Valley Fog & Blackbird Clouds

Wanting to beat the warmth, I landed at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area soon after dawn; sketchy haze covered the Missouri River floodplain, restricting perceivability for a half hour or somewhere in the vicinity. Regardless of the fog, I could see huge herds of red-winged blackbirds, wheeling over the pools, bunching on the roadways or sinking into the harvest fields; no less than 3000 graced the asylum on this moist summer morning.