makoke Trail" for  minute. It was designed and named, as it means "bird" or "owl"  in the language of the Ioway tribe. This name was chosen in honor of the people who inhabited much of Iowa. All the sites in the book are within a 30 mile radius of Des Moines. All of it lies within the heart of the grassland prairie region,  the ecosystem that once dominated the midwest as we stated last night in the blog.

So we headed north and east from the campground on easily travelled roads. Saylorville is one pf 22 sites in the "Mahoke" reference book for birding the area. It covers about one third the acreage (6,000)  that Red rock reservoir does but in flood times becomes three times its own size and has saved over $250,000,000 in property and lives, since it began operating in 1977.

We found our way to the dam site to begin the tour and stopped along the outlet for the dam that is the Des Moines River.  There are two campsites there, one on either side of the flowage  from the dam. This site too, is run by the Corps of Engineers.  Although the visitor center was closed except for 2 hours in the afternoons, we found the information we needed to have a well informed visit.

Our trip around Jester  Park, the name of the park that is on the western shore, took us along the Lake shore  where we saw many White Pelican and a huge flock of Double Crested Cormorants , along with the three gulls in the area (Remember them?) Herring, Franklins, and Ringbilled.  I think the biggest surprise of the day was when we were going through an especially heavily wooded area on both sides of the road , Ruth said," This sure would be a great habitat for Pileated Woodpeckers". She was right,  for in  about 10 seconds, two of them flew into view and we watched them for more than 5 minutes from the car. They we surrounded by a number of Red Bellied Woodpeckers who must have had a great feed in those trees.  That was a treat to be sure.

This picture is a picture taken previously as the one I took today is just in video. Will post at another time.

    There in the park, were some Bison and a few Elk that to me looked miserable in their enclosure. Certainly not as much room to roam as we saw at the Prairie Education Center at Neal Smith NWR. I am sure they are well cared for but they need more space. (As I said, before,  I am not a "Zoo guy" either.

   A few other birds that we saw were; Wild Turkey, Eastern Phoebe,  Sandhill Cranes, and an amazing competition between three American Bald Eagles that were vieing for space on two dead "spar"  trees. They soared in the area across the river from where we were standing. I followed them with the camera (video)  and the eldest one actually forced a younger one out of its roost and took it over. It was a wonderful sight to see these young eagles in their finest moments. We are blessed to watch them in their environment.  It was a fine ride to see great sights.

                                                  Eastern Phoebe seen along side of a pond .

          Not the actual one we saw today, but that gives you an idea of how beautiful these birds are.

   We returned a bit earlier than usual which gave me  chance to practice horseshoe pitching in our campground.  I played one game and beat myself 11-9.

Supper was waiting for us as Ruth had chicken on the slow cooker and the trailer was filled with great "kitchen" smells as we returned late in the afternoon. Veggies made the dinner complete.

We will try to get to the Madison County bridges tomorrow although we were told it was the "Bridge Festival weekend". We shall see, as crowds are not our favorite thing.  Thanks for reading and pass the word to others. I had 47 "hits" yesteday on the site and that's a great number.

October 8, 2014 Day 10 Special post with just pictures

The internet is working fine so if it coninues I will post a number of yet unseen pictures.  Here goes!

Bue Stem which is one of the Prairie grasses that is being reestablished.

 This fungi was found on a dead Cottonwood tree in DeSoto NWR.

The "terracing " and berms that are used in the corn growing areas show how the farmers are trying to hold moisture  and inprove crop production. Corn yields about 170 to 180 bushels per acre in Iowa.

At the Desoto  NWR  the results of the Duck Stamp contest for youth were seen. From 4th grade to Sr High.  Here are some samples.

This is the site where the Bertrand riverboat was salvaged after some 100 years under water and more than 20,000 objects of value were restored. It was on the Missouri River that is today part of an Oxbow.

Day 10 October 8, 2014 Red Rock Reservoir, birds and hydro power

   When was the last time you were headed someplace , driving, and missed a turn and ended up 15-20 miles or more out of your way? You were in unfamiliar territory, probably. "Ya gotta know the territory, ya gotta know the territory"  (From the musical- Music Man) . Well, it happened to me today when driving south on Iowa 5 when we came across the US 65 "loop" around the city of Des Moines. Seems it occured right where the loop turns northerly from easterly and we stayed on the nice 4 lane  highway thnking it was still Iowa 5 which is also a four lane highway.   (A help in recovering was the sun , as it was shining and made direction location easier.) Not so, but when we crossed a road that we had taken yesterday when we went east, Ruth said, "I think we are on the wrong road".  We were! So we turned around and drove the 12 miles back to where we should have been to continue the trip to Red Rock Reservoir. We haven't had that happen  that much,  and no wise cracks about a GPS!!! They miss sometmes , too. "Recalculating"!

   We had good maps given to us yesterday by a conservation man in a truck who has a pad full of them on the truck seat. That allowed us to do research the night before (We usually do this to eliminate any driving problems.) (HA). So I had picked out 7 likely spots that were recommended by a booklet that has many Des Moines area wildlife Parks, Reserves, Recreation areas,  and other useful spots identified.  Many of the roads were county roads and quite well marked, so generally it was a simple task to get to the next one.

THi sis a brief descrition of the dam and it's sixze and value.

 Overall the birding was good, and we did surpass the number of birds from yesterday and added a few new species. (33)  Of particular note , at least for Ruth, was seeing hundreds of Pelicans on the Reservoir as they feed near the dam all day long. Because the dam was under construction of a Hydro plant (more on that later) we had to find another way into the "downstream" side of the dam as the main one was closed. The next road led us to a park on the downstream side that had a parking lot some distance from the dam but in sight.

                                                                                         Mass of White Pelicans at Red Rock Dam

This is Red Rock Reservoir, where most of our exploring was done on the"right" end of the Lake. (The SE end, or the 'red'portion.) The dam is at the far right end.

 This is the upstream side of the dam. The hydro project is in the middle of it. It is 6, 260 feet in length and 110 feet high. It is earth filled . The Lake holds 15,000 acre feet  of water and covers 35,000 acres of useable land. (Recreation, etc) 

This is the down stream side of the dam. It will produce 55 mw of electricity in 2018 at full capacity. It cost $360 million to build and bonds were floated by the WMMPA (Minnesota)  at 4.05% interest and sold fast. They will come due in 21 years and final date is 2046.

The dam was built in 1960 and has already saved hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. The adding of the hydro plant will further enhance the area with electricity for the surrounding communities. 

   We continued birding in many of the camping areas that adjoined the Lake and especially along the shore.  (Saw four or five Great Blue Herons) There were hundreds of Franklin, Ring Billed, Bonapartes and Herring Gulls.  Some of the lesser seen birds that we observed today were: Cedar Waxwing, Bobolink, Junco,  Bluebird, Bells Vireo, and Coots. We headed back after stopping on       the west side of the Reservoir to get a few more pictures of the pelicans.  I was able to talk with two Korean vets while Ruth took pictures. The one man (in the 40th Division Infantry of the Army) was a "MP" at Panmunjun standing right beside the North Koren soldiers during the first negotiations. Both soldiers were speechess. (Of course).

We made it back without a hitch on the roads, and for supper settled for those foot long hot dogs that we liked so well from time to time. The weather  was spectacular. I don't know how long it will stay this way, but it is glorious. 55-69 F and sunny all day! Saw 12 turkeys by our trailer to start the day off , but couldn' get good focus through the window. 

Tomorrow we will head for Madison County (movie anyone?) and see the wooden brdges there and John Wayne's birthplace . This will be a change! Stay tuned.