Our Celebration

We found ourselves back in river country to celebrate our Anniversary...

The Saylorville Dam park system is a favorite spot for almost any special occasion in our book. They have some really nice shelters that provide grills on the inside,  put a fire in the Barbecue for ambiance on a cool day, or if you like the outdoor grilling experience you can find that too.

Eyes to the Sky were key words for the after barbecue festivities.We kept our eyes scanning all sides of the river and the airspace around us...
 

Blue Herons - Photo by Corey Butcher

Blue Heron - Photo by Dianna Butcher

Blue Heron - Photo by Dianna Butcher

 

If it isn't one kind of bird it's another! Photo by Dianna Butcher

 We found ourselves  beginning to have some competition with strong breezes and developing clouds. It was a surprise to see this little Cirrus circling Ankeny airspace in the pattern it had chosen.

Photo by Dianna Butcher

If you've reached some years of  life experiences,do you ever go back to see your first home? Whether it be where you lived as a child growing up, or maybe after the schooling and onto the becoming Man and Wife part of life.

You've heard the word "We" used multiple times in this post; of course that was the subject for the day.

We decided to check-out our humble beginning.

As a young married couple we lived south of  Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary. We didn't attend but had the opportunity to meet some fine individuals that were apart of the Music Ministry studies at the time. I was invited to play their piano that occupied a great deal of space within their apartment. My knowledge of the keyboard wasn't as great as theirs but was told my sight reading ability was good. I smiled and said "Thank you"...

Well, it's time to close this little post and wish everyone a "Have a Great Day!"

Saylorville Lake Eagle Watch

Recently, I took the time to visit the Saylorville Lake Visitor Center to checkout the current ice conditions.Reading about them in my weekly fishing news from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources made me a bit curious. First hand knowledge was apart of my agenda for that day.

The Center was closed when I stopped,wintertime hours are limited to special events.

 Since the building wasn't open I took off for

 the lake overlook. Along the pathway I came across an area filled with multiple bird feeding stations. All the feeders were lined with hungry occupants, that is until my presence put them to flight. They didn't stay away long after I tarried at a distance.

As I walked beside the feeders I heard a bird call that I didn't recognize.

However, for the most part the birds I saw were familiar to me, because their family members would visit my winter feeders when I pursued that hobby.

Warnings to keep off the ice were posted in more than one place. One on the door of the building pictured at the top, and more than one mention was taped to the windows of the marquee in front of me.

In other Iowa lake locations vehicles have been removed after breaking through what their owners  believed to be sturdy ice layers. Our run of above normal temps kept people guessing as to what they  would find on their fishing trips.

Authorities did a great job of keeping us informed with their reports.

Pictured to the right is the earthen Saylorville Dam built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On this day I saw three Eagles either sitting on the ice, or flying to open water. I didn't remember the binoculars, but definitely will add them to the list if I do head out to do more observing.

Facing northeast on the overlook I found open water not far from the shoreline.

Snapping pictures became a challenge with wind whipping and a few flurries sprinkling the air on this afternoon.

I had enough of the elements! Getting a chill I went back to the car to get me warmed up again.

Facing south towards downtown Des Moines,IA

Heading off  to explore some more , I took a right out of the parking lot, pointing the car in the direction of the dam.

Getting a little more than halfway onto the dam I pulled off the highway into a visitor's overlook parking space.

I sat and watched for  geese, and ducks, known to be in the area often at this time of year, under these weather conditions. My wait didn't provide any evidence they were around...at least not here.

Activity around the dam wasn't extremely busy, but a few like minded individuals were out taking advantage of the lack of snow to do some sightseeing.

The Saylorville Visitor Center will be open tomorrow afternoon February 24th,2013,from 12:00 - 4:00 P.M.

The Annual Saylorville Lake Eagle Watch tour will begin at the Visitor Center with a theater show and an Eagle aptitude test. Spotting scopes will be available to see the Eagles soaring over the lake and the opportunity to see an eagle presentation will be available at the Jester Park Lodge.

