For the Birds

River life is definitely for the birds. In fact, before I even got down to the mighty Mississippi yesterday, I had to (yes, HAD to) pull over and shoot (camera only) the Crane family by Plainfield...

Then, down in Dubuque, I thought these were swans until I zoomed in...

Are these just called river pelicans or some other special name?

They found a better party at the other end of the sand bar so invaded that one.

Mr. Blue Heron in the foreground was not having it! He tolerated the newcomers for a bit.

Then the geese invaded and that was too much of a mix and mingle situation for him.

He eyed the distance draw bridge (or swivel bridge) and took off.

OK, I took a lot of pictures of him, but it's rare when I see them on the river when I'm kayaking. They're just awkwardly pretty!

And the darn pelican party followed him! You can see it was shallow this weekend. Dry weather, I guess.

Then I heard a noise over the island party and knew what was coming next!

Yup. I recognize Mr. Eagle's call (which will come in handy in Alaska, too). So I stalked him for a bit...

And finally, when I was just about home, I had to make one more photo stop.

It was a good Sun and Son Day!