Since the spring migration has nearly ended, Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area has entered its summer phase and the bird population now consists primarily of songbirds, waders and raptors. Exceptions this morning were limited to Canada geese, a quartet of wood ducks, small flocks of blue-winged teal and shorebirds, a pair of Forster's terns and a lone white pelican.
Of special interest on this warm, sunny morning was a school of gar in one of the outlet pools. Likely shortnose gar, which favor sluggish streams, backwater areas and oxbow lakes along larger rivers, they may have gathered to spawn in a grassy channel that connects the refuge pools with Perche Creek (a local tributary of the Missouri River). These long, narrow fish, represented by four species in Missouri, feed on insects, small fish and a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates.
One of the many benefits of birding is the opportunity to encounter other wildlife as well. White-tailed deer, river otters, beaver, muskrats, raccoons and a host of reptiles and amphibians are among the other residents of Eagle Bluffs. This morning, we added gar to that list.