Eagle watch sponsors are reminding individuals  to pickup your Eagle Watch Passports at any of the stops and when it has been completed take it back to where you began at the Saylorville Visitor Center on the eastside of the dam, on Horseshoe Road, off Highway 415, to enter a drawing to win prizes. For more information please call (515)276-4656.

Here's wishing you many Eagle sightings wherever you might be...Have a great day!

Saylorville Dam on the Des Moines River

Welcome!  If you are following my afternoon wanderings, or jumping in for the first time,thank you for your visit to checkout the remainder of our day below the Saylorville Dam.

My choice to use extra large images is to get you totally immersed in the moment.

Confluence of the Des Moines River and Saylorville Dam Spillway

Saylorville Dam from the  Fishing Pier

Cottonwood Recreation Area Fishing Pier

                                 The Blue Herons of  the Cottonwood Recreation Area

The first blue heron we came across in our adventure of the day was at the pond close to the entrance of the park.

Our ponds and marshes are suffering greatly due to a lack of water...if water remains it is filled with algae.

Driving farther into the park we came to one of the shelters where we decided to get out of the car for a closer look at the river. Our activity disturbed one of the local residents.

We climbed back into the car to move closer to the dam you saw at the top of the post and to another sandbar. 

This heron was the one that gave me an abundance of a bird in motion pictures as it flew closer to me.

The heron above came flying from the group of trees across from the fishing pier. I attempted to catch the heron while it perched in the tree, but I have yet to be able to provide an image for which I approve.
Our State Department of Natural Resources provides a weekly report to fisher people. The one below came out a couple of weeks ago when I originally started this post.

This may be of interest to local individuals-

Saylorville Reservoir

Channel Catfish - Excellent: Good size channel cats are being caught drifting cut baits.  The old river channel north of the mile long bridge is a good starting point.  White Bass - Good: The white bass are active are can be caught around the Cherry Glen and Sandpiper areas as well as the west side of the lake.  Some of the best action has come by trolling small lipless crankbaits in shad colors, along with small flashy spoons and twister tails.

 

Reservoir fishing continues to be very good to excellent right now for white bass, wipers, and channel catfish. Try fishing early in the morning or late in the evenings when fish are most active.  For more information on central Iowa lakes and rivers contact Ben Dodd or Andy Otting at  515-432-2823 .

As we hopped back into the car for our exit from the park, and escaping the increasing heat, we saw some young fishermen carrying heavy duty fishing poles down to the river. I speculated to Hubby that they would be going after the channel catfish most likely lying at the bottom of the river close to the edge of  the sandbar immediately before us...

My hope is to share a glimpse of the opportunities available for in-state or to out of state visitors,or inspire you to checkout your local wildlife sanctuaries wherever you live...

Cottonwood Recreation Area

The Cottonwood Recreation Area was our third and final stop in our few hours spent checking out the lake and the river.

In our years together,Hubby and I have shared this park area the most with other people. However, we haven't been here for years.Passed by many times, but always committed time wise...today was different.

Before the floods,1993,2008, etc...etc.., the banks along the river were covered with big stately trees, wonderful shade for late afternoon picnics.

Today, we saw a lot of exposed sandbars due to low river levels.

Hubby scaled down the rip-rap onto the sandbar to explore, while I headed over to the fishing pier.

On my way to the pier I checked out the story board before spending most of my time taking pictures of the birds fishing the shallows.

Stop back soon and I'll share more about our relaxing day by the rolling water just below the Saylorville Dam.

Oak Grove Recreation Area

After finishing our picnic at Shelter house #1,we left the Cherry Glen Recreation Area and headed up NW Polk City Dr./HWY 415 to our next stop at Oak Grove Recreation Area.

The Ranger station was closed so we headed down the hill towards our objective - the water's edge.
As we left the Ranger Station the Picnic Area was immediately off to our left. Going down the hill further we approached the camping area off to our right, approximately a 1/4 of a mile from the beach at this access point.

We had started seeing sailboats gliding swiftly across the water's surface at the first lake access...the breeze was keeping the sails furled and captains on their toes. Reaching our second access at Oak Grove we were being met by several craft that had come north as we did, following the shoreline.

