Just east of Vandalia, Illinois, Interstate 70 crosses the broad valley of the Kaskaskia River. During winter and early spring, flood waters often spill across this valley, attracting migrant and wintering waterfowl. Today was no exception.
As we crossed the river's floodplain, headed for Ohio, at least 2000 snow geese were observed south of the highway, resting and foraging in the extensive shallows; indeed, in my experience, this is one of the snow geese hotspots of the American Midwest. Farther east, near the Indiana border, another large flock of snows flew south above the Interstate, either escaping frozen wetlands to the north or merely relocating to other nutritious crop fields.
Illinois' Glaciated Plain, once covered by tallgrass prairie, now harbors extensive croplands, dissected by a maze of rivers and their adjacent wetlands; while the diversity of plants and wildlife has been greatly diminished by agriculture, the region has become a magnet for migrant geese. Crossing the State's bleak winter landscape on this cold, cloudy day, the snows were both a welcome diversion and inspiring to behold.
As we crossed the river's floodplain, headed for Ohio, at least 2000 snow geese were observed south of the highway, resting and foraging in the extensive shallows; indeed, in my experience, this is one of the snow geese hotspots of the American Midwest. Farther east, near the Indiana border, another large flock of snows flew south above the Interstate, either escaping frozen wetlands to the north or merely relocating to other nutritious crop fields.
Illinois' Glaciated Plain, once covered by tallgrass prairie, now harbors extensive croplands, dissected by a maze of rivers and their adjacent wetlands; while the diversity of plants and wildlife has been greatly diminished by agriculture, the region has become a magnet for migrant geese. Crossing the State's bleak winter landscape on this cold, cloudy day, the snows were both a welcome diversion and inspiring to behold.
