No twirlers on my maples this year because of previous temps this spring and winter wiped out the buds. And not just maples were affected – fruit, nut trees, other trees, and plants are also affected. This in turn affects squirrels, deer, beaver, predators, birds, everything, the whole chain. I believe this is the reason we had a peak year in 2023, and a decline before and after that. The trees tell the story.
I finally made it out on the river after the heat wave, storms and holiday crowds. It was super slow again, it gets worse about every time out. I did one drift without seeing much, then did another 4 mile drift and again nothing, but just as I was at the end I came across 2 juvenile Rad Tailed Hawks! I heard them calling out when I launched, but I thought it was eagle chicks. Then after getting a few photos of the hawks I noticed the adult eagle was at her nest and i got photos of her, she let me get pretty close.
Moon, Blue Heron, Juvenile Eagle, Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Grey Squirrel, Indigo Bunting, white tailed deer, Rock River Drift
A grey squirrel from yesterday in the same area I see red and black squirrels. Todays drift was slow. It seems every day gets slower, been that was all year.
A lot of breeding birds have left. Most Orioles, Warblers, Woodpeckers etc., are gone. Yesterday I heard Pileated woodpeckers all over, today now. Today I heard Cuckoo birds all over. I am hearing these birds, but not seeing many.
I don’t know where they go, north or south, but they go. The rest of the birds are in so deep I can’t see them. The hawks I saw yesterday are gone. All the eagles fledged.
Heron all the sudden showed up, must be a dozen in the area now. Its parents bringing their young to new feeding grounds after the young can fly good enough.
We slipped into summer mode now. Next the grass and brushes will stop growing and start turning brown. The river is rising, but not much and its pretty clear.
Hardly any insects and that is why birds are not along the river so much. Kingfishers are also missing, I saw one. I saw 2 deer but they are spooky.
6/30/2028 the river was flooded
This female Eagle has been feeding her 3 chicks while the male remains missing. I am seeing a single eagle up river about a mile which could be him. I think he is trying to catch waterfowl and chicks, but they are in short supply this year after a wild spring with heat waves followed by severe cold fronts. So she is sticking around and catching fish by the nest for the chicks, who are starting to fledge.
I went out on the Rock to do a drift and things are still slow, but I did spots a Raccoon, a Beaver and a Mink. The eagle chicks have been fledging! I can hear hawks in the thick forest but no sign of their nest. Photos are of a Beaver, a Raccoon, Eagles, Mink, Kingbird and a Cuckoo bird.
We had a light north wind and I could barely breath. North winds means steel mill pollution if its running the electric furnaces. It means giant trucks stirring up tons of hazardous dust from slag road along the river for 4 miles. It means idle train engines putting out deadly carbon monoxide, it means 4 miles of dusty slag roads with lots of semis running by stirring it up.
I went out this morning. It was nice out but I had lingering clouds taking the first hour away. I did see a Mink, that was cool. I love the Mink. I also saw 2 Beavers and 2 Raccoons. That is good news, I haven’t been seeing any. The shorebirds are still missing, but the river has been high so no shore for them. I am hearing lots of songbirds, but with all these new wild vines growing all over the trees and bushes its hard to see anything.
The Eagles are starting to fledge in the nest I drift by. I can hear one hawk calling out in the morning. There is a nest in one island, but I can’t see it this year because of leaves. I did see on Kingfisher. They have been missing. One nest/den may have fledged while I was off the river a few days. I haven’t been going to the big river, saving my gas money.
6/19/2026 Rock River Drift – The river dropped another foot or so and cleaned up some. I am hearing a lot of songbirds, but they are hidden most of the time. With fast current I am drifting down really fast … Continue reading
