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Spring migration as spectacle

A guide to the enormous flocks now arriving in Minnesota, heralding the arrival of spring.

For the Minnesota Star Tribune
March 20, 2014 at 11:05PM

For some people, the arrival of spring means little more than modifying their clothing — a metamorphosis of sorts — to suit the changing weather conditions. Others, with rake or shovel in hand, note the revolving seasons as they remove the various items that Mother Nature has deposited on their lawns and walkways. Still others will walk heads cocked with eyes and ears to the sky, gauging the spring by the arrival of migrating birds.

It's happening now.

One of the first arrivals, horned larks, showed up in Minnesota in January. Possibly you have observed them as they scrounged for weed seeds along open roadways and windswept fields.

To many people, the first robin sighting of the year means spring. Others mark the end of winter with the arrival of eastern bluebirds, another early migrant.

If you travel the country roads, a kestrel perched on a power line might signal spring to you. Or perhaps your winter is washed away by a huge flock of red-winged blackbirds flying, undulating, strung out across the prairie.

My ice-fishing friends figure it's spring when they hear the first flock of migrating tundra swans. While sitting atop gray ice, the anglers can listen to northbound swans as they hoot and holler from high above, announcing spring's arrival to the world.

Legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, "One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring."

To me spring has arrived when the prairie marshes are teeming with not just one skein of geese, but many. During peak migration, the birds gather in huge flocks on wetlands. Twice each day, once in the morning and once in the evening, they fly to nearby fields to feed on leftover grain.

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And it's not just the geese that thrill me this time of year. Ducks, the males dressed in their colorful breeding attire, are constantly harassing the hens, vying for their favors. Sometimes 20 or more species of ducks can be spotted on a single marsh.

Leopold also wrote once of a woman who "had never heard or seen the geese that twice a year proclaim the revolving seasons to her well-insulated roof." Don't make the same mistake. This spring, take time to celebrate the new arrivals flying overhead.

Bill Marchel, an outdoors writer and photographer, lives near Brainerd.


During spring migration, oftentimes migrating waterfowl will gather in large numbers in any available open water. This flock consists mostly of northern pintail ducks, but a variety of other waterfowl species are also present.
During spring migration, oftentimes migrating waterfowl will gather in large numbers in any available open water. This flock consists mostly of northern pintail ducks, but a variety of other waterfowl species are also present. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
A huge flock of lesser snow geese takes flight from a frozen marsh. Snow geese typically gather in giant flocks duriing spring migration. The sight and sound of a flock rising is one of nature's most spectacular events.
A huge flock of lesser snow geese takes flight from a frozen marsh. Snow geese typically gather in giant flocks duriing spring migration. The sight and sound of a flock rising is one of nature's most spectacular events. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Greater white-fronted geese were once a rare sight in Minnesota. Now, especially during spring migration, large flocks of the birds can be spotted in western Minnesota.
Greater white-fronted geese were once a rare sight in Minnesota. Now, especially during the spring migration, large flocks can be seen in western Minnesota. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Red-winged blackbirds, unlike many songbirds, often migrate in huge flocks during daytime. The males lead the way, with the females following a few weeks later.
Red-winged blackbirds, unlike many songbirds, often migrate in huge flocks during daytime. The males lead the way, with the females following a few weeks later. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Greater sandhill cranes are early spirng migrants into Minnesota. We often hear them first because of their loud pre-historic sounding voices.
Another early migrant, the greater sandhill crane is already visible throughout much of Minnesota. With extremely loud, prehistoric voices, sandhill cranes are often heard before they are seen. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Bill Marchel

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