You can spot the Blue-winged Teal’s dabbling blue-gray head—with a distinctive white crescent in front of the eye—in wetlands this time of year, having just recently arrived.
We enjoy seeing Common Ravens when visiting national parks in the west, fishing in Minnesota, and vacationing in northern Wisconsin. In those areas, ravens are very common, very vocal, and range over a large area.
Look for swampy areas, often with lots of dead trees, preferably surrounded by water on all sides. These haunted swamps are where herons build their Dr. Seuss-looking platforms, nesting near the tops of trees.
Markus Duhme, a seventh-grader from Vancouver worked on a Snowy Owl research project for his school’s Wonder Expo. This young researcher used data on Columbia, a female Snowy Owl tagged and released at Goose Pond Sanctuary in January 2020.
A liquid song echoes whole through springtime woods. At dawn, midday, or dusk the bird might sing, but its song delivers an energy and briskness in those crepuscular hours as the sun rises and sets. Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio.