Another Iowa pit stop lol

On the road

Headed down to Joplin. Stopped at our favorite reststop in Iowa. Doggies did their business and we're off.

Flying bandits and Federation Squirrels

One of the rest stops we stopped at in Iowa, on our way home from vacation, had about 20 Cedar Waxwings. Of course, I ran and got my camera and made the guys wait while I admired them. They were a little shy, but still so beautiful! This was the second time in month I got to admire the Waxwings, even though I had never seen them before.

I think they like the berries.

In fact, they get their name from their red wax-like wing tips and because they eat small blueberry-like cones of the cedar.

They’re mostly seen in flocks and will eat insects when berries can’t be found.

I love the splash of yellow on the tips of their tails amongst all their earth toned feathers. And their bandit-like black masks; they’re like tiny flying raccoons.

They are so majestic!

Another little treat at another Iowa rest stop - - - wait, no, I don’t “go” that much, but we were caching and while the guys ran to find the caches I looked for critters. I spotted this curious Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel.

Sometimes people call them striped gophers but they aren’t a gopher.  They're also called Federation Squirrels because the spots and stripes resemble the stars and stripes of the American flag.