Had a Sunday morning to spend at Lone Elk Park in St. Louis County. Beautiful morning to spend with the animals.

Lake 33 at Busch Wildlife Conservation Area is naturally shallow making it a great place to find shorebirds. A lack of rain in the area caused the lake to dry up on the shallow end leaving mud behind, but exposed the muscles that Limpkins like to feed on.

The first cool mornings at the end of a hot summer feels as refreshing as the first warm spring days after a cold, hard winter.

Word got around that there were a couple of Limpkins hanging out at Busch Wildlife. It’s kind of a big deal since Limpkins, being a tropical wetlands bird, are not typically seen north of Florida. It was a great Labor Day morning.