Sunday, December 8

When Chaplain Tim asked if we would like a quick tour of Hudson on Sunday morning, before chapel services, he got an enthusiastic YES from me.

The old courthouse.

I was a bit disappointed that the day was overcast – meaning there was no chance of seeing eagles, but that disappointment was wiped away when we arrived at the spot where Tim said they usually see eagles, and saw hundreds of Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, and maybe a few other species.

What a noisy place – with the swans making most of the noise. Their call is a hollow, nasal honking.

I learned that the Trumpeter Swan is the largest North American waterfowl.

The largest group of fowl in this open area of water was Canada Geese.

The brown-toned swans are immature ones.

If it wasn’t so cold (zero degrees) I would have enjoyed staying longer.

It amazes me that birds and animals can endure incredibly frigid weather.

Time to move on to the next area.

At this point we were looking across the St. Croix River to Minnesota as Tim told us about some of the river’s history – and that there is an ice road (a few miles from this spot) during the cold winter months which connects the two states.

This boat sank during the summer months and had recently been brought to the surface. Tim did not know if would be sea-worthy again.

Then we went to the top of the town for a beautiful view.

This is another place where we could have seen eagles on a clear day.

Thanks Tim for the interesting tour of your city.

It made us want to come back.