Birds rest, feed at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

Originally published on March 23, 2011 in the Omaha World Herald
Click here for original link
by Mike Brownlee

photo - Mike Davis, Omaha World Herald

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa — Waterfowl and other migratory birds are making a brief stop on the 7,500 acres of wetlands, forest, lakes and ponds at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on the Missouri River north of Omaha.

“The Missouri River valley, historically, has been a migration corridor,” said Tom Cox, refuge manager. “I liken it to a family vacation trip. And we're like a hotel and restaurant for migration.

“We provide an area for them to rest and replenish fat reserves. So when they hit their nesting spot up north they're ready for breeding. They need to be healthy for breeding and hatching.”

Bald eagles usually migrate along with the geese, feasting on the frail, and Cox said many have been seen on the refuge.

The waterfowl northern migration season began toward the end of February, Cox said, and ends in early April. During the peak days in early March, there were about 50,000 ducks and geese at the refuge.

The Perils of the Pelican

Originally published in Great Falls Tribune May 27, 2010
by Michael Babcock
Original link: http://bit.ly/htxKOx

(blogmasters note: this article was published in 2010, but it's a good example of the perils that migratory birds face across their range)

Pity the pelican: misunderstood and wrongly accused of taking a bite out of trout numbers in Montana and here on the Missouri River.

Each spring the carcasses begin showing up in the river after the vandals start shooting.

Folks who live on the river between Cascade and Holter Lake call to let us know that the mayhem has begun. One here, another there, three or four there. All summer long the calls will continue.