Arrivals and Departures

The end of March is at the cusp of arrival and departure for many species on the Great Plains, and it’s hard to schedule a trip to take advantage of both. We arrived back in Omaha late yesterday afternoon, and allowed ourselves the luxury of late rising this morning before heading down to Cass County to check for migrants. It was warmer, thankfully, than it had been the entire trip, and we left snow cover behind us somewhere east of Grand Island; it truly feels like spring tonight, and the birds today certainly suggested that this was, at last, the real thing.

Louisville Lakes were, as usual, covered with birds, but we noted this morning that the American Tree Sparrows were reduced in number, replaced by the first Myrtle Warblers of the spring, a welcome sight after these cold, snowy days (is there anybody brave enough to come on next year’s trip after reading all this, I wonder?). A lone male Rusty Blackbird working the edge of one of the lakes beneath the willows was certainly a sign of things to come, too.

But we hit the jackpot just south of South Bend, at the inscrutably named Platte River Connection Bridge Trailhead parking lot (what’s a “connection bridge”?). A vocal Carolina Wren drew us to Fountain Creek, and on the little island just below the parking area we found first a Swamp Sparrow, then an early Lincoln’s Sparrow, and then, to our great surprise, a record-early Louisiana Waterthrush flew in to chip and bob beneath us. With Tree Swallows overhead and Eastern Phoebes singing everywhere, the season really is here, and it made it hard to take the participants to the airport, knowing that a whole new suite of experiences awaits in the next couple of days.