North County Park Archives

August 12, 2014

UFO Docking Stations Discovered

Breaking News!!!!!!

UFO docking station was discovered in Cape Girardeau, MO.

Alien life forms have been detected arriving and departing from pods at irregular intervals. We’ll keep our camera glued to the scene so you can see the action as it happens.

Five hours later

Breaking News !!!!! It has been brought to our attention that the “UFO docking station” is really a bunch of purple martin birdhouses at the North County Park and that the alien life forms are birds feeding on mosquitoes.

Stay tuned for news as it breaks and corrections as we get around to them. Remember, “It’s News to Us.”

August 9, 2014

Kids Fishing at the Park

The hummingbird banding program we thought was going to be held at the Missouri Department of Conservation Nature Center at North County Park on Saturday morning turned out to be NEXT Saturday, so decided to people watch instead of bird watch.

The pond below the Nature Center is designated for “Kids Only,” and it was getting a lot of use. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

The official rules

“Children 15 and younger may fish the pond for catfish, bass, crappie, and sunfish. They may keep 2 bass (15 in. min.), 2 catfish, and 20 of the sunfish/ crappie. Fishing equipment may be checked out at the front desk while the facility is open. Returns need to be made by 4:30. An adult with a current Mo fishing permit may assist children who fish. No permit is needed by adults who are not assisting.”

Dads and Granddads

From what I could tell, there seemed to be more adults holding rods than kids, but who cares. Anytime you can get a kid, an adult and a fishing pole together, it doesn’t matter who is holding it.

I loved it when Dad would say, “We’re rained out today. Let’s go out to the Number 9 Ditch. The catfish ought to be biting.” It didn’t matter if we caught something.

More fishing than catching

In the brief time we were there, we saw a lot more fishing being done than catching. The MDC pond description says it has a “good population.” That must be because they didn’t show any desire to change location.

May 23, 2014

Palate Cleanser Photos

I shoot a lot of random stuff that isn’t quite enough for a whole story. When I was working at The Athens Messenger, we’d post pictures like that on The Wall of Desperation, to bail us out when the well was dry and the monster in the pressroom still needed feeding.

I haven’t reached that point yet, since I still have some fresh Cape stories in the bag, but I thought I’d run these random scenics as a palate cleanser.

Random photo gallery

Click on a photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to look at a sunset over Lake Okeechobee; a falling-down building in Capps, Florida; cattle grazing in Cape County, ducks at Capaha Park and springtime in North County Park.

November 12, 2013

Veterans Day Flags 2013

While I was prowling around Bollinger County Memorial Park last week, I noticed flag holders along the driveways. Unlike Cape County’s North Park, these have markers honoring the servicemen and women. I don’t know if the flags match the markers, but I suppose it’s the thought that counts. Anyway, I made a note to take a look back there on Veterans Day.

Of course, to get to Marble Hill from Cape, you have to pass North park, so I had to pull in there, too. It wasn’t the greatest day for pictures. Unlike some of the other times I’ve shot the flags, the sky was mostly overcast and the wind wasn’t whipping the flags very much.

Past Flag photos

Veterans Day photo gallery from Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties.

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the sides to move through the gallery. (The first two shots are from Cape County; the rest are from near Marble Hill.)