Sunday, December 27, 2009

Emiquon and Fulton County in December

I haven't been posting as often since we moved to Fulton County. My wireless connection is variable, especially on uploads. I hope to rectify that soon!

December started off nice enough, but it sure became cold with snow covering the ground from mid month on. Thompson Lake froze solid, from bank to bank.  The eagles left following the waterfowl as they headed for warmer territory in Arkansas (my assumption).

A Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead.
Red-tailedHawkClarkRoadEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3604

One lonely immature Bald Eagle flew over.
ImmatureEagle12152009Emiquon12152009JGWard_MG_2749

A horse stood out in the snow covered pasture along Prairie Road.
HorsePrairieRoad12272009JGWard_MG_3536

A Northern Harrier hunted the fields and prairies along Prairie Road.
NorthernHarrierEmiquonPrairieRoad12272009JGWard_MG_3487

The Nature Conservancy office and surrounding buildings were covered in snow.
TNCEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3511

A flock of geese flew across the setting sun as I look west from Prairie Road.
GeeseSunEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3510

As I came around the turn looking towards the bluff, I spotted some people watching something I couldn't see in the snow.  The snow was pretty deep and hadn't been traveled much on that stretch of the road, so I backed into the driveway of TNC outbuilding and turned around.
EmiquonVisitorsPrairieRoad12272009JGWard_MG_3478

I stopped to take a photo of the Rare Fish Pond on the Butt track of TNC's property:
ButtTrackEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3425

Along Clark Road, another Northern Harrier flew over.
NorthernHarrierClarkRoadEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3598

And I spotted the Dark-morph Western Red-tailed Hawk that I first saw on December 5.
DarkMorphRedtailClarkRoadEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3631
Here is a better photo taken on the 5th, when the sun was shining.
HawkEmiquonClarkRoad12052009JGWard_MG_2342

Monday, November 23, 2009

Sunny Emiquon Days

We had some lovely sunshine in November, which disappeared in December. I drove down the bluff to the Emiquon Preserve. I walked out the south end of the levee. Coots and Grebes were swimming in the channel heading towards the levee.

CootsGrebeEmiquon11232009JGWard_MG_1706s


AmericanCootEmiquon11232009_MG_1699s
The black dots on the lake are mostly Coots. There were nearly one hundred thousand Coots at one time on Thompson Lake at the Emiquon Preserve. Several eagles flew far out over the water surveying the coots and other waterfall.
JuvEagleCootsGeesePumphouse11232009JGWard_MG_1747


A Northern Harrier flew acrobatically across the fields along Emiquon Prairie Road.
NorthernHarrierEmiquonPrairie11232009JGWard_MG_1841s
NorthernHarrierEmiquonPrairie11232009JGWard_MG_1843s
As the sun set behind the bluffs, it turned the sky bright orange.
EmiquonSunset11232009JGWard_MG_1849s
In the other direction, a tree that I regularly photograph stood vigil over the prairie.
EmiquonPrairieRoad11232009JGWard_MG_1859s

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Clark Road

I love walking along Clark Road, which runs between the bluff and the Emiquon Preserve north of Thompson Lake. There is always something interesting to see. One of my favorite spots is an rock outcropping that reminds me of southern Illinois.

OutcropClarkRoad11212009JGWardIMG_1488

Looking south from Clark Road, you can see the smoke stack of the Havana power plant, which is at least 8 miles away.

ClarkRoadEstuary11072009JGWard_MG_0465

On some days, the steam bellows out, forming clouds over the valley.

HavanaEmiquon12272009JGWard_MG_3560

This was taken in 2007.

Emiquon Patterns May IMG_0005

The area is now filled with water; it is what I call the Clark Road Estuary, between IL SR 78 and Clark Road.























We frequently find hawks and eagles flying along the edge between the bluffs and the valley. One day we found a dark morph red-tailed hawk rested in a tree along Clark Road.

HawkEmiquonClarkRoad12052009JGWard_MG_2342


Bluebirds and other small birds reside in the brush along both sides of the road.


BluebirdClarkRoad11202009JGWard_MG_1453



Monday, November 09, 2009

Scenes from Little America

Prichard Road, not far from our house, leads down to Little Sister Creek.

