Highway Birding

Year 8

Molly and I have reached the Ozark Mountains. While I hate the concrete deserts of our highway system, with a little research after a long day in the car, birding is quite possible. We were spending our night in transit in Osceola, Iowa which is a location where I have never been. Upon checking in at the motel I quickly got on the internet and pulled up Google Maps. A review yielded a nearby town park with a pond. Zooming in using satellite view showed me hoped for wetlands. Here are screenshots from my research.

The pond was fantastic with a huge number of migrating Catbirds and Spotted Sandpipers. While these birds are not able to use Google Maps, they know the locations of the water and food sources on their migration routes.

We did reach our small cabin on the top of a very large hill in the Ozarks. When a line of thunderstorms came through last night at midnight, I was ready!

Cardinal Cam!

Year 8

Hey folks, you need to visit my buddy’s Paul’s blog and subscribe. I met and worked with Paul during my decades at Honeywell. He is a smart engineer who has rigged up cool live cameras on three different nests … Wood Ducks, Mergansers and this year Cardinals. Paul blogs about his birds, and will know in advance when “drop day” is coming for the Wood Ducks so you may watch it live. I took this screenshot using Paul’s camera just a few moments ago.

Browse to BirdsGV.com

Ozark Mountains Bound

Year 8

I am writing this blog post from Osceola, Iowa … on the way to a small one bedroom cabin the Ozarks. Now that Molly and I are both vaccinated we decided a road trip was in order.  While our cabin is not on water, it is close to the Buffalo National River. This river was America’s very first to receive the scenic designation back in 1972.

I know zero about birding in the Ozarks, but the warm temperatures and greenery will be welcome after the long Minnesota winter. If you have ever birded this area, please post your recommendations in the comments.

My owl family will have to survive without my presence. The last two mornings I have seen all five birds … Mom, Dad and the three kids. Here are a few images I took yesterday morning.