Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge (3)

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The trumpeter swans were in groups around the masses of snow geese at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge. They were easy to spot because of their size and their distinctive shape. Even when they are snoozing, they look different that snow geese.

They do make trumpet-like sounds too. There was a quartet that were interacting and making their sounds…sustaining their activity long enough for me to get a video!

There were a few instances where I couldn’t resist some botanical photographs. A large silver maple already blooming

And a dried stalk from last season with a backdrop of a metal fence.

There were several ducks at a distance that I photographed – good enough for id but not great pictures: Redhead

Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead

We saw mallards, pintails, ring-necked duck, and northern shoveler…but too far away to photograph. I saw a pied-billed grebe, but didn’t get a good picture.

The trip to Loess Bluffs was a learning experience with my new bridge camera. I am noticing that the Nikon Coolpix P950 autofocus does not seem to be as good as my old Canon Powershot SX70 HS….but perhaps I am still learning how to effectively use the Nikon. It is disappointing that the new camera is not already obviously better than the old…but I am determined to continue the learning curve with it rather than reverting to my old camera. I am anticipating a few more disappointing field sessions near term.

Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge (1)

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My husband and I drove up to Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge last weekend – hoping to see a lot of snow geese. Their migration has begun and the ponds near the visitor center were full of thousands of birds when we arrived. A group would startle, and a lot of birds would rise off the water, swirl around over the pond and come back down not far away. There were three bald eagles that we saw around the wildlife loop road – but they seemed to be just watching rather than hunting for a meal.

As we headed to the hotel later in the afternoon, I researched snow geese migration and found that they often fly at night. We did notice that there were groups of geese that seemed to be flying away from the ponds as we were leaving. When we arrived a little before sunrise the next morning, there were much fewer snow geese than when we had left! It was very different than our experience at Bosque del Apache in December where the snow geese are there for the winter – not migrating through. As the sun came up and the smaller number of geese on the ponds begin to move about…with trumpeter swans around the edges of the group…we noticed that there were snow geese flying in! Perhaps they had been flying all night. Ribbons of birds in the sky kept coming the rest of the morning.

I took a picture from the visitor center with a lot of snow geese over the ponds.

From the lookout deck – I took pictures of birds in the water, the bridge over an irrigation dish to provide access to the wildlife loop, the bluffs (vegetation covered…loess underneath from the glaciation of the area) back toward the visitor’s center, birds in the air…and one final picture with snow geese and tumpeter swans.

I’ll be posting about other birds, muskrats, and some plants in two more posts in the next few days.

Note: We did see a few dead birds in the water. They looked like snow geese. The visitor center was not open so I wasn’t able to ask about the disease most prevalent right now (I suspect bird flu or avian cholera).

Dickerson Park Zoo on Father's Day

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My daughter noticed that Dickerson Park Zoo was opening an hour early for members on Father’s Day and suggested we should visit as our celebration of the day since we’ve all joined. My husband and I picked her up (her house is ‘on the way’ for us) and we were at the zoo a few minutes before 8. The day was warming up…still pleasant rather than hot. We spent an enjoyable 2 hours at the zoo.

There were peacocks around the entrance. One on the roof of the entrance buildings displayed but didn’t have any of the long tail feathers!

Another male was very close once we passed the entrance so I took a portrait.

There was one that was walking up the stairs that didn’t have the typical topknot of feathers on its head. When it got to the top of the stairs, I noticed that it stood with toes crossed…and that peacocks have spurs!

In the flamingo enclosure the flamingos were relatively calm, but the roseate spoonbills were moving about and vocalizing

…and then two of them mated!

The daylilies were blooming in beds interspersed throughout the zoo but I also noticed stands of lambs ear, bamboo….and some very large catalpa trees.

The trumpeter swans vocalized…but not as often as the peacocks. There are only 2 of them. I like the swirls in the water around the swan….breaking up the reflection of big trees.

After seeing a lot of peacocks at the beginning of our visit (and continuing to hear them) …we saw a female with three peachicks about an hour into our visit. They moved away from us, but I managed to get close enough for some zoomed portraits.

