Two Eagles

 

Saturday was a red-letter birding day for our backyard.  It was a first-ever sighting of a bald eagle from our back deck.  I didn't take the eagle photo at right. Our eagle was much higher and I could only see the white tail feathers when it turned "just right" in its circle. 

That sighting prompted us to record all other bird life observed for the day.  I also heard wild turkey, northern bobwhite, and tufted titmouse.  The woodlands surrounding our subdivision make it possible, on a good day, to "extend the ear" into the forest.  We also spotted these in our backyard Saturday:  northern cardinal, redwing blackbird, American crow, mourning dove, brown-headed cowbird, eastern meadowlark, and American robin.

The most common species for the day was American goldfinch.  The bright fluttering noisy goldfinches flitted among the feeders, trees, and lawn.  There must have been three dozen.

The second eagle of the week was posted by my Uncle Butch (Wayne David) on Number Three at Mountain View Municipal.  He pitched in his third from the fairway on the Par Five.  He is no stranger to golf glory.  He's had two aces in his life.  Of course, anyone who plays as often has he does should get a lucky roll now and then.

Springtime

I've neglected my neglected blog long enough.  I apologize to my three faithful followers (Ha!).

I don't think I could ever report on everything that has happened since my last post in November, but between lawn, garden, and golf, maybe I'll try to insert some winter thoughts.  Of course, winter was mild.  And now spring is early.

Spring is here.  It has been for a few weeks.  Flowers, trees, birds are all early.  Cardinal baseball begins tonight.  Spring wild turkey hunting season begins in less than two weeks.  


Dad's azaleas shout spring's full arrival. 

The dogwoods may be finished flowering before turkey season starts.  What a shame.  I'll miss that bursts of woodland white.  Maybe I'll be able to concentrate on a gobbler better. 

We have 38 scotch pines alive out of 51 planted a year ago.  I'm going to plant more in a few days.

I have my new butterfly garden planted.  I'll post a photo when there is something to photograph. 

I tilled our vegetable garden, but nothing is planted yet.

When Kyle Lohse pops that first strike into Yadier Molina's mitt at 6:05 tonight, I'll know for sure that spring is here.

The Rivalry

It was another great Tiger win today in the Border Showdown between the universities of Missouri and Kansas.  It's the second oldest college football rivalry in the nation.  Today's 24-10 Mizzou victory was the 120th playing of the game, the first of which was played in 1891.  The oldest rivalry is between Minnesota and Wisconsin who have played 121 times. 

The game was played in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.  The first 16 MU-KU football games were played in Kansas City.  Later the schools changed to home-and-away locations.  The KC site was renewed in 2007. 

Missouri has won 3 straight over Kansas and 5 out of the last 6.  When Missouri moves to the Southeastern Conference next year, they would like to continue to play Kansas as a non-conference game, but Kansas appears to be reluctant to play us. 

Some say the bitterness between Missouri and Kansas goes back to the Civil War.  While the two schools maintain diplomatic relationships, they don't even agree on the series results, as MU claims it had the lead at 56-54-9 before today's game, while KU claimed that it was tied at 55-55-9. The dispute goes back to the 1960 season, when unranked KU came to Columbia and upset undefeated and #1-ranked Mizzou, 23-7. The win was later forfeited by KU after the Big 8 Conference ruled that ineligible players took the field for the Jayhawks. Kansas counts the result on the field in their record books, while MU counts the forfeit in its win column. The loss remains as likely the most bitter in Tiger history, as it cost MU a chance at its only national championship, as the Tigers went on to finish 10-1 on the field (11-0 in the record books with the forfeit), and ranked 5th after defeating Navy in the 1961 Orange Bowl.

My favorite MU-KU game was in 2007 when Mizzou won for the second straight year against Jayhawks, claiming a thrilling 36-28 win over KU at Arrowhead Stadium. Nicknamed "Armageddon at Arrowhead," the game featured 11-0 and 2nd-ranked Kansas against 10-1 and 3rd-ranked Mizzou, with #1 LSU having been upset the night before - meaning the winner would likely ascend to #1 in the polls.  The post-game photo below of KU QB Todd Reesing is a favorite of all Tiger fans.  Unfortunately Missouri's No. 1 ranking only last one week. 

