More Flood Damage

I hiked down to the Spring Creek aqueduct today in hopes of photographing some tracks after the flooding.  I was quite surprised to see the at the water levels were still quite high, and the debris from the cornfields has blocked up the underside of the aqueduct.  I normally walk underneath, but it is going to be awhile before I get to do that again.  It will take a few more milder rains to clean out the debris.

Regardless of my disappointment of not finding any tracks, I still got a couple of nice wildlife shots on the way back.

Squirrelly Peek-A-Boo

Hooded Merganser in Flight

After the Floods

Yesterday, our seasonal monsoon ripped through the area giving us 4-5 inches of rain in a 24 hr. period.  The creeks overflowed, some streets flooded, and even the Green River levee broke in an area.  I spent last evening cleaning up water from the basement.

Today, the cold came back and we even had a bit of snow fall.  Regardless of the crappy weather, I needed to escape so I took the fat bike out to see what the weather had done to the canal over by Annawan.

Yes, another fat bike pic:)  I can't help myself!

After a couple of miles, I reached the aqueduct right outside of town.  The creek was certainly up, and I would have loved to see what it looked like yesterday, but instead, the aftermath.

While there, I spotted a new bird species for myself.  I captured both male and female yellow-rumped warblers.  They were feeding below the aqueduct on the flotsam and jetsam that had accumulated there.

Female Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Male Yellow-Rumped Warbler

One final surprise awaited at the aqueduct.  An otter had visited here just today, so I'm hopeful that I may soon get a good closeup of it. 

Otter Tracks

I rode down a couple more bridges, but my ride was cut short by a flat on the way back:(  This will be a new adventure.  This will be the first time I've changed a flat with these monstrous tires.

A Weekend of Flighty Firsts!

I have and do spend so much time on the canal, I often wonder when I will stop seeing new things.  Luckily, that hasn't happened yet:)  Honestly, I don't think it will ever happen.  I used to think "new" had to be species, but now that's certainly not the case.  There are so many animal habits that I have never seen, and those are pretty much endless.

Saturday, I took a nice long bike ride over to the Feeder Canal Basin by Sheffield.  This is the area where the north/south feeder canal empties into the east/west channel.

ONce I got on the southern trail, I spotted a very large bird swooping down around a flock of ducks that were in the water.  I could tell it was a raptor.  It was too big to be a red tailed hawk, so I started to think eagle.  Right after I thought that, it let out its call and I knew what it was instantly, but I really couldn't believe it.  It was an osprey!  The only place I've seen osprey is in Florida on vacation.  I know they migrate up and down the Mississippi River, but I've never seen them.  This osprey flew directly over me twice so I got a good look, and heard its call several times.  No mistake at all.  The downside to this moment.....you guessed it......I didn't have my good camera, just the point and shoot:(  I wanted to kick myself.

On the way back, I could see two large birds sitting right on the path.  I was hoping for osprey, but I had a hunch about what it was.  I rode my bike slowly closer, and then got off to walk it slowly.  I got my tiny little Nikon ready and took a new photo every 5 yards or so.  By the time I got closer, I already knew they were turkey vultures, but they were showing an interesting display.

They stood there like this for quite some time, and to me, it seemed territorial because they usually fly away on first sight of me.  These guys were standing their ground a bit.  I kept moving closer, and they finally got nervous and flew away.  It was evident what they were guarding when I got there:

Two new firsts!  A new species for the canal and a new behavior!  I sulked a bit that night, angry at myself for not strapping my camera to my back.  Stupid!  Stupid!  Stupid!  Someday I'll learn.

Today, I decided to leave the bike at home, strap on the camera, and take a hike in the same area.  I really wanted that osprey.  Just as I was pulling up to the parking area, I spotted 10 turkey in the field.  Nothing new here, but they were fun to photograph.

Not long after getting out of the car, I got a nice shot of this red-winged blackbird.  Nothing new here either, but I love to get them when they are calling.

Now for something new!  I spotted two northern flickers doing their mating dance!  I've never seen this before and it was absolutely fascinating!

