The Riverlands Conservation Area, in West Alton, Missouri is set to host this year’s Wings of Spring celebration. This Saturday, the Corps of Engineers will host visitors for their annual celebration. Lying by the Mississippi River, just upstream of its confluence with the Missouri River, this conservation area is a mecca for our nation’s waterfowl.
Like the river it neighbor’s the Riverlands is different every time you see it. The water changes, but so does the waterfowl population. In the winter it is all American Bald Eagles and Trumpeter Swans, both majestic birds. Now, in the Spring it is all about American White Pelicans and Great Blue Herons. Pelicans and herons are still a spectacular sight.
Discovering the Riverlands is like waking up and discovering that you have been living next to an expressway. Just like the river flows, so does the traffic of birds up and down it. I have only explored the Riverlands in the Winter and the Spring. I look forward to discovering its Summer and Fall surprises.
Anne didn’t feel well on her birthday. She just only had a cold, but still on your birthday? She cancelled her workday and stayed home. I tried to cheer her up with birthday presents and the like. I also told her that even though her official birthday wasn’t all that happy, that it was only one day out of thirty-one. 😉
I was interviewed by the company’s media people as part of last Saturday’s bicycling ride. An article covering the ride was published on the company’s intranet. I got the following coverage:
“When I saw the announcement for this, I had to come,” said Mark, engineer. Mark said he rides in Forest Park nearly every day and sometimes rides to work. “It’s fun, you get to see more [than when you drive], and it’s good exercise.”
That is not exactly what I said. Partly, what was written was wordsmithed and made be sound more intelligent than I am. It also embellished, I once rode nearly everyday, but not so much now. Although, I did ride in the Park Friday morning, before work. I got 15 miles.