A week into the month, we’ve only managed two days of quality birding, but we already have nine species logged. Mountain Bluebirds often show up in February, so I tend not to use them as a reliable indicator of the shift. Nevertheless, we saw our first Mountain Bluebird yesterday along the Missouri River.
On rare occasions, we’ve even seen Western Meadowlarks in January and February, so they can be equally problematic as benchmarks. We heard them calling in the hills around the northwest side of the reservoir today.
The gathering groups of gulls and swans tell a different story- they are good early harbingers of the migration. People are seeing both Trumpeter and Tundra swans, but we saw only Trumpeters today. We saw a minimum of three species of gulls- Ring-billed, California, and American Herring gulls. That’s a great start.
For me, however, Sandhill Cranes and Northern Pintails are the most reliable early signs that the gates are finally opening. Today, we saw a few Pintails, and heard a single Sandhill Crane calling from the hills around the reservoir.
The migration is officially “on.” I know we’re in for snow and cold snaps for another 10–12 weeks—that just goes with the territory when you live north of the 45th parallel—but the momentum has shifted.
In fourteen days, we’ll be at Freezeout Lake to spend the day immersed in the wonders of living along a flyway. That should be a lot of fun.
Nature, every day. 
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