Brenton Arboretum: impressions

{I had my camera phone only today.}

Today, "I" of GAIN and I made a short trip out to the Brenton Arboretum near Dallas Center, Iowa. It is a very easy and scenic drive from my house. Volunteers were working on the natural playscape while we were there. I wish I had a photo from up above the entire playscape.

bark house, sand, and plenty of stumps and a bed of dirt (hidden) 

nature's jungle gym

bench and stumps

"I" of GAIN fit in here before the volunteer hollowed all the dead wood out.

There is also a pavilion for gatherings, classes, eating, etc. You can look at the programming schedule with this link: http://thebrentonarboretum.org/Events%20and%20programs.html

the pavilion a seen from the playscape area

full of picnic tables and a fireplace

it has a green roof

The arb is a beautiful place. The finale to our visit was seeing a kildeer nest. The mama was difficult to spot as she was holding very still and blended in with the mulch.

mama kildeer

We got her to fan her tail and stand. She bravely stuck with the eggs and fended off the bad guys (us). I was struck at the tail feathers -- they are not rounded at the end, but pointy. The tail reminded me of a butterfly wing (with an edge like: uuuu) rather than a bird wing (with an edge like: nnnn). Does that make sense?

four eggs

Once home, I read in my field guide that four eggs is typical. I remember looking in my grandma's field guide growing up and always thinking that the kildeer eggs looked like rocks and the illustration made the eggs difficult to distinguish.