Spring promise

65 pied-billed grebe
66 blue-winged teal
67 greater scaup
68 chipping sparrow

MARCH 11, EAGLE BLUFFS, mostly sunny, 75—Still feeling like Tiger Woods, I returned to Eagle Bluffs for more, more, more new birds. The day was warm and full of approaching springtime, with heavy rain in the afternoon forecast. Henbit carpeted (actually, more like area-rugged) bare fields, and I birded amid a chorus of red-winged blackbirds, snow geese, and chorus frogs.

First and last stops were the long strip of woods along the Missouri River, where I hoped for a pileated woodpecker. In between I found 12 waterfowl species in the pools, including three '06 newbies. I located a nesting bald eagle pair in a tall cottonwood, thanks to an alert from Phil and Pat. The snow geese flock from last week seemed, at a distance, half the size but still a couple of thousand-strong. Besides bird abundance, I saw painted turtles sunning on logs, an otter crossing between pools, and a cat.