I wandered down a couple of bridges and spotted pintails, northern shovelers, and mallards, but couldn't get any decent shots.  I decided to move and head back over by Atkinson where I had seen the otter in the last post.....you know, the other time I forgot to bring my good camera!

The otter has been busy marking up the exact same spot with his scat.  The last time I was here, I only found one old pile, but there were four new ones marking the trail from the canal to the little drainage ditch.

Not seeing the otter, I wandered down a bit further and came across another first!  Two great white egrets were sitting on the path of the canal!  I've seen them on the rivers, but never on the Hennepin.  Very skittish birds, they are.

A long winded post, lots of photos, and several "firsts" to add to my Hennepin Canal experiences.  The setting of dusk drove me back to the truck reluctantly, but I just had to get one photo that wasn't a bird!

 

Stalking Mergansers

I've been seeing a lot of common and hooded mergansers on the canal lately.  Today I went on a short hike and spotted one through my lens about 100 yards away.  It was unusual to see just one, but it was the perfect opportunity to stalk up to it and see how close I could get.

It was diving, so I started to time how long it was under.  On average, it would go under for 6 seconds and then pop up.  Soooo, every time it dived, I sprinted to the count of four and got on the ground.  I did this until I got about 20 yards from him.  I can't believe I got that close.  I belly crawled for 5 more yards, and when he came up, I knew he spotted me, so I just let the shutter fly:)  I got two good side shots and the rest was it high-tailing it out of there!

It was great fun to see how close I could get, as they are very difficult to get close to.  I hope nobody was watching me:)

A Bit of Winter Biking!

I spent the weekend biking in the snow on the canal trail.  I put in quite a few miles and really had a blast.  Below are some of the things that I saw:

I went to the Lock 21 area by Wyannet and found a great area where the water had not frozen.  There were 6 eagles there that all flew away as I rode closer.  There were also crows everywhere!

 American Crow Print

A not so great photo of an American Eagle print.  Had a little trouble getting focused because I fell thorough the ice:)  It'll have to do until next time.

Sunday, I rode to the Lock 26 area down to the Green River foot bridge.  I love this area and always find something of interest.

I found some pretty strange tracks and need some help with identifying (Trailblazer, are you there?).  Basically, this slide print was in the aqueduct 15 feet down, so I couldn't get a closer look.  I only had my point and shoot camera and couldn't zoom closer, and the tracks around the slide were not identifiable.

The only critter around my area that I can think of that slides like this is an otter.  Not sure what the little dug-out area is.  Just outside of the bottom of the picture is open water.

On the way back, just as I got back to the parking area, I see this big furry butt sticking out from a tree:)  It made me laugh as it was shifting back and forth trying to get further into the tree hollow.

I made some squeaking noises with my mouth and finally got the raccoon to turn around.

After a couple of shots, he took off higher into the tree.  After his hollow in the tree was revealed, I couldn't help but laugh even more.  He was really trying to fit a lot into a little tiny hole!

I look forward to a bit warmer weather so I can bring my good camera with on my bike rides.  It was just too darned cold to take it this weekend.  I have to admit the little waterproof Nikon point and shoot still gets the job done.

Lock 17 Trip

A couple of days ago, I got to take a day hike over by Wyanet at Lock 17.  I've only been here a couple of times, so it's nice to get somewhere I'm not totally familiar with.

Lock 17 is the last of the locks on the Hennepin that allow the climb up the river valley from the Illinois River.  I would love to see this system working again.  It looks like there is some talk of making certain locks active again for tourism.

Bridge No. 9 is right above this lock and while I was looking around, I notice a date stamped on the concrete footing of the bridge.  That's an old bridge!

Well, lets get to the wildlife viewed on this trip.  About 100 yards up from bridge 9, I could see something in the ice, and I knew what it was even before I could see the detail of it.

This poor doe had come down the hillside and fallen into the ice.  The scars of old broken ice showed the poor deer's struggle, and obviously did not make it.  This really wasn't how I wanted this hike to start out:(

Not long after that, my spirits were lifted!  I saw what I thought was a gull flying erratically down the path, and I started taking some pictures.  As it got closer, I realized that it wasn't a gull at all, but a Northern Harrier Hawk!  Harrier hawks are endangered in Illinois, so this was a special moment for me.

