Saturday, March 4, 2017 – Celebrating James E Johnson II birthday, Bald Eagles

Today I’m remembering what would have been the 72^nd Birthday of my big brother Jim Johnson. He was always fond of saying: “March 4^th, the only day we make any progress.” He was five years older than me and since our father was killed in an accident when I was an infant, my big brother Jim was like a father to me. He was my friend, my guide, my mentor and my inspiration. 

Today for our P-day we went shopping as usual. And as usual we saw Bald Eagles on the Mississippi again. However we only saw two. The number we see each week has decreased by half. Last week we saw 5, the week before we saw 12 the week before we saw 26 and the week before that we saw at least 40. Sad to see them go.

We also saw a lot of duck on the river. There were literally thousands of duck up and down the Mississippi for the 16 miles we follow the river on our way to Keokuk, Iowa. I did a little research and discovered that they are called Canvasbacks. They are very pretty birds.