Arriving at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area early this morning, I encountered a field full of shorebirds. Numbering about 450 individuals, they were American golden-plovers, on their way to the Arctic tundra.
Among the long-distance migrants of the bird world, these travelers breed across the northernmost fringe of North America and "winter" in southern South America, enjoying long, summer days in both locations. Most migrate southward over the Atlantic Ocean, flying direct to northern South America from Eastern Canada; during the spring migration, however, they move northward through the American Heartland, stopping to rest and feed on plowed fields or shortgrass prairie.
This avian spectacle was certainly the highlight of my visit to the Missouri River floodplain. Other sightings included bald eagles, a river otter, American white pelicans, thousands of ducks and a lone short-eared owl (the first I have seen this year and soon to head north as well).
