While visiting the kids in Omaha we took a short trip to the Loess Hills in Western Iowa. It was a short trip from Omaha, NE. Council Bluffs, IA, is actually located in the Loess Hills.
The Loess Hills is a geographical area of porous, gritty, lightweight material and minerals covered by grasses, trees and plants. Loess (pronounced “luss”) is not unusual, but what makes this area in Iowa so important, is because of the depth of the loess material. The only other area that has loess of this depth and more can be found in China.
On this trip, we visited the Hitchcock Nature Center in the Loess Hills. The nature center is a wonderful place to learn about raptors and other birds of the area. There are many hiking trails around the center and an observation tower makes a good place to watch for the birds, too.
Loess Hills
bird watchers!
** click for a larger image.
Even though it was November, there was a lot to see. Grasses glowed with golden hues, bare-branched trees reached toward the sky, hills showed off their rounded or angular shapes, and the occasional bird soared by.
We did see an eagle on our hike, but I missed it with my camera!
To learn more about the Loess Hills, click here.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thanks for visiting!
Judy
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