Tag: Terry Trueblood Recreation Area

Our Solar Eclipse Day: A Happening on Terry Trueblood Trail

Yesterday, we went out to Terry Trueblood Recreation Area to see the solar eclipse. It was a gorgeous day for it, although a bit chilly. When we got there about 11:30 AM, the parking lot was pretty empty and only a few people were there. We even ran into a few on the trail who didn’t know about the eclipse at all.

However, as the day went on, more visitors showed up, although by no means a crushing crowd. Sena and I were testing out our pinhole and cereal box viewers, and I practiced using the solar filter with my smartphone. While we were doing that, a woman approached us and we struck up a great conversation about the eclipse, which she was looking forward to as well.

As the time approached for the big event, others took up positions around the park. It didn’t take long for us to share stories with others. A woman shared her pinhole viewer with us. She also shared her eclipse glasses (Sena did as well) with another couple who had a NASA live feed on their large screen smartphone. They in turn shared the NASA live feed with us. The irony was the couple didn’t have eclipse glasses and couldn’t safely look up at the partial eclipse right where we were in Iowa City.

And that’s how we all got to share our experience of 4 eclipses, 3 of them total eclipses (albeit vicariously by the NASA live feed by smartphone) with Carbondale, Illinois as well as Arkansas and Texas. The videos were mesmerizing.

As the eclipse progressed, we noticed it got colder and darker. The birds stopped singing. On the NASA live feed, we heard a reporter excitedly remark that the bats were flying out of the caves because they thought it was nightfall. The Terry Trueblood Park lights turned on it got so dim; then they came back on as the eclipse reversed.

The eclipse itself was spectacular. Even more fascinating was how it brought some of us together with others to share it. It reminded me of an old term “the happening.” It was coined in the 1950s and, although I think it originally referred to artistic events, you could apply it to a lot of big and cool events—like eclipses. It was a happening.

Flight of Ideas on Junior Bald Eagles

A couple of days ago the temperature was in the mid-seventies, which is pretty balmy for February. We took the opportunity to get out for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail. It’s coincidental, but we did the same thing on the exact same date last February. It’s under the same condition for the most part—escaping from the bad news on the web. The difference was the temperature; it was only in the fifties last year.

The remarkable thing last February was that another trail walker claimed to have seen 16 bald eagles. I’ll have to say that we doubted it, at first. But shortly after that, we caught sight of half a dozen. There were also the quilted hearts we saw, connected to the “I Found a Quilted Heart” project, the goal of which is to make you happy.

This time, although we didn’t find any quilted hearts, we saw a young bald eagle in flight. It was a little hard to tell what it was at first. Bald eagles don’t look bald when they’re in the juvenile stage. I had to look it up. Juveniles look pretty mottled. I wondered if its parents were the bald eagle pair, which we saw at Trueblood in December of 2023. Probably not, given that nesting begins in January, incubation lasts over a month and the eaglets take their first flight over two months later, according to the Iowa Dept of Natural Resources. But it’s fun to think about.

This junior bald eagle looked a little clumsy, both in the air and near the water’s edge. It looked like it might have caught a little fish. It seemed like it was trying to learn how things work in the world and how it’s supposed to fit in.

Instinct takes care of most of that for a bald eagle. Humans have a lot of figuring out to do. We ran into somebody on the trail who told us a great deal about local history. Over time, a lot of things have changed in Iowa City. That goes for the world, too. Much of the time, the changes don’t always seem to make life better, at least according to older people who talk about them.

But the seasons come and go. Bald eagles lay eggs. Eaglets fledge. They don’t gaze up at the moon. Humans do look up at the moon, and occasionally fly there. It’s hard to know why.

There are plenty of earthly mysteries. We saw small black handprints on the Trueblood sidewalk, not far from the shelter. I can’t figure out why they would be there, and what’s more, I can’t find out anything on the internet that explains it. So much for the internet. I supposed I could take a chance and ask Artificial Intelligence (AI) about it, but I’m not confident it wouldn’t just make something up.

We also found a little badge on the ground. It was labeled National Museum USAF Junior Flight Crew. This time, when I checked the internet, I found out there is a lot of information about it on the internet—but none of it helped me understand why it would be on the ground along the Terry Trueblood Trail. You can find a very long article on the internet about how items from the National Museum USAF might not have been handled the way they should have been. You can buy one for about $20 or so on eBay, if you’re interested.

I think it’s more interesting to see how the junior bald eagles learn their way around the world. They earn their wings the old-fashioned way.

Spoonbills and Bald Eagles at Sand Lake!

The other day it was about 60 degrees and the sun shone brilliantly—not a day to stay indoors! We went out to Terry Trueblood Recreation Area and did some bird-watching.

Out on a sand bar on Sand Lake, we caught sight of two bald eagles. They seemed to be a mated pair. They actually courted by vocalizing and billing. I know about their spectacular cartwheel flying ritual, but I didn’t capture that on camera as they took flight. They mate for life.

