Since my wife was hosting her book club friends last evening, I had two choices: either stick around to serve the wine and cheese or find someplace to go. I elected to head for the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, on the Missouri River floodplain, and, in the words of Robert Frost, it made all the difference.
Bright sunshine and a flooded landscape greeted me as I entered this fabulous wetland preserve. As is typical for late summer, great blue herons and egrets were everywhere, stalking the pools and flooded fields. The reasons were clearly evident when I got out of the car; massive schools of fish thrashed about in the shrinking ponds and legions of frogs dove for cover as I walked the shorelines. Joining these abundant waders were a large number of green-backed herons and a handful of black-crowned night herons. Canada geese and mallards gathered along the banks, killdeer noisily patrolled the mudflats and squadrons of blue-winged teal wheeled about the refuge. Other common residents included red-winged blackbirds, tree and barn swallows, yellow warblers, American goldfinches and song sparrows.
As the sun set and a full moon rose, more egrets arrived to roost at the refuge, white-tailed deer splashed across the soggy fields and a great horned owl cruised overhead before settling in a large cottonwood. The night shift was about to take charge at Eagle Bluffs and I headed for home.
