Spring is upon us and the migration of light geese back to their arctic breeding ground is running at full speed, for now. In what is perhaps Old Man Winter’s last gasp, a cold front is scheduled to drive across the Midwest in the coming days, threatening to slow the hasty retreat of snow geese back beyond the northern border of the U.S.
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And now, on to the Snow Goose Migration Report.
Light goose numbers have begun to taper off in the lower portions of the Midwest and Southern Plains states while hunters in the Dakotas and portions of Iowa and southern Minnesota have seen a dramatic influx of new birds over the past week.
Warmer weather has put the return migration in full speed but an approaching cold front should hold the bulk of the light goose migration below the Canadian border for the short term.
Conditions for much of the upper Central Flyway and Northern Tier of the Mississippi Flyway will feel more like fall than spring this weekend, and the cool weather should help concentrate birds awaiting another warm up to renew their push back to the breeding grounds.
Heaviest concentrations of Light geese have continued to be along the eastern portions of the Dakotas, western Iowa and southern Minnesota. Small pockets of snows can still be found in far northern Missouri and some areas of Nebraska, but these holdings will surely vanish when spring-like weather returns after this week’s cold front.
The urgency of Spring is in the air, and as the weather warms, waterfowl of all kinds will take to the business at hand and begin the crucial task of replenishing the stocks of North American waterfowl. The cycle continues as we wait and hope for a successful breeding season for the birds that so stir our souls when autumn again find us at home in the wilds.
In this time of promise let us also hold in our hearts the troops in the Gulf and their loved ones here at home.
