Sunday's Nature Walk

On Sunday afternoon I recieved a phone call from a teacher from my school. He is a title one teacher and lives on a farm north of Readlyn. He told me that He has a bunch of bald eagles eating from a dead deer that was in his field just east od his house. I decided to take Emily up there to get some exercise and to look for nature signs. Who knows, maybe will still get to see the eagles.

It was an interesting drive out to the farm. Emily and I listened to Coca Cola Cowboy and I drank down a can of cherry coke. The road curved and followed the Wapsi River. When we arrived the eagles were done eating, and they have been circling high above for awhile.

John (my teacher friend), Emily, and I decided to go on a walk to check out the farm and the nature that thrives around his farm. We first walked out to the deer to see what eagles do to a fresh carcass. The head of the deer is tucked up under it's body. It is not visible.

Our first amazing signs of the eagles were the tracks left behind by these awesome creatures. The feet are huge and the talons must be impressive. Ben Franklin oppossed the choice of the bald eagle as America's symbol because it is more of a scavenger than hunter. Ben Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be our symbol because they are a very cunning bird.

After the grizzly first stop, we all walked towards the small stream that led to the Wapsi. It was mostly frozen over. There was evidence of wildlife that John has not seen on his farm before, and he was just at that same spot yesterday. There were some otter slides on the snow that went up and down the frozen stream top. I assume they are otters since there are no penguins here on his farm. Otters are very coolk creatures who enjoy life to the fullest. I noticed a rabbits head near the stream as well, but declined to point it out to Emily. That must have been left over from an owl, hawk, or coyote.

From the stream we stopped by the river. It was peaceful and warm. The wind was blocked by the trees and the sun was beating down on us. One of the rare hugs that I actually enjoy from the sun. Most of the year we are enemies, but today we were friends.

The last leg of our walk was through an adjacent farm where there was a newly planted prairie. As we walked through it we scared up about 25 to 30 phesants. If we were hunters we would of had our limit of three within the first five minutes of walking through the seed rich habitat. Most of the phesants were hens, but there were a few nice looking roosters. These phesants are like magical creatures because I don't ever remember seeing on in the summer months. I only see them in the fall and winter. where are they during the summer? Are they in the Virgin Islands? Emily and I saw a great impression of a phesant taking off from it's snow bank hideaway.

We had a great time and I think Emily learned a little bit about nature and developed more of an appreciation for it.