Douglas County, Missouri
August 23, 2020
Late Saturday evening I asked my husband if he had any problem with us doing a little day-trip starting early Sunday morning. He agreed and we proceeded to plan where we would go. It couldn’t be too far or we would end up losing the cool of the morning. So, bright(?) and early Sunday morning we headed east and south in the direction of Warren Bridge and Blair Bridge, which are both in Ozark County, Missouri.
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The idea was to visit places with running water — rivers and streams — to see if we might be able to see any water birds enjoying the clear cold water. That didn’t happen, but we did have perfect weather and a few sightings that were exciting to both of us.
First we visited Warren bridge, which is on Bryant Creek. It was looking much improved over our last visit. The gaping hole in the middle of the bridge had been fixed. The bridge was impassable the last time we were here. It also looked like a lot of work had been done to remove fallen trees and other debris. The water looked clear and clean:
The view looking southwest down Bryant Creek from Warren Bridge. (bigger)
There were no people here at all when we arrived. An old truck crossed the bridge and disappeared into the distance on the other side. But there was not an eagle, a hawk or a water bird in sight either — just a few crows and some smaller birds. So we set to work looking for wildflowers, bugs and butterflies. We saw some wildflowers that were not very familiar to me.
Cardinal Flower:
Family: Campanulaceae (bellflowers)
Description: Cardinal flower is a type of lobelia. The stalks are at first unbranched, but later there are many flowering side branches. Flowers in dense racemes, terminal, with slender, leaflike bracts; arise from upper leaf axils; of typical lobelia shape with 2-parted upper lip and prominent, 3-divided lower lip; to 1 inch long; with protruding stamens; cardinal-red, rarely vermillion, very rarely white or pink. Blooms July–October. Leaves alternate, numerous, dark green, to 6 inches long, lance-shaped, finely toothed. Fruits capsules, ribbed lengthwise, with a crown of withered flower parts persisting at the tip.
Cardinal Flower next to Bryant Creek near Warren Bridge (bigger)
And American Water Willow:
Family: Acanthaceae (acanthuses)
Description: American water willow is a shrublike, but not woody perennial, with creeping rhizomes, often covering large areas along the edges of waterways. Flowers are clustered into headlike groups on stems arising from the upper branches; about ¾ inch long with a notched upper lip and a 3-lobed lower lip. The upper lip is light purple, rarely white; the lower lip is white or pale purple with purple markings. Blooms May–October. Leaves willowlike, narrow, opposite, sessile (stemless), 3–6 inches long.
American Water Willow growing in Bryant Creek near Warren bridge (bigger)
There were many more of the regular wildflowers I see every day, but another car pulled up and a family emerged ready to set up for a day in the water, so we politely smiled and waved as we got into our vehicle and drove on our way.
Our next stop was at Blair Bridge on the North Fork of the White River. My cover photo at the top shows campers on the far shore and cars in the parking area. That is my husband Eck standing with his camera on the boat launch. As we arrived we could see several people in kayaks heading downstream. By the time I had my camera ready there was only one red kayak still visible. The others had already gone around the bend.
the last red kayak heading around the bend at Blair Bridge (bigger)
We wandered around, avoiding other people as much as possible, once again looking for water birds, eagles, hawks or anything of interest. Once again there were none — with the number of people here I was not surprised. Again we saw a few wildflowers, butterflies and bugs. And one very busy hummingbird!
We did not stay long — there were too many people and not enough nature, so off we headed to visit the Theodosia Marina-Resort (and Cookie’s Restaurant) in Theodosia, Missouri. This is a place where we have in the past seen geese, ducks and other water birds. Not on this day! (Are you sensing a theme here?)
Cookie’s Restaurant is a place we have often stopped to eat when we do our local day-trips. This was the first time we were there in time for breakfast. I ordered the Veggie Omelet with Hash Browns and a biscuit. Eck ordered a Belgian Waffle, eggs and home fries. His was ready first, but they didn’t deliver it until mine was ready. Mine came hot, fresh out of the oven — his was already starting to get cold. We usually end our meal at Cookie’s with a slice of freshly baked pie or cheesecake, (my favorite is strawberry-rhubarb a-la-mode), but this was breakfast so no pie — maybe next time.
Photo taken from the Theodosia Marina (bridge in the distance) (bigger)
We were ready to give up and started driving back home. But while we were headed toward Gainesville where we planned to turn north on MO-5 I had another idea. Why not go to Caney Mountain? It was still early in the afternoon — no need to rush home. So we continued on to MO-181 and headed north to find the entrance to Caney Mountain Conservation Area.
Looking to the southwest from a high point on Caney Mountain (bigger)
No sooner had we started our trek along the main route around the mountain than I saw movement up ahead. It was a large red-tailed hawk carrying a snake it had just grabbed. We stopped the car as the bird landed in a bare branch, but the distance was too great for a good shot. Eck had a clear view and proceeded to take photos — lots of photos. I could see most of the bird but there were trees and leaves obscuring my view. I started taking photos also, but I could tell they were going to be very grainy and out of focus. My camera was focusing on the trees that were in my way!
That was exciting! We watched as the bird ate the snake and then dropped something to the ground — either snakey remains or poop — not sure which!
We tried to move the car a little closer, but the bird flew away and I got tail shots. Very red tail shots!
Red Tailed Hawk flying away after enjoying his snack (grainier)
We turned off our cameras and continued our drive through the curves and turns of the park. When all-of-a-sudden up ahead I saw a dark furry figure running up the road and heading for the woods. A black bear! I quickly grabbed my camera again, but by the time it was turned back on and ready to shoot, the bear had disappeared into the woods! Not a single shot!
(Here’s where there SHOULD be a photo of a black bear running up the road!)
For the rest of our ride along the Caney Mountain roads we noticed that the food plots that are usually planted each spring for the benefit of the wildlife here were no longer there. No, they still existed, but apparently in this time of pandemic they did not plant any of the plots this year. We saw wildflowers along the roadsides and butterflies all over the flowers, but no more large birds or animals.
Rough Blazing Star:
Family: Asteraceae (daisies)
Description: Rough blazing star is an upright perennial with an unbranched stalk. Flowerheads many, evenly spaced along a spikelike upper stalk, rose-purple. Involucral bracts (overlapping leaflike structures at the base of each flowerhead) rounded, somewhat spreading, appearing pouched or swollen, mostly with broad, thin, pale to transparent margins that look unevenly torn and are sometimes strongly purplish-tinged. Heads have 14–30 disk florets. Blooms August–November. Leaves alternate, the lowest to 15 inches long with a petiole, the upper ones much shorter, becoming sessile and narrowly lance-shaped. Rootstock a round corm.
Spicebush Swallowtails on thistles (bigger)
The wildest thing we noticed for the rest of the drive was the horseflies! They were enormous and relentless!
Finally we headed home, satisfied that we had seen a lot of wildlife after all and relishing the thought that we would soon be able to view all the photos we had taken on this trip. At the same time we were sad because we knew that of the two best things that had happened that day, one would produce grainy out-of-focus photos and the other — none! All we can say about that bear is “You should have seen him — he was the one that got away!”
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