For the third year in a row, Marie and I have decided to skip winter and spend a few months in Texas. We left a little earlier this time and are spending the extra time travelling through parts of the U.S. that we haven’t before visited. So far we have been through North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa and are currently in Missouri. While November is certainly not the best month to go birding, there’s always something to look at, especially in a new region.

I think perhaps the most impressive sight I’ve seen so far was the sheer number of geese passing through Saskatchewan. We stopped a few times one morning driving from Moose Jaw to the North Dakota border. We estimate that we saw at least one hundred thousand Snow Geese in a matter of three hours! I say Snow Geese, but most of the flocks had some other species mixed in. Ross’s Goose, which just looks like a small version of the Snow Goose, is present in all the big flocks. Their very similar appearance makes it difficult to estimate what proportion of the flock they represent. Canada Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese and Cackling Geese are also part of the mix. Also migrating through the central plains in substantial numbers, are Sandhill Cranes. A flock of a thousand or more is not unusual.

We’re also starting to see eastern birds that don’t make it into B.C. During the last day or two, Eastern Meadowlarks have replaced the Westerns (without a good look, separating the two can be quite difficult). The common jay in the east is the Blue Jay, replacing our more familiar Steller’s Jay; and the Eastern Bluebird is the only bluebird found here. We have Mountain Bluebird and Western Bluebird in B.C. The east has some nice woodpeckers, too. Today we’ve seen both Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers, neither of which occur in B.C. Although our Pileated Woodpecker is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as ‘Red-headed’.

I think the two birds that I’ve been most pleased to see are Eastern Screech-Owl and Eastern Towhee. There are sixteen species of owls that breed in North America; the Eastern Screech is one of only two that don’t occur in B.C. Hearing one call right outside our trailer a couple of nights ago was a very pleasant surprise. The Eastern Towhee is a bird I’ve only ever seen once before, and that was in Florida about ten years ago.

And finally there’s the Northern Cardinal. Even though this bird is very common in parts of the east and south, I never tire of it. Its brilliant red plumage is always quite stunning, but at this time of year, when the trees have lost all their colour, that flash of red seems even more spectacular!