Pelicans.  We saw several hundred Pelicans south of Brownsville, MN. along the Mississippi backwaters-Nov. 20th.  They have an 8 foot wing span and are extremely graceful.

They love to whirl around in a great circle to gain or lose altitude.

Tundra Swans by the thousands south of Brownsville, Mn.

Mississippi backwaters, New Albin, Iowa.

Bald Eagles in play.  We saw 86 Bald Eagles along the Mississippi on Nov. 20th.

TUNDRA SWANS HAVE ARRIVED ON THE MISSISSIPPI

Tundra Swans on the Mississippi just south of Brownsville, Mn.  We enjoyed the sounds and sight about 2-3 thousand Tundra Swans on Saturday Nov. 14, 2015.  The swans stop in this area to fuel up on aquatic root tubers and rest before heading east for the winter.  The number of swans here will increase over the next few weeks and we have seen as many as 20,000 swans here at one time.  The swans will leave when the backwaters of the Mississippi freeze over.  Last year was so cold (Thanksgiving Day had a high of 6 degrees), that the swans left early.  This year is much warmer and the swans could pile up to large numbers and possibly stay into early December.

Tundra Swans are strong flyers and when freeze-up comes to the Mississippi backwaters they will pull out and head for the Chesapeake Bay area on the East coast to spend the winter.  We have been told by "experts" that they sometimes make this leg in a non-stop journey.

The swans show a remarkable grace when landing.

Pelican and Tundra Swans.  The Pelican, with its 9 foot wingspan, is larger than both Tundra Swans (6.5 ft. wingspan), and the Bald Eagle (6-8 ft. wingspan).  We saw about 100 pelicans in the Brownsville area that day.

Tundra Swans and Giant Canada Geese.  The Swans tip up and feed on aquatic root tubers such as the root of the Arrowhead plant.  The swans have already had a long journey from the Tundra of northern Canada to Brownsville and they need to fuel up on these high calorie roots before taking off for the east coast.

Canada Goose on Muskrat house, with two Tundra Swans.  The Swans are larger than even the Giant Canada Goose.

Probably a mated pair of swans.  TO VIEW MORE OF OUR NATURE PHOTOS, GO UP AND TO THE RIGHT AND CLICK ON NOVEMBER 2015 OR ANY OTHER MONTH DESIRED.

The swans are so heavy that they have to run along the water before getting up into the air.

Immature Bald Eagle overhead.  We saw 28 Bald Eagles that day, but in a week or two we expect that we could see up to 100 along the river in one afternoon.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER ROAD TRIP-BROWNSVILLE, MN TO HARPER'S FERRY, IOWA-TUE. NOV. 3

Adult Bald Eagle, Mississippi backwaters, New Albin, Iowa.

Mixed group of Mature and Immature Bald Eagles trying to catch a warm updraft of air coming off the hill.  We saw up to 16  eagles riding this thermal updraft.

Immature Bald Eagle along the backwaters of the Mississippi.  Immature Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles are very difficult to tell apart.  If you see an eagle like this one close to any body of water it is quite likely that it is a young Bald and not a Golden Eagle.

A Bald Eagle just made a pass over a large group of resting ducks causing a brief panic.  The ducks soon settled down after the eagle passed without an attack.

Mississippi River, Harper's Ferry, Iowa area.

Trumpeter Swan family(perhaps two families) Just north of Lansing.  We have seen this, once rare, bird many times over the past few years in this area. The immature birds have a dusky color to them.

Mississippi River from Mt. Hosmer Park, Lansing, Iowa.  To see more of our photos, go up and to the right, and click on November 2015 or any month desired.

Lansing, Iowa as photographed from Mt. Hosmer Park.

Barge tows, Lansing bridge.

Grackle flock of about 50 birds.  Love the chatter of the Grackles as they head south for the winter.
Thirty years ago we would commonly see a single flock of well over a thousand birds.  Now we are lucky to see a few flocks of 100 birds.  The Grackles, like most of our song birds, are in steep decline.  These birds need grassland and woods edge habitat and much of that habitat is now corn fields or parking lots for more malls.

Yellow Sulfur butterfly.  A somewhat unusual find for Nov. 1.