Migrating Waterfowl Herald Change of Season
Posted: April 8, 2008

Freed from their five month entombment beneath ice and snow, Iowa wetlands are returning to life. And although local weather conditions may offer some brief but chilly set backs, there is no denying that spring has arrived.

For legions of Iowa marsh watchers, the noisy return of waterfowl is an annual call to arms. Equipped with binoculars, tripods, cameras, and spotting scopes, human observers head for the water. At the busiest locations, waterfowl viewers may collect in public wetland parking lots. Serving as instant information centers, it's where perfect strangers compare notes on who's seen what. Other enthusiasts, usually younger members of the crowd, go so far as to don rubber hip boots in order to "wade in among 'em" for a closer look. Once sequestered among thick cattails in some remote corner of the marsh, their willingness to brave mud and cold is rewarded with the best view and most stunning photos.

Although many of the water birds currently seen on local wetlands will stay to lay eggs and rear young, the vast majority are simply visiting. For many species, Iowa is merely a half way point in the thousands of miles that separate southern wintering areas and remote northern breeding grounds.

Time is of the essence. Because so many of the birds still have so far to travel, the stop will be brief. After pausing to refuel on abundant stores of sago pondweed, arrowhead, and other nutrient rich marsh plants, the flocks will quickly resume their flight. Guided by invisible magnetic fields, stars, and forces known only to the birds themselves, the spring migration represents an epic journey that has intrigued earthbound onlookers for countless generations.

But there's no time to waste. Northern snow lines are in rapid retreat. Here Today -- Gone Tomorrow is the official motto of North America's winged migrators. Waters that support a virtual blanket of clamoring birdlife one day, may be comparatively silent the next. Delaying the visit to your favorite wetland, could mean you'll miss the entire show.