death on the skunk river

Posted by Stovepipe (Ames, Iowa, United States) on 16 January 2009 in Plant & Nature.

Deer spotted lodged in the ice under a bridge east of Gilbert, Iowa, the day after Christmas. I don't know how this poor creature met its end, but there was an eerie beauty here. I came back to the spot with friends a couple of days later, and the ice had mostly melted and the deer was mostly submerged and barely visible. Presumably it has washed on down the river by now.

Moments after taking this, I heard a bald eagle swoop not far from my head and past, where I could then see it flying south along the course of the river. I didn't get a picture of that one, having both the wrong lens mounted and slow reflexes. Still, it was a deeply-felt minute or two that I won't soon forget.