DEKALB Country in Northern Iowa

Corn is king in the Midwest. DEKALB seed corn is one of several leading brands grown throughout 42N country. In this particular field near Shell Rock, Iowa, some 203 miles from company headquarters in DeKalb, IL, there is no mistake as to what this farmer plants. I believe this display is also a weather station. 

Honoring an Iowa Soldier in Tennessee

I have written posts on the final resting place of Christian Brenner, a Union soldier from Iowa. My last visit to his Stone's River Battlefield National Cemetery grave in Murfreesboro, Tennessee was on Memorial Day 2019. To my surprise, every gravestone had a US flag in place for the holiday, which was once called Decoration Day, from Civil War era origins. During the Christmas season at the cemetery only the first third of gravesite rows have cedar wreaths placed on them. Those are part of the Wreaths Across America project. Christian's grave is further back from the main road so it doesn't receive a wreath along with hundreds of others. If present, a member of the 42N staff will make sure Christian's grave has some decoration placed on it for the season.

Air Traffic Over Iowa City

Air traffic over Iowa City is always busy with scores of transcontinental flights. A Variable Omni Range transmitter is located in nearby Hills, Iowa that helps navigate air traffic over what the media calls "fly over" country. On cold air days people who live near the 42N latitude just a few miles north of Iowa City can look to the south and see this kind of traffic. And with apps like FlightAware you can easily identify those aircraft bound from NYC to LA.

Busy Day at the Bird Feeders

Day two of a March storm yielded almost 8 inches of late season snow in eastern Iowa. With food sources scarce as a result of the storm several bird species decided to drop by 42N HQ to chow on free seed. I think this is a red-bellied woodpecker, one of two who tapped various tree branches for insects before finding a much easier food source. I am also experimenting with a teleconverter lens that increases zoom by 40%. The lens requires manual focus and lots of light I am discovering. These five photos are the best of the shoot. I like the top photo the best because it is unusual, has two seeds on the woodpecker's mouth, and most importantly, is in focus. 

The northern cardinal (male) gives this common sparrow the once over look. 

After scaring off the sparrow our scarlet cardinal showed more of his coloration before jumping to the ground to feast on various seeds shaken from the feeder.

This less colorful female cardinal stayed close to the red male - it is almost Spring you know.

Sparrows represent the majority of the winged feeders visiting the seed outlets. However, in the morning a flock of crows pecked around the snow for seed. Birds have to eat.