For the first time since mid spring, I visited Eagle Bluffs Conservation area and was able to access the entire refuge. The extensive flooding that had long persisted across the Missouri River floodplain has finally receded.
Dense fog enveloped the refuge when I first arrived but the late August sun quickly broke through the haze, revealing a rich green landscape, adorned with numerous stands of rose mallow. Despite the inviting scenery, birdlife was relatively sparse, dominated by large flocks of turkey vultures and almost fifty great-blue herons. While a few red-tailed hawks patrolled the floodplain, bald eagles were not observed and, to my dismay, shorebirds were limited to killdeer and lesser yellowlegs.
While it was far from the best birding excursion of the year, it was rewarding to re-explore the entire refuge, most of which was submerged for the past two months. The resilience of plant and animal life was inspiring to observe and the flood's limited effects on Eagle-Bluffs roadways and levees was remarkable. Though my visit to Missouri will be relatively brief, I hope to return to this fabulous refuge in the fall, when hordes of migrant waterfowl descend on the floodplain.
Dense fog enveloped the refuge when I first arrived but the late August sun quickly broke through the haze, revealing a rich green landscape, adorned with numerous stands of rose mallow. Despite the inviting scenery, birdlife was relatively sparse, dominated by large flocks of turkey vultures and almost fifty great-blue herons. While a few red-tailed hawks patrolled the floodplain, bald eagles were not observed and, to my dismay, shorebirds were limited to killdeer and lesser yellowlegs.
While it was far from the best birding excursion of the year, it was rewarding to re-explore the entire refuge, most of which was submerged for the past two months. The resilience of plant and animal life was inspiring to observe and the flood's limited effects on Eagle-Bluffs roadways and levees was remarkable. Though my visit to Missouri will be relatively brief, I hope to return to this fabulous refuge in the fall, when hordes of migrant waterfowl descend on the floodplain.