PrichardRoad11092009JGWardIMG_9429

PrichardRoadCows111122009JGWard_MG_1071

The dog jerked the leash just as I snapped this photo of cows on the horizon.

CattleHorizonPrichardRoad11092009JGWardIMG_9468


From our back yard we can see all the way across the Emiquon valley to Havana.

LA10182009JGWardDSCN1272

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Emiquon in November

November 8, 2009

November had some good days in the beginning of the month. Sunday, November 8, was an exceptionally warm and sunny day this year. I drove to the south end of the levee and walked to the first bend, about a mile, before turning back to the car. It gave me a great opportunity to observe the wetland forming around the channel that would lead to the Spoon River system if it weren't for the levee upon which I stood.

WetlandThompsonLakeEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0581

On the other side of the levee lies the bottom forest that surrounds the Spoon River on the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, providing a great contrast.

BottomLandForestEmiquonNWR11082009JGWard_MG_0564

BottomlandForestEmiquonNWR11082009JGWard_MG_0566



The day was so clear that I could see the two towers on the bluff at Little America from the levee.

LittleAmericaFromThompsonLevee11082009JGWard_MG_0748

A small group of American White Pelicans sat on a finger of higher ground like whipped cream on a sliver of pumpkin pie.

EmiquonFromThompsonLevee11082009JGWard_MG_0741

I found Horned Grebes, the first time I've identified this species. They were swimming with American Coots and Pied-billed Grebes in the channel of water threading its way through the wet prairie.

HornedGrebeEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0962

ACootEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0963

A Monarch butterfly landed briefly before flying off over the trees at the refuge.

MonarchButterflyEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0577

A female Northern Harrier hunted the wet prairie as I walked back to the car.

NorthernHarrierEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0688

NorthernHarrierEmiquon11082009JGWard

NorthernHarrierEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0700

NorthernHarrierEmiquon11082009JGWard_MG_0703cr

NorthernHarrierEmiquonThompsonLevee11082009JGWard_MG_0712crp2

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Emiquon in Autumn -- October 2009

October 7, 2009

Pelicans were swimming and fishing in Thompson Lake right up front, along Route 78 on Tuesday morning. Usually they are swimming so far out that they look like white blobs in my photographs, a part of the landscape. On this morning they became the subject of the photographs.

AmPelicansThompsonLakeEmq10072009JGWard_MG_9779

AmPelicansThompsonLakeEmq10072009JGWard_MG_9788

AmPelicansThompsonLakeEmq10072009JGWard_MG_9791

AmPelicansThompsonLakeEmq10072009JGWard_MG_9834

Thompson Lake along Clark Road sparkled in the morning sunlight.

EmiquonClarkRoad_Panorama10072009JGWard

ClarkRoadMorningLight10072009JGWard_MG_9846

October 10, 2009

On Saturday, the 10th of October, the pelicans were farther out on the water again. However, Ed and I noticed they seemed to be flying across the river, so we headed to Chautauqua. sure enough, the large birds were out on the water at the end of the levee separating the pools of water.

PelicansChautauqua10102009JGWard_MG_0024

Several pelicans flew directly overhead, allowing for some decent flight shots.

PelicansEmiquon10102009JGWard_MG_0001

PelicansEmiquon10102009JGWard_MG_0027

We went back to Havana for lunch and then headed back to Emiquon. It was overcast that day, with a very flat gray light. Regardless of the light, I made a few panoramas, two from Thompson Levee and one from one of the pull-offs at the south end of the lake.

ThompsonLeveePanorama1-10102009JGWard

ThompsonLeveePanorama2-10102009JGWard

EmiquonWetlandPanorama10102009JGWard

October 18, 2009

American White Pelicans were still around on Sunday, October 18. Far out on the lake this time, like little white dots.

PelicansEmiquon10182009JGWard_MG_0084

The sky was a nice shade of blue, so I took some more panoramas from the levee south of the lake.

ThompsonLeveePanorama1-10182009JGWard

ThompsonLeveePanorama2-10182009JGWard

ThompsonLeveePanorama3-10182009JGWard

At one of the pull-offs, we found pelicans closer to the shore.

PelicansEmiquon10182009JGWard_MG_0117

PelicansEmiquon10182009JGWard_MG_0127

PelicansEmiquon10182009JGWard_MG_0143

PelicansEmiquon10182009JGWard_MG_0158