I read an article in the QC Times last week about a local woman, Julie Malake, who is producing a book of photographs taken in Nahant Marsh, a reclaimed wetland on the outskirts of southwest Davenport. Even though Tim has lived here his whole life, and I have lived here for a third of mine, we have never scouted the Marsh. On Sunday we decided to change that. After bundling up in long johns, hats, neck gaiters and good socks, we grabbed the binoculars and camera and headed out.
If you are one of the people who, like me, enjoy the subtle variety of colors that be found in a primarily brown and white landscape, I highly recommend a walk through Nahant in the winter time. If you look closely, you’ll see all sorts of beautiful shades of lavender, brown, blue, golden.
Here is a little photo tour of our excursion (if you click on the picture, it will open up to a larger size).
This is a the entrance to the park. The visitors center does not have extensive hours, but during daylight, you can park the car at the entrance and walk the trails to your heart’s content.
This is a viewing shed perched on the edge of the wetlands.
After exploring the marsh, we drove to the mighty Mississippi and used the binoculars to spy on the pack of Eagles chillin’ in the trees across the river. They were too far away to see clearly; when we looked through the binoculars we just saw dozens and dozens of splashes of white, popping out from the trees.
Next we headed to the lock and dam in Downtown Davenport, which is evidently a very popular eagle-watching hangout. They feed on the fish below the dam. It was wicked cold by this point, so we didn’t linger long. I caught a picture of these ducks. I love ducks, ever since we had a pet duck when we were kids. Her name was Mildred, and she was best friends with our dog, Kanute. She laid unfertilized eggs everywhere, so we had a nice supply of rotten eggs, which is a useful thing to have as children. Ducks are so awesome. Look as these two – they are so in love! Quack Quack.