This picture has two boats far enough away from one another to be comfortable, but a third boat came within feet of the closest to us, headed in the opposite direction. I would say from our vantage point that those two boats  had a "close enough" encounter as they passed, one slightly tilted with underside exposed to the camera.

One of the outstanding features of Saylorville Lake happens to be the Mile Long Bridge west of Polk City.

Most of the time the bridge is a pleasant trip, but like all situations that could crop up in a twinkling of an eye; warnings are posted on the bridge to make drivers aware of potential hazards, such as wind gusts, and of course during the winter, icy conditions.

I have lived in the area long enough to have witnessed water up to the road decking on many occasions. When  I must pass over it with high winds, and water, I keep my eyes focused on the end, and my hands on the steering wheel. Once in a while I try to get a picture without focusing.Oh,and the results usually end up in the recycle bin to be tossed away in the next delete phase.

Come on along with Hubby and me.Time to be off to the next destination,the Cottonwood Recreation Area.

Check back and see what we found as we head in to another part of the Saylorville Reservoir territory to watch and listen for mother nature's treasures...

Recreation Area Visits Around Saylorville Reservoir

I got the opportunity to do a little bit of leisure driving with Hubby on Friday.We ended up grabbing a couple of sandwiches from Quiznos and headed out to one of the recreation areas located around Saylorville Reservoir here in central Iowa, just north of Des Moines.

We pulled up to a shelter house to take our picnic plans to the next level... as we pulled up, getting ready to park, we saw a Whitetail doe with triplets tagging along behind. 

Hubby and I were in awe! 

Living in a timber we hadn't seen triplets traipsing around, or at least we didn't correlate they were womb mates. Today's event was evident, no mistaking they shared the same family tie.

The little family is straight back almost to the rear treeline.

The third fawn lagged further behind as the family moved from left to right disappearing once again into thick cover

The other side of the treeline takes you into someone's backyard. Housing developments have sprung up on the perimeters of the recreation areas - tucked among the trees. A great place to  find quiet solitude, even with a busy world humming all around.

On our day out we found shade and a slight breeze around noon , just before the day heated into the upper 80's.

Stop back soon! I will be sharing a couple of other parks we stopped to explore close to the lake and a few accesses to slip into the water...

Iowa Eagle Watch Fisher Lake - Saylorville Lake Area

Last year we were treated to an Eagle nest cam up at Decorah. It kept many intrigued for months...Even today they still have the camera at the ready if a pair of Eagles should happen to call the nest their nursery once again.

I wouldn't call myself a birdwatcher specifically, but I do pay attention to the total picture, winged,4-footed, ground huggers and whatever it takes to makeup our part of the world.

Our local marsh has been a host to a resident pair of Eagles, but that will be a post for another day.

Reports of an increased Eagle presence at a little swamp known as Fisher Lake, east of the Des Moines River southeast of  Saylorville Lake came before Christmas last year. I had been past the little body of water after Thanksgiving - it teemed with bird life, only I didn't take time to stop and look since I had a schedule to meet.

This visit came on December 29th,2011. The sun and blue skies have been keeping us company with the unseasonably warm temperatures. I have to say that the limited travel problems that occurred a few times so far has been much appreciated.

The water level of our ponds, small lakes and marshes have suffered due to the lack of rain, or snow, for that matter yet this winter. I will say this with a wink since soon we will probably be hoping for a break in a stretch of continous precipitation.

It appeared to me that between the two trees becoming perches for the raptors there was a division between the immature and the mature on this visit.The tree where the youngsters sat was located at the north or the far edge of the lake in the first picture.

The mature eagles were more numerous and  found a tree closer to the front of the lake on the right of the picture.

This turned out to be a fun picture...the Gulls and Eagles shared the lake when the waters were open.

 I visited the lake on Thursday, this week to find a smaller Eagle count, no Gulls, and Crows were still a constant presence. The low water level left a sheet of ice...a perch for the Eagles to attempt a little ice fishing?

Time will tell when my next visit will come to check on the Bald Eagles of Fisher Lake...