The ostrich enclosure is viewed from above…but the deck’s wood most have supported some insect (?) that the bird found tasty because it spent a lot of time pecking at the wood directly below where we were standing! I managed a good picture of the head – large eye and nares.

There were two cheetahs moving around in their enclosure. The tiger was pacing and vocalizing nearby…seemingly upset at the keeper for sequestering him in his larger enclosure while his smaller cage with den was being cleaned.

The Crowned Cranes are always photogenic subjects. During this visit they were in an encloser where capybaras had been moved to control the grass that was getting too high…and the animals seemed to be gorging on the greens. Only one capybara had been left behind in the normal capybara enclosure which we saw as got close to the zoo’s exit.

The zoo turned out to be a good choice for Father’s Day!

Dickerson Park Zoo – April 2024

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My first trip of the season to the Dickerson Park Zoo was back at the end of March (post 1, post 2); my second was near the end of April when my sister and brother-in-law visited. Like the first visit, there were lots of peacocks wandering through the zoo; this time there were peahens too and there were some instances where it looked like the birds were either already incubating eggs…or getting a ‘nest’ ready. There was a male just past the entrance that was actively displaying for a peahen…moving both the upright tail feathers and the supporting structures behind the big tail. The birds were also vocalizing the whole time we were at the zoo.

Daffodils were replaced with irises blooming in clumps along the walkways and the sides of the stream.

I enjoyed the enclosure for flamingos, roseate spoonbills, and scarlet ibis.

There was one flamingo that was sitting and kept its head in the dirt…perhaps not feeling so well. All the other birds seemed to be active (particularly the spoonbills) and enjoying the afternoon.

I zoomed in on some feathers that had been shed in the enclosure. It is interesting that the feathers are white toward the base….very colorful in the part furthest from the body of the bird (when attached).

The trumpeter swans were on the pond as they were last time – perhaps a little perturbed by the tree trimming that was happening nearby.

Both the cheetahs and lions were out – and one of the cheetahs was moving around a lot. It could have been responding to the extra noise.

One bongo was relaxing while the other nibbled at leaves.

I zoomed in on the elephant’s eye – realized that they are amber in color. A keeper came to give hay to the elephant and asked if we had questions. I asked if all elephants have amber eyes and evidently that is the eye color for Asian elephants. The elephant is named Patience and she is a geriatric elephant; she likes to be alone rather than with the other female (they don’t get along).

I took another picture of the little elephant sculpture…probably my favorite sculpture at the zoo. I think the shiny top of its head is where people touch it the most!

It was starting to sprinkle but we wanted to see the giraffes. One of the young ones was intent on getting some grass near the fence.

My brother-in-law became mesmerized watching a little girl held by her mother feed the giraffes romaine lettuce; she was an expert…must do it frequently.

We headed back to the zoo store where my sister bought one of almost every item shaped like a turtle! It was a good finale for our visit to the zoo.

Dickerson Park Zoo (1)

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We enjoyed the Dickerson Park Zoo (Springfield MO) on a cool sunny day in late March. My husband and I got a gift membership from my daughter, so we’ll go several times this year. The zoo is always a great opportunity for photography.

The peacocks that roam freely are always photogenic. The birds are very acclimated to people although all the visitors gave them plenty of room too. I only saw one in full display – tail up and expanded; there was no females around, so it wasn’t clear what prompted the display.  The males seemed to be the only ones out during this visit; I wondered if the peahens were sitting on eggs.

The flamingo enclosure is one of my favorites because there is an area where there isn’t a barrier (mesh or fence) between my camera and the birds. I zoomed in on one I thought was sleeping; I liked the arrangement and color variation of the feathers; I discovered when I got home that the bird was evidently awake!

The Trumpeter Swans were living up to their names as the made their way around the pond…very noisy. Beads of water on the swan’s back show how well the feathers keep the swan from feeling wet!

The zoo still has a lot of daffodil/narcissus flowers. Our shifts between warm and cold days (and back again) seems to be prolonging the blooms this year. They are planted around naturalized rivulets.

More pictures from the zoo tomorrow….