NATURE CLICKS #366 - COMMON SNAPPING TURTLE

There was a reason not to pick up the grass in front of the turtle's face........

Joan and I enjoyed a nice drive along the Mississippi River all the way up into Minnesota today. We were looking for all kinds of migrating birds between Harpers Ferry, Iowa and Brownsville, Minnesota. We had some good sightings but the most impressive encounter was this huge turtle that we found on top of the levee that connects lock & dam #9 with the Iowa side of the Mississippi. Our little dog Cooper almost learned it the hard way why this big turtle is called a Common Snapping Turtle. It really snapped at him very fast as he approached the motionless critter. Luckily he was fast enough to avoid its bite, but it would have been a mess otherwise. I learned my lesson quickly and used the full zoom of 600 mm for making some clicks. The turtle had just finished the steep climb from the south side of the levee and was probably on its way to the other side. They travel extensively over land to reach new habits or to lay eggs. When out of the water the snapping turtle is noted for its combative disposition, while in the water they are likely to flee and hide in sediment (source: Wikipedia). Well, after today Cooper and both of us have no doubt that every word about this species in this encyclopedia is true…😉

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2015 #10

Tundra Swans, Harper's Slough, Mississippi River, Iowa

I like to interrupt my series about our trip to North and South Dakota for a more actual story from right here, the Mississippi Valley. Yesterday, and again today, I drove up north along the mighty Mississippi River in search for migrating water fowl. North of Harper's Ferry, near lock and dam #9, I found what I was looking for. The area is closed to all migratory bird hunting and the birds obviously have figured that out. What I found was overwhelming and I was stunned by the numbers I saw. Several hundred Tundra Swans were present, maybe even close to one thousand. Beside them ten thousands of ducks and coots covered the Mississippi. There was no way to even just guess the numbers. The river is about two miles (3 km) wide at this point and the sanctuary stretches almost all the way across and is about 4 miles long. More than a dozen Bald Eagles were sitting in trees or messed with the ducks. The sound of all the ducks and swans was incredible and the distinctive call of the eagles was music for my ears. With certainty I identified Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Northern Pintails, American Coots, Gadwalls, and a single Wood Duck. There were maybe other species further out on the river but even with my binoculars I couldn’t see them clearly. The Tundra Swans have quite a journey behind them already. Their breeding grounds are high up in Alaska and far northern Canada. They are easy to separate from the Trumpeter Swans, who breed here in Iowa, by a small yellow spot on the base of their black bill.

Ten thousands of ducks during migration

The tip where to look for ducks came actually from a couple local duck hunters, who just came back from a hunt and pulled their boat out of the river in Harper's Ferry. They claimed that we haven’t seen the peak of the migration yet because of the mild weather. After I outed myself as a photographer they were very helpful and gave me a good description how to get to the sanctuary.

Bald Eagle

The photo of the Bald Eagle was probably the easiest to make. The low afternoon sun lit the bird just right. The high contrast between the white of the Tundra Swans and the darker colors of the ducks were quite a challenge. Exposing strictly for the highlights was the only way to go for these documentary shots.