The Top 10 creatures you’ll likely see on a visit to the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

LANSING - For those missing David Letterman, here's something to keep you going until the reruns start - The Top 10 Creatures You're Likely to See on a Visit to the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge.

I had an opportunity to research the topic last week during an excessively windy fishing vacation on Pool 9, about midway on the 261-mile-long refuge. Had the wind blown less forcefully, less time would have been spent on the research, and more fish, which are hard to see unless you catch one, might have made the list.

10. Smallmouth bass: Of the 119 fish species in the refuge, only the smallmouth - the prettiest and most pugnacious fish in the river, in the estimation of many erudite anglers - makes the list, and only as a token representative of the fish community, not because it was seen in great numbers.

9. Double-crested cormorants: These fish-eating birds are prevalent on pool 9's southern half, where they often perch on emergent rocks or roost on island trees, which they eventually destroy beneath layers of their own excrement.

8. Bank swallows: The continent's smallest swallow, they forage on bugs as they fly a few feet above the river. During a long boat ride, we got embroiled in a dense flock that stretched for miles. Extrapolating from their density and the flock's length, we estimated that 6.8 million skilled fliers narrowly missed colliding with us and our boat.

7. Turtles: The 11 species living in the refuge are most noticeable basking on floating logs and fallen trees, an inviting activity (or lack thereof) when white caps are marching down the main channel.

6. Gulls: Of the five gull species inhabiting the refuge only two are common: the ring-billed and herring. I probably couldn't tell them apart if I tried. I am indifferent toward them except when they congregate around schools of baitfish, often pointing the way to vulnerable game fish.

5. American white pelicans: Like most of us they look better from a distance. Their celebrated capacious bills pale beside their graceful flight, often accomplished in formation and at surprisingly great heights.

4. Great blue herons: Though one might occasionally be seen in flight, herons are most commonly seen standing motionless at the edge of a backwater, coiled to spear an unsuspecting fish with their pointed, lengthy beaks.

3. Great egrets: Basically white herons and like herons most often seen fishing rather than flying, their brilliant plumage calling attention to themselves at great distances.

2. Coots: More adept at taxiing down the runway than actually flying, coots, also known as mud hens, provide comic relief in an ecosystem front loaded with some of the world's most serious birds.

1. Bald eagle: It is almost impossible not to see a bald eagle during even a brief outing on pool 9, which has the highest concentration of active nests of any pool in the refuge. It is also getting harder to find a fishing spot beyond the watchful eyes of a perching eagle. The more the merrier.