The weather forecast for today reads:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 56. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 10 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.....

Wait...a high near 56?

The warm weather this weekend, together with the flocks of bluebirds and American robins and the sounds of dripping and running water reminded all of us that this winter will not last forever. This morning, a group of several hundred Canada geese were up on the Riis Farm wetland (north of Highway 141 and east of the Middle Raccoon River). The water on the wetland opened up yesterday due to the extreme thaw we’ve had over the last three days, and the Canada geese showed up immediately.

We’ll begin to see more and more migrating waterfowl over the next few weeks, and within a month, there will likely be more ducks and geese that we know what to do with. Folks recently saw an American Wigeon up at Swan Lake State Park, and further west, close to Council Bluffs, there were Greater White-fronted, Cackling, and Ross’s geese mixed in with the Canada geese.

During the next month, if you are interested in following the waterfowl migration on and around Whiterock Conservancy-managed properties, watch the Riis Farm Wetland from Hwy 141 or take a hike back to the Whiterock ponds, due east of the campgrounds. McChord’s Pond, a 112-acre IDNR Wildlife Management Area, is locate 5 miles east and 1 mile south of Hwy 141 (on Hickory Ave) and always hosts a diversity of waterfowl during the migration. Dunbar Slough WMA, a 1,640-acre IDNR wetland complex, provides habitat for thousands and thousands of waterfowl species. Drive up the Carroll/Greene county Line on N-58 (Grant/Apple Ave.) and look for parking areas east of the county highway on 290^th, 270^th, 250^th, and 240^th Streets. This spring, there will be a birder's trail map of the Carroll/Guthrie/Greene/Audubon area posted Roadside Park, east of Coon Rapids on Hwy 141.

In the meantime, another check for the weather this Friday looks like things are going to be back to normal soon…

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 16.

Now that's what I'm talking about