On this sunny, December morning, I headed down to Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, southwest of Columbia. Stretching along the Missouri River, most of the refuge was covered with ice and snow and a large portion remained closed for waterfowl hunting.
The preserve's largest lake, kept open by flow diverted from the Missouri, harbored a large number of ducks and coot, seemingly oblivious to the shotgun blasts in the distance. Mallards, gadwall and American coot were most common, joined by smaller flocks of shovelers and ring-necked ducks. Along the frozen shoreline, a sharp-shinned hawk dined on the remains of a duck and, off to the south, an adult bald eagle surveyed the scene from a cottonwood.
Away from the lake, noisy flocks of Canada geese roamed the refuge, horned larks scoured the ice-crusted roadways and northern harriers patrolled the snowy fields. Weedy thickets teemed with goldfinches and sparrows and the call of red-bellied woodpeckers rang through the woodlands. The highlight of the morning was the sight of an immature bald eagle swooping into a patch of tall, dry grass; as he descended, a male harrier flapped away and, I presume, the eagle dined on the harrier's catch.
