La Benite and Liberty Bend- MO River

Took advantage of our fresh powder and beautiful weather on the river this evening. It was sunny and, though I cant really say warm, it was warmer than it had been the past few days. We got right up to about 30degrees. My mother was with me- we hiked through the park, along the river, and entered the conservation area. The area, my mother observed, was pretty ratty looking- There were many invasive, exotic shrubs and vines and the understory was very overcrowded. Throughout the park and the conservation area stood many large, ancient-looking sycamores.

I carried my gun in hopes of getting a goose before the season ended, but didnt have any luck. In the distance, we saw swarms of a smaller species of Canada goose, and several small flocks flew above the river. Across the river we heard the roar of another group of geese. They sounded different and I suspect that they may have been snow geese. Large gulls (Herring?) flew up and down the river and rested in small flocks amongst the geese and ducks. I identified a duck, which we observed swimming calmly from our side of the river as a goldeneye and saw several similar birds in the distance. Others on the other side of the river were fast and flew close to the water. Many had red/brown heads and others had green ones. Those with the red heads had grey backs and pale breasts- those with green ones had white/black backs and wings, grey tails and white breasts. There were hundreds of them in the air and in the coves and still spots of the river. When I had the opportunity to look them up with the help of my blurred pictures, I found that there was only one species that fit the description of the red-headed birds; the common merganser. I continued to read about them and found that the opposite sex of the same birds fit the description of the green-headed birds. Cool!

We flushed two different bald eagles- both were juveniles and one circled around and was flushed for a second time further down the trail.

The river was very high, and the water rushed over several of the rock dikes. When I slipped down to the water to see what I could see, I found that the frozen parts of the river had been decorated by oodles of unique ice crystals and formations. The formations caused by the rising and falling water levels and the fragile, tiny crystals by the moisture that had been frozen out of the air. We watched the sun sink and the yellows and oranges cast a different mood on the river every moment. I took a single shot at a goose that passed over us- they were very high, but I tried. I missed (of course!) and we watched several other small groups pass over before returning to the car. I look forward to seeing other parts of the river in this condition!