On our journey across the Great Plains today, we saw a wide variety of migrating waterfowl. Flocks of snow geese were very common, wavering across the morning sky between Columbia and Topeka. In western Missouri, a large flock of greater white-fronted geese had settled in a shallow marshland and migrant ducks crowded the farm ponds all the way to the High Plains.
The highlight of our trip occurred near Lawrence, Kansas. Just south of the highway, a flock of small geese rose from the corn stubble and circled above our path; solid white except for their black primaries, they initially appeared to be snow geese. But, having observed thousands of those abundant migrants over the past few weeks, I realized that these birds were smaller, somewhat chunkier and flew in a tighter formation. They had to be Ross' geese, which, like the snow geese, nest on the Arctic tundra of northern Canada; while most winter in the Central Valley of California, Ross' geese have become more common across the Southern Plains and Texas Gulf Coast over the past decade and a fair number migrate through the Heartland, usually in the company of their larger cousins.
Those of us who enjoy watching wildlife on our travels often become complacent, numbed by the repetition of our common natives and migrants. But, among the Canada geese, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures and starlings one may encounter unexpected visitors. That's what happened today and that's what keeps the highway hunters (myself included) engaged and vigilant.