M - I - Z  .............................Z - O - U  !!!!!!!!!

Black Friday

We had a great Black Friday.  We drove within 50 yards of a small Wal-Mart, but did not stop.  (There was probably no place to park anyway.)

The photos below show where we went on Friday, November 25, the day after Thanksgiving.

We hiked the trail in the Barn Hollow State Natural Area. 

My hiking partners were Linda, my dad, my sister Janet, and her husband Dwight.

We needed the exercise and fresh air after our big Thanksgiving dinner the day before. 

Barn Hollow is the local name for the intermittent stream that drains directly into the Jacks Fork River. The 252-acre state area is deeply dissected by the 1.2-mile long canyon. 

The Conservation Department purchased the area in 1979. To protect the unique rugged topography and native flora, 115 acres of the tract were designated as a natural area.

We viewed the narrow, steep-walled hollow from a viewing platform located at the end of a one-half mile foot trail.

I counted seven 20-ft contour intervals on my topo map from the ridge top to the bottom of Barn Hollow.  That means it is at least 140 feet deep.

We had a great Black Friday!  

Eat your hearts out, you Shoppers.

Say it aint so!!

It's a very sad thing when our beautiful Ozark streams show serious signs of deterioration of aquatic habitat and water quality.  The recent decision to extend Endangered Species protection to the Ozark Hellbender is an indication of just that. 

Although we may think that hellbenders are ugly, they are part of God's good creation.  Who am I to argue with God's point of view. 

The ducks have a support group called Ducks Unlimited.  The pheasants have Pheasants Forever.  And the hellbenders have a website dedicated to the conservation of hellbenders. www.hellbenders.org 
According to Missouri Dept. of Conservation data, Ozark hellbenders have declined 77% in 20 years.  A lack of young animals in the population indicates either poor reproduction or poor survival of young or both.  Possible threats to hellbenders include poor water quality, in-stream gravel mining, removal of large flat rocks from stream beds, and free access by cattle to rivers which increases siltation and nitrification. 

This is the news from November 7: 

Ozark Hellbenders Listed as Endangered (from the website of The Wildlife Society)  joomla.wildlife.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=931#hellbenders

On 7 November 2011 the Ozark Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) will be officially designated as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the Endangered Species Act. A subspecies of the hellbender, this aquatic salamander is found in the Ozark streams of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri and grows to about two feet in length. Known as one of the largest salamanders in the world, it is characterized by a flattened body, a greenish-brown color, and fleshy folds on the sides of its body. The hellbender is in decline largely due to the spread of Chytridiomycosis (chytrid fungus), a fungal disease that is decimating amphibian populations globally. Other threats to this salamander include habitat loss, poor water quality, sedimentation, and the introduction of pharmaceuticals into the water supply that disrupt hormone levels and decrease reproduction rates. The Ozark hellbender was federally listed as a candidate species in 2001 and gained endangered status under Missouri state law in 2003. Despite newly gained federal protections the FWS will not designate critical habitat for the hellbender due to concerns that collectors from the international pet trade would abuse this information. The Ozark Hellbender, as well as another subspecies, the eastern hellbender, will also gain international protection as a decision was finalized to list the two subspecies under Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Sources: Federal Register, FWS, Scientific American, E&E Publishing LLC (E&E News PM).

A Championship Season

On Saturday, My Corner of the Ozarks, was buzzing with football excitement.  The Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty Eagles played their quarterfinal state playoff game against Lamar at home.  Downtown Mountain View was packed.  Not only was there a lot of local interest, but Lamar brought many fans. 

This was the second year in a row for the Eagles to advance to the quarterfinals and to face Larmar.  Last year Liberty lost in the final 8 seconds.  This year Lamar out-played us 33-18. 

However, the Liberty Eagles certainly had a championship season.  It was their first loss of the year.  So they finished 12-1.  It was the first 12-win season in school history.  They were conference champions.  Last year they only had 2 losses.  So for two years their record was 22-3.  Congratulations Eagles!!

We sat in the stands in the presence of four older gentlemen who played on the 1960 Mountain View Pirate championship team.  Those past champions came out to support today's champions.