We also saw a flock of migrating Northern Shovelers, dabbling in the lake. We’ve been going out to that park for years and this was the first time we’ve ever seen them. They’re also known as spoonbills or spoonies because of their large bills, which they use to sieve the water for food.

We put on about two and a half miles on my step counter, and we worked up an appetite. Climbing up and down the banks of Sand Lake is a lot of work. So, we got the two for one price on the Culver’s butter burger and topped it off with a Wendy’s peppermint frosty.

Autumn Miracles

We saw the miracles of autumn the other day, out on the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. It was quiet, only a light breeze set the flowers and grasses swaying.

There were almost no birds out. No ducks were out on Sand Lake.

On the other hand, I guess there were birds, sort of. We greeted other walkers, an older couple who turned out to be snowbirds. They’ll be heading to Florida soon for the winter. They had no worries about the weather down there. They’ll be in the middle of the state, presumably far away from storm surges. They stay in an RV park over the winter months. It’s not far from a place called The Villages, which is a famous planned retirement community, which got a reputation for being a haven for older but wilder swingers. They have a very large Homeowners Association (HOA), which is sort of a very large and expensive Disney World for older retirees. It’s often called a golf cart community because that’s how most residents get around the place. While there are no HOA fees per se, there is a community development district fee of around $120-220 a month. Dave Barry wrote a chapter about The Villages in his book “Best State Ever: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.” I told the couple about Dave Barry’s take on The Villages. I don’t think they ever heard of him. They’re excited about returning to the RV park soon.

I was a little alarmed by a loud voice, calling out like a policeman, “Get on the ground!” I looked up ahead and didn’t see a policeman. But occasionally, we heard the barking order, “Get on the ground!” Eventually we saw a young man on a walk, apparently under someone’s supervision. This was the man who was yelling “Get on the ground!” He greeted us politely. As he passed by, every so often he blurted out, “Get on the ground!” I wondered if he might be someone with a form of Tourette’s Disorder, compelled to blurt out something every few minutes. The supervisor was walking side by side with a man who seemed uncomfortable, holding his hands up to his eyes which appeared sunken in the sockets. He made no sound at all. I wondered if, peaceful as we thought the day was, whether he found it difficult to bear what might have been a sensory storm for him. The supervisor was polite to us and paid close attention to the other two men.

Mostly we watched the breeze blowing the grasses and the flowers–and were grateful.

Terry Trueblood Garden of Natural and Not So Natural Things

On a balmy day we went for a walk on the Terry Trueblood trail. There was a cool breeze in contrast to the brutal humidity lately. There was a mix of natural beauty and some not so natural sights.

The flowers were gorgeous as usual. But we also saw stacked stones close to the shore of the lake. I should say there were a couple of stacked stones and one which was made of tree branches that reminded me of the Eiffel Tower.

That was the first time we’ve ever seen stacked stones there. I looked up the topic of stacking stones on the web and there’s disagreement about whether it’s a good thing or not. Some say it disturbs the natural order of things while others say it pays homage to nature.

We saw a couple of people out on the shore and one of them kicked over one of the piles. I guess that’s one person who doesn’t like rock stacking.

We also saw a pair of black hands stamped on the sidewalk. What’s that about? Some say that black hands are about death, criminality, or even the Black Lives Matter movement. I don’t know what it means.

And a couple of the large stones along the edges of the parking lot were shoved out of place. Who knows why. They looked very heavy. It probably took a lot of work to move them, and for no apparent reason. It reminded me of the rocks, some of which weigh several hundred pounds, that seem to move by themselves across the desert in Death Valley Park, leaving trails behind. There’s a natural explanation for it, involving the interplay of ice, wind, and water. I’m pretty sure humans moved them.

Anyway, there was plenty of natural beauty along the trail. They were the only source of wonder we cared about that day.

Terry Trueblood Birds Show Off in the Spring

Just about any time of year is a great opportunity to walk the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. The birds are busy competing for mates and nesting spaces.

The nest boxes for the tree swallows are up. Already, vacancies are few. Their iridescent feathers are dazzling.

The music in the first part of the video is a piece called “There Are Chirping Birdies In My Soul” by Reed Mathis.

In the second part of the video, we let the birds themselves make the music. The birds don’t just show off; they sound off. All the birds are singing—except for the one killdeer for some reason. I managed to save a few clips of them singing their songs. They are in the last minute or so of the YouTube video. The first is the tree swallow. The next is the red-wing blackbird. Last is the song sparrow.

You’ll need to crank the volume to hear them. The tree swallows have a subtle trilling chirp. The male red-winged blackbirds have a distinctive call that probably sounds very familiar to most of us. We also saw and heard a song sparrow, a first for us.

National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk May 6, 2023

There is a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) walk scheduled for May 6, 2023 at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. See the announcement here.