Around four dozen people boarded a charter bus in western Illinois on a seasonably chilly winter morning for a day-long excursion in southeast Iowa.
Macomb-based Prairie Land Conservancy hosted the event, called Birds, Brunch, and Beverages.
“People will protect what they know and they’ll protect what they care about. The easiest way to get people to care about something is to make sure that they understand it and they get to see it and experience it,” said Executive Director Victoria Livingston.
She said they’ve been hosting the excursions for several years now.
Livingston said some of the members on this year’s trip were experienced in bird watching and could help those new to the activity.
“So we can take people who are total novices who’ve never gone out before and give them a good time,” she said.
One of those experienced bird watchers is Brian “Fox” Ellis, Director of Outreach and Education for the Illinois Audubon Society.
He enjoyed the comradery developed from spending the full day with everyone on the bus.
“It’s a great group of people to spend the day with,” Ellis said.
He said they saw up to 50 eagles of various ages. They also saw a huge flock of white pelicans while at the Aldo Leopold boyhood homes in Burlington.
“They were flying above the river, but because we were up on the bluff, they were eye-level and relatively close,” he said.
“To see a large flock of 30 white pelicans, 10-foot wingspan, that close, was pretty stunning.”
Ellis has been interested in birds his entire life, and developed a passion for bird watching while in college.
He said birds are everywhere and can be a gateway to helping people connect.
“In every culture, in every land, people are inspired by birds. And even in urban neighborhoods, you can see birds,” Ellis said.
“Look out your door, go outside, and you’ll see birds that are literally winging their way across the hemisphere.”
The Leopold Homes
The first stop on the tour was in Burlington, at the site of the Aldo Leopold boyhood homes, 101 and 111 Clay St.
Steve Brower, president of the nonprofit Leopold Landscape Alliance, said the Leopold family created a bird habitat long before that was a popular thing to do.
He said Aldo Leopold is author of “A Sand County Almanac,” which was published in 1949, one year after he died of a heart attack while fighting a brush fire in Wisconsin. The book has been translated in 15 languages.
“The Guardian a few years ago said that Aldo Leopold’s ‘A Sand County Almanac’ was one of the ten books that changed the world,” Brower said. “So, you’re in a pretty important place here right now.”
Brower said Leopold is famous for creating the idea of a land ethic.
“If you boil it down to the simplest terms, it’s the idea that we all have a personal responsibility to take care of the land,” Brower said.
“It’s an ecological approach to managing the land, protecting wilderness, and creating more places for people to be outdoors.”
Other stops
After spending time at the Leopold site, the group ate lunch at The Som, 863 Jefferson St. in downtown Burlington.
They then made a quick pass through Riverview Park in Montrose before arriving at Green Frog Distillery, 3345 270th Ave., Keokuk.
“We started making whiskey for antique Harley Davidson motorcycles back in the ‘80s. And then we started drinking what we made and we didn’t burn it in Harleys anymore,” said John Patterson, owner and master distiller of Green Frog Distillery.
“When I made whiskey my wife would drink, I knew I had something.”
Patterson said his whiskeys can be found in 44 counties in Iowa, and he’s working on getting it into stores in Illinois.
He made much of the distillery’s equipment himself with parts scavenged from junkyards.
“I’m having fun. That’s all I know. I couldn’t do concrete work anymore, so I picked this for my retirement, and work twice as hard,” Patterson said.
The day concluded with more bird watching along the Mississippi south of the Keokuk Dam.
More opportunities to learn
Ellis is a storyteller who has portrayed the renowned naturalist and artist John James Audubon for the past 20 years.
He will be doing a program that’s free and open to the public at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, at Macomb city hall as part of the Western Prairie Audubon Society’s monthly meeting.
Prairie Land Conservancy, which is an accredited land trust, does work in 14 counties around the region.
It has four public access properties, including the Wigwam Hollow Bird Sanctuary, 1900 Wigwam Hollow Road in Macomb, which will have a grand opening ceremony at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.
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