Reprint from the Lincoln Land Lamp Newspaper- Migration + Pictures!

Migration –   

Welcome to the new nature column of the Lamp.  I, Jared Gorrell, will be giving you all updates on what’s happening in nature around us.

Most Illinoisans I know think of this state as a gigantic cornfield.  We lack mountains and oceans.  In fact, Illinois is the third flattest state in the United States after Florida and Louisiana.   Many interstates take advantage of this fact and run through Illinois as people travel to other places, merely passing through, stopping to get a bite to eat or fill up on gas here and there.   This state is a stopover for travelers.   Illinois serves the same function in the natural world, too.

While Illinois lacks spectacular landforms, this state has one particular feature that makes it incredibly important.  On the east, west, and south, Illinois is bounded by water in the form of three rivers and a lake, all natural interstates for migrating birds.  Birds flying to and from Canada, the upper Midwest, and the Great Lakes migrate through Illinois along a route known as the Mississippi Flyway.  This natural interstate for birds, particularly waterfowl, is one of the greatest natural highways in the world.  The Mississippi Flyway makes Illinois a key sight to see massive migrations every spring and fall.

 What many people do not realize is that migration is not a simple process.  Most of us think of it in terms of north-to-south travel, or, at this time of year, south-to-north travel.    Yet, this is far too simple.  The same flock of snow geese (Chen caerulescens), one of the most common winter migrants in this area, may fly back and forth between the Illinois River, the Mississippi River, and Lake Springfield  several times in the course of a week.    This has to do with ice.   In late winter, the temperature rises and falls dramatically, with temperatures slipping above and below freezing every week.  When lakes and rivers are frozen over, the waterfowl must travel south, or else starve because their underwater food supply is cut off.  Thus, as the ice thaws, birds tend to show up, and as the ice refreezes, the birds leave.  As a result, trying to find birds in migration can be a wild goose chase in the most literal sense.

Of course, waterbirds are not the only birds that migrate.  Birds of prey (hawks, eagles, vultures, and owls) migrate as well, and some, such as the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) are migrating at this time of year.  Turkey Vultures migrate and roost in flocks, and the local ones do so in a grove of pine trees where Toronto Road bends, near the Crow’s Mill Pub.   At times, up to fifty vultures can be seen only a few hundred feet from Lincoln Land Community College.  This is but one of many areas, particularly Center Park and Marina Point, where migrating birds can be seen near Lincoln Land Community College.

We may live in a giant cornfield, but even here in Illinois, we have our own spectacular displays of nature.   After all, we live along one of the greatest natural interstates in the world.  All we have to do is look.