Yesterday, we paddled from the Alton Dam-Maple Island access, where the free flowing Mississippi begins, to the Confluence Canoe and Kayak Access in the late afternoon. Truly Audubon’s delight! 50 + Amercian Bald Eagles, 25 Great Blue Herons, 2 flocks of twenty or so American White Pelicans, a few large flocks of Canadian Geese, a thousand or more sea gulls, and towboats making busy, busy, while we moved downstream into a magnificent sunset meets river horizon, all that and the remnants of the ice pack lingering about, making some of the route seem like we were paddling through a slushy.
The pelicans have been a pleasant surprise these past two weeks. I hadn’t seen them since the middle of the Fall. Their graceful glide in the air is one of my favorite bird flight sights. At the Maple Island channel entrance, we came upon a flock. They flew off in a ruckus. All but one, a poor pelecanus americanus whose right wing was damaged beyond repair. I watched with much sadness as this great bird flapped furiously. We slid silently by as he swam slowly in the eddy, warily watching us, a castaway, destined to remain there until its circle of life is complete.
Tags: Audubon, eagle, heron, Maple Island, pelican, winter paddling
