We arrived today at Grand Island in late afternoon. The temperature in Grand Island had risen to 82 F and the wind was blowing fierce like it can here on the Plains of North America. The trip from Coralville Iowa (Iowa City suburb) where the University of Iowa is located, started with temps in the low 30's but it was a bright shiny blue sky.
Although Iowa is known for its "tall corn" there is much industry and I was especially impreessed as we moved into the higher hills of west central Iowa, with the great number of wind generators that we saw on both sides of I-80. It was so impressive that Ruth wanted to get some closer shots, so we pulled off in the small town of Adair, where there seemed to be a great activity concerning the first tilling of the soil and plantings for the year as well as the wind generators that were whirring around with the 30 mph wind that was doing its job . (They are 240 feet tall and the blades move at more than 60 mph.) We stayed long enough to take pictures and eat lunch in the car in the local cemetery.
I would refer you to the site under the heading "Adair IA wind generators" on Google or another search engine to see what a dynamic project this is. Some of the farms have 5-6 generators on their property which produces an income of about $6,500 per generator. It has really improved the communities standing economically and added some growth to the population. It is an interesting look at what a wind generating farm can do for an to a community. Sure there are pros and cons.
Central Iowa has many attractions that can be reached from the freeway such as the Amana Colonies, a group of seven small communites that up until recently practiced a communal style of life. Now they have disbanded that practice and have just kept the religious aspect alive. They originated in the mid 1800's here and historically started from a movement in the 16th century in Europe (German).
Crossing the Platte River two times was not noticed as the first time it is a small stream as we crossed into Nebraska just outside Omaha. The second crossing was more obvious near Grand Island as the River splits in two so both channels have to be crossed. This area near Grand Island is where we will be spending much of our time to watch for and observe as many bird species as possible. The Sandhill Cranes feed here before their journey to the northern reaches of our continent to raise their young.
At Minden NE is the wonderful Pioneer Village which is a stop worth the time as it is truly a look at America when 80% of the people lived on farms while the many buildings hold mementos, equipment and machinery from those times.
Today just before we turned into Grand Island, we did see dozens of Sandhill Cranes in the corn fields gleaning in the afternoon. Although the 100,000 of them that feed along the river have headed north there are some that have stayed to browse awhile yet.
Tomorrow we will start the eight or ten sites we have lined up, which will begin at the Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center near the River. From here we hope to get some added hints to where the best current sites are to see bird life. One area has the elusive Prairie Chicken that does the terrific mating dance early in the morning. Friday is our date to try to find them just outside of Grand Island.
It was a smooth ride half way across this beautiful land and we will report what we see and how the next 6 days go for us.. Thanks for reading.
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