Back in Missouri for a month, I visited Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area on this sunny, cool morning. Recent mild weather had scoured the landscape of ice and snow and the open pools hosted an excellent variety of migrants.
Most notable were at least 850 American white pelicans, gliding across the lakes or soaring above the floodplain. Among the ducks, northern shovelers were most numerous; green-winged teal were also abundant, joining lesser numbers of mallards, northern pintails, lesser scaup, gadwall and a lone ruddy duck. Canada geese were common while snow geese were limited to two flocks, totaling seventy birds. Four bald eagles patrolled the refuge, two of which were already incubating their next generation.
The migration surge will build through March and into April, when blue-winged teal, coot and shorebirds join the northward exodus. I hope to visit repeatedly during that period, honored to witness one of nature's most predictable yet stirring spectacles.
Most notable were at least 850 American white pelicans, gliding across the lakes or soaring above the floodplain. Among the ducks, northern shovelers were most numerous; green-winged teal were also abundant, joining lesser numbers of mallards, northern pintails, lesser scaup, gadwall and a lone ruddy duck. Canada geese were common while snow geese were limited to two flocks, totaling seventy birds. Four bald eagles patrolled the refuge, two of which were already incubating their next generation.
The migration surge will build through March and into April, when blue-winged teal, coot and shorebirds join the northward exodus. I hope to visit repeatedly during that period, honored to witness one of nature's most predictable yet stirring spectacles.
