According to Marion County Naturalist Marla Mertz, young eagles will be branching soon and will be entering their next journey of learning flight, hunting experiences, and trying to figure out why their presence creates issues with songbirds. 

Mertz added that the Marion County Conservation staff monitors dragonflies and damselflies to document occurrences in the area. The information and data are recorded to help the state’s conservation organizations with indicator species of critical habitats. Dragons and damsels provide information about water quality and issues of Iowa environmental concerns within the watersheds. 

Mertz stated that the prairies and cliff areas around the lake are home to many wildflowers. Flowers located around Cordova Park include alumroot, spiderwort, blue-flag iris, beardtongue, daisy fleabane, yarrow, yellow pimpernel, four o’clocks, venus looking glass, and the Iowa State flower the wild rose.