As an unusually cool spring persists across the Heartland, a friend and I paid another visit to Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area where we were greeted by low clouds, damp, chilly air and muddy terrain. Hoping to finally encounter an influx of shorebirds, we were disappointed once again, observing only a few killdeer and a dozen greater yellowlegs.
On the other hand, waterfowl were abundant, dominated by American coot and blue-winged teal which were joined by northern shovelers, green-winged teal, lesser scaup and pied-billed grebes. Six bald eagles patrolled the refuge where we encountered our first white-faced ibis and great egrets of the season. A dozen great blue herons also graced the floodplain, far fewer than we would normally observe by mid spring.
Indeed, the chilly weather seems to have placed a pall on the seasonal appearance of birds at Eagle Bluffs. Perhaps it is my imagination but, when it looks and feels more like March than mid April, the bird population falls in line. A prolonged stretch of warm, sunny weather would surely be welcomed by birds and birders alike!
