There Is A Bird

 

Road Trip Map

 Here is an approximate map of the road trip. On, Jan. 3, I started in Duluth. I stayed in Des Moines, Iowa. January 5 and 6th I stayed in Independence, Kansas. I stayed in San Leon, Texas from Jan. 7 to Feb. 7th. Feb. 7th I moved to Lake Jackson, Texas for 2 nights. Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 I stayed in Austin, Texas. Feb. 14 to Feb. 27 I stayed on a Longhorn ranch in San Antonio. Feb. 28 until March 1st I stayed in Little Rock, Arkansas. March 1st to 3rd I stayed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. March 3rd to March 5th I stayed in Topeka, Kansas. March 5 to March 7th I stayed in Kearney, Nebraska. March 7th to March 11 I stayed in Minneapolis. Now I am home. A winter storm warning advises me to stay off the roads until Monday morning. Overall I would say it was a successful road trip. I had fun. I learned. I adapted. I solved problems. I figured things out. I saw lots of nature and birds. I met many fascinating people.

Home

 

Surely Spring Is On The Way

 Yesterday I arose early and started driving north and east by 7 a.m. Kearney, Nebraska was fairly quiet at this hour. As I traveled east driving next to the Platte River, the sky was full of cranes and snow geese. The sky held more life than the earth. The farther north I sent the fewer birds I saw in the sky. I arrived in Sioux City, Iowa around noon. By 2 p.m. I was back in Minnesota driving through Worthington. By 4:30 p.m. I was in northeast Minneapolis and my eyes were tired of looking at long distances. Tonight is a full moon and although I could not see it, I knew the moon was there. Today the first grizzly bear came out of hibernation at Yellowstone National Park. Surely spring is on the way.

Rowe Audubon Center

I spent the afternoon at the Rowe Audubon Center which is 

20 minute drive from this hotel. Here a flock of snow geese are coming in. Snow geese are all over the place here.

I am signed up for the crane experience at 5 p.m. I did this once before. A friend and I came about 7 years ago and did the evening crane experience twice. I forgot my camera at home. My friend refused to share her photos. We aren't friends anymore.

This place is run by volunteers from all over the United States and Canada.

Red winged and Brewer's blackbirds fly in for a snack.

Pine siskins and gold finches.

Now it is 5 p.m. We wait for the cranes to come in. The two ladies next to me are very talkative. One of them skis at Lutsen. The other one's sons attended St. Olaf College. As a child she spent summer vacations on Ottertail Lake. She frequented the corner store. They tell me the Platte River is running dry because of the drought.

Here they come. Time is 7 p.m.

With my binoculars I watch one crane circle the group three times before landing. I can relate. I do that in my car too.

Wow, the sky is full of cranes. Our guide rates this as a 7 out of 10 experience.

The crane center has a crane camera. One volunteer I spoke with has the job tonight of moving the camera and panning in with close ups. She said it is her favorite job. She is from Steven's Point, Wisconsin. She volunteers here for a full month for seven  years now.

 

Home, Home On The Range

This morning I bought coffee in Topeka and was on the road north and west by 7:30 in the morning. I chose a route that kept me in Kansas as long as possible. The drive through the Flint Hills was beautiful. I love those long and winding roads that make your stomach drop as I fly by at 60 miles per hour. Kansas has great roads. By noon I was in north west Kansas. I did not know that Smith County is the geological center of our nation. I stopped to eat lunch at this park. This is the cabin where the song "Home, Home On The Range" was composed.

This free park has a little nature trail.

Some of the signs were unreadable. The second bridge over the river was either broken or taken on land for the winter.

A tree fell over the trail. I sat on this tree for just a moment going forward and also coming back.

At 1 I entered Nebraska. At 2 I stopped to buy popcorn at a store. Girl Scouts were there so I had to buy a box for five dollars. Four out the four daisy or brownie girls plan to get their gold award. I walked around a local park and saw my first snow since January 3. I went two months and two days without seeing snow. I got to my very nice hotel in Kearney at 3 and proceeded to do laundry.

Then I went for a walk in the neighborhood and found this lovely trail. I walked for almost an hour along the river.

The sun is setting. I had good weather for driving today. I saw hawks and western meadowlarks and robins and horned larks and sand hill cranes and snow geese and red belllied woodpeckers and hairy woodpeckers.