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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loved this sojourn of yours—but i always do. thankful that our paths cross—here is an award judy! http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/want-to-join-blog-of-the-year/
Kate…I just went to visit you at your blog. I’ve missed you! I’ve been a terrible blog friend. I have to get better at getting around to visit more. Been such a busy summer and fall!
Most important…thank you so much for this award! I must read up on it, as I’m obviously not familiar with it!
I’m so honored. Thank you, dear friend, for this wonderful honor. Hope you had a great holiday. Hugs…
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are in the midst of a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Thanks Russel! We did and we are! Hoping the same for you!
lovely photo.
the sky is such a lovely blue.
what are those lines?
Hi Amira….thank you! The lines are from jet planes. They’re called jet “contrails”. It’s condensation or water vapor from the exhaust of jet engines. (there’s more to it than that however!) They’re pretty criss-crossing the sky, and sometimes disappear in seconds…and other times last longer, fanning-out and making wider cloud-like images.
Great photos and interesting background text!
Thank you Sartenada! I appreciate your comment and visit!
What a beautiful landscape, your first photo is so beautiful ! The grey branches and the golden grasses mix perfectly well and gives the scene a serene feel. It’s a great photo Judy !
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving !
I did, and I hope you did too, Jocelyne! I’ve caught some of your gorgeous images on FB. So so pretty!
Thanks, Jocelyne. It was a favorite of mine too. I was on the observation tower, leaning over the side to catch all the details I wanted in the photo! It was fun to be there!
Nicely exposed images Judy. I guess this part of the country is on the main flight path, since there are a number of vapour trails in the sky.
Yes.. that’s what made the sky so interesting. Thank you so much, Jim!
Actually, I’m not sure, but they could be flights between Denver,Colorado, on toward Chicago….they are all sort of in a line. (but don’t ask me to navigate with a map!)
I love how the trees look almost silver in that first one. It’s really beautiful with the golden hills and blue sky.
Sheila…thank yo so much for your comments. It was a beautiful day.
I would love to do hiking on that place. The images are so inviting. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words! It was fun!
Great pictures and a beautiful sky! It looks like you had an interesting adventure there 🙂
We did Meg. It was a lovely day and a nice little hike. Thanks!
woa that pictures are really nice Judy!!!
hope you had a great thanksgiving
Thank you, eva! I appreciate it! Good to hear from you!
Wow the sky in Loess Hills is spectacular! Thanks Judy~ I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving 🙂 and next up, Christmas rime 🙂
Hi Adri! Yes, Thanksgiving was great, thank you! And Christmas is coming very quickly! I can’t believe I haven’t posted in nearly a month. I wasn’t feeling well, then took a trip to NYC. And getting ready for the holidays caught up with me. Time flew by! Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you are feeling better Judy! I haven’t posted in a while either, I miss my blog, I will post something this week! I would love to go to NY city during Christmas 🙂 have a nice weekend! Happy New Year 😀
I had the flu and then I get nasty migraines. But all is well. I miss everyone here so much! So nice of you to send me wishes! Thanks, Adri! Wishing you the best year ever!
Wow, nice picture!!
Hi Secret C! Thanks! Stop by again!
Amazing sky in that first photo! Well done!
Thank you very much, Phil! And thanks for stopping by! Come back!
Thank you for letting us tag along. I especially love the photo of the criss-crossed bright blue sky.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you choose to tag along! I love that photo too. I hung out over a railing to capture the sky and ground! 😉
Hi Judy,
Thank you for sharing the photos. Happy New Year to you. May 2013 bring you more love, happiness, and success. Many blessings and much love to you.. 🙂
Subhan Zein
Hi Subhan! You’re welcome and thank you for visiting. Happy 2013 to you. I wish you many blessings in this New Year too.
thank you, Judy, many blessings and much love to you 🙂
You’re very welcome Subhan!