SPRING MIGRATIONS AT ROWE SANCTURY

     Through a live camera and our home computer screen, on February1, 2026, this Pennsylvanian was happy to see large flocks of cackling geese, with sprinklings of Canada geese, snow geese, white-fronted geese and mallard ducks on the mostly frozen Platte River in Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary in southcentral Nebraska.  Those waterfowl species carpeted the flats and shallows of the broad, shallow Platte, wall to wall, to rest, preen and socialize between feeding times in nearby harvested cornfields.  But they will move on to their nesting territories as soon as spring catches up to them.  Meanwhile, those great gatherings of handsome waterfowl were inspiring to see and hear on the computer screen at home.  Few cackling geese are seen here in the eastern United States.    

     On February 2, I was thrilled to see excellent, close-up views of the elegant geese and ducks on our computer screen.  Masses of stately cackling geese were the dominating birds on the Platte, with majestic Canadas, snows and white-fronts mixed into cackling goose hordes.  All these geese and ducks were spring migrants that head north as the weather warms.

     The diminutive cackling geese appear to be half the size of their close relatives, Canada geese, but have the same feather pattern as their larger relatives.  Cackling geese have other features that are subtly different than those on the Canadas, which sets them apart as a distinct, mid-western species.  Shorter necks and stubby beaks are two of those features.  Cacklers raise young on the Arctic tundra along the Arctic Ocean in northern Canada. 

     Occasionally, great swarms of stately, ever-honking snow geese landed like feathered blizzards on the flats and shallows of the Platte in Rowe Sanctuary, particularly on February 6 when the Platte was mostly running free of ice.  Hordes of cackling geese and snow geese often took flight together, with a roaring of voices and flapping wings.  Their vast numbers in the air at once blocked the lovely background scenery.  Those large, mixed flocks of geese circled the Platte a few times, then floated down, into the wind for flight control, to the flats and shallows on the river to rest, preen and socialize. 

     Bald eagles in flight, of which there are several along the Platte, often put frightened geese and ducks into the air at once.  But I am happy to say that of the many large flocks of geese and ducks in the air at once, I never saw a collision among them.        

     And around February 6, when the weather warmed a bit, the Platte, and the air above it, was not only filled with geese, but also swarms of migrant northern pintail ducks and sandhill cranes, seemingly overnight.  And sprinklings of green-winged teal, American wigeons and mallard ducks joined the geese and pintails on the Platte River. What a wonderful, noisy mix of beautiful water birds at Rowe Sanctuary, seen up-close because of the live camera.  

     Pintails were courting on and above the Platte.  A few drakes gathered around a hen and when she took speedy flight, the drakes followed her zig-zagging over the river.  Round and around each little group of pintails careened across the sky, and the male who kept up to the hen became her mate for the year.       

     All these birds are in open, cold-wind fields, water and mud flats through winter.  But they have good feathering in two layers that keep them warm and dry, even in those open habitats. 

     These north-bound birds are thrilling to experience in February and March.  Their taking off, enmasse, with a roar, powering across the sky in hordes, and parachuting and cascading down to the river are all exciting to experience.  These birds are truly inspiring.         

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