We got to Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in the early afternoon on the day after Christmas. It was sunny and relatively warm – no coat required. We made a slow drive around the loop and side road. The next morning, we drove the wildlife loop again in the fog before heading home.

There were lots of birds to see and hear!

Trumpeter Swans

Snow Geese

White fronted Geese

And Bald Eagles

There were more eagles than when we had visited Loess Bluffs last March…but similar numbers of snow geese and trumpeter swans. The muskrats were not active outside their mounds, so we didn’t see any this time.

Unfortunately, another difference we noted were dead birds in the water; I recognized snow geese and trumpeter swans. Some looked like they had been dead for some time. Pre-Covid, the carcasses of dead birds were collected as one refuge we visited (to determine why the birds were dying and to minimize the contagion in the water); perhaps they no long do that because it isn’t effective, they know it is bird flu, or there are not staff to do the work. The area where most of the dead birds were located was not near where the bulk of living birds were; maybe water movement acted to collect the birds in the shallows along the shore (mostly) away from flocks.

I’ll end this post on a positive note with the botanical pictures! Seeds and pods and brown foliage dominate…but there was one green plant that had a lot of water droplets.