Along the way, I noticed several den openings in the hill on the other side.  On this day, I could only imagine what might live in them.  Perhaps mink, muskrats, bank beavers?  Who knows.  Maybe next time I'll get to find out.

I reached lock 18, which was a bit farther than I had anticipated.  Here, the broken ice made some interesting patterns for photographs.  Very geometric!

At the end of the lock, where the ice hadn't broken up yet, I noticed several dead shiners in the ice.

Above the lock, animal tracks appeared.  At first I thought the bird tracks were turkey, but that doesn't seem right.  I think they are actually heron tracks.  They could also belong to lesser yellow legs, but I couldn't get close enough to really be sure.  You can also see some raccoon tracks along the edges.

On the way back, I spotted another great raptor, the Bald Eagle.  I always have to smile when I see an eagle, especially when I see them on the Hennepin Canal.  The fact that this great raptor has rebounded so well in our area is reason to smile....big!

Another great hike.  The more I hike other portions of the canal, the more interested I become with its history.  Every area I visit has something structurally different to offer.  There's plenty out there written about the canal, but I find it much more fun to find things and then research them.

Winter Wonder Land

Well, the first snow storm of the winter has rolled through and everything is covered in white!  I love this time of year for several reasons.  The main reason is that I can spot animals much easier, although they can spot me even easier.  The other reason is that very few people venture out on the trails when it is so cold.

I got out a couple of times this weekend and it was bitter cold with fierce wind.  I headed over to Annawan, and the roads were horrible.  There were a dozen cars off the road!  I really didn't expect to see anything that first day after the storm because it was so bad.  I figured most of the critters took cover and were hunkering down until it was over.  I didn't see any tracks at all, and I started to believe I might be correct.  However, the little mink below proved me wrong.  It was headed back to the den with a hearty breakfast of fish.

I ventured out a little closer to home yesterday and on my way to my destination, I spotted 4 coyote in a field next to the canal path.  I have only seen solitary coyotes around the canal in the daytime, but these guys were hanging together.  They were just hunting and lounging.  I pulled over on the side of the road and just enjoyed watching them for awhile.  I was hoping to see some rodent pounces, but it never happened.

I was pretty sure that they had followed the canal path to that field since it is the only tree cover in the area, so I went up a couple of bridges to see if I could find their route.  Sure enough, I found four direct coyote trails on the main path headed in the direction of where I had last seen them.  So much can be learned from animals just by following and studying their paths.

The snow reveals every little nook and cranny that they investigate.  Coyotes mark with their urine frequently, and of course, this is easily spotted.  Don't eat the yellow snow!  If followed their path for a little more than 2 miles, and between the four of them, there were 13 urine spots.

Of course they left other little presents along the way as well.  Every scat i found was directly on this snowmobile track.

The tracks led up to the edge of the canal where apparently they had taken a little snooze break.  These little "beds" were nicely formed, to keep the wind at their backs.  I was a bit disappointed in the photos because these were perfectly formed little beds which can only be appreciated in person (or in 3D).  I could just picture them all curled up in little balls of fur trying to keep warm.  These beds were pretty fresh as there was very little snow in them, and the wind was still blowing.

I also found a spot where one coyote had pounced.  I'm assuming it was a rodent tunneling, as there were no other tracks.  A few feet away, there was a bit of evidence that the pouce was successful.  Tiny droplets of blood!

I tracked them all the way back to where I had first spotted them, and sure enough, they were still in the field.  Unfortunately, my tracking adventure stopped at the fence to the local farmer's field:(  I would have loved to try to get closer for some better photos, but maybe next time.

On the way back to the truck, I focused on getting some wildlife shots and came up with one final surprise.  This barred owl startled me as it bolted from a low lying tree, but not enough to keep me from getting a couple of shots.

The Hennepin holds many wildlife secrets, but many are revealed when the snow falls.  Get out there and see what you can find!  Merry Christmas everyone!