This past week has been awful — almost. If the weather is the barometer, it was pretty awful! On the positive side, we have documented the start of the traditional migration of the whooping cranes!

They have been seen and photographed at Quivira and the Bottoms.  

Sandra and I went to Phoenix for an Andre Rieu concert at the Footprint Center in Phoenix where the Suns play basketball. There were 18,000 people at the event, and we were awed by his music. Sixty people in his orchestra, and that man can play the fiddle. Excuse me, violin! It was a bucket list for us. We missed some of the odd weather.

The whoopers don’t come in a wad. They string it out for a while, and the orange juveniles don’t seem very strong. The adults appear to be good parents and mind the babies carefully. What awesome birds. 

You can call Wetlands Education Center and find out if they are in the area. If they are and you miss it, I’m sorry. Don’t miss it if you can help it — this is one of the most awe-inspiring birds on our planet.  

I did manage to locate a cinnamon teal. That is another one of those special visitors to the Bottoms. There are Blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, and cinnamon teal. I have harvested and consumed blue-winged and green-winged teal. They are my favorite bird for the table in the duck family. I have not ever shot a cinnamon. 

I can recall letting a couple go just because they were too pretty to even put on the wall. I’m probably getting soft in my old age. I have 150 or so pictures of Cinnamons, but all mine are still flying. I can live with that. Barely.

The shorebirds are also starting. About 300-400 were feeding in the shallows of Pool 1 by the Redwing road last Wednesday afternoon. A group that size is heart-thumping. 

There will be lots of shorebirds here shortly. With the water being a bit low, the wading/feeding birds will enjoy the buffet. I’m eager to see the avocets in plumage and the phalaropes feeding in circles. 

The spotted sandpipers are in the neighborhood also.  Another of my favorites. They fly sort of like quail — quick wing beat and glide. They also tend to be shy — look carefully and quietly for those beauties!

I’m thrilled that Congress finally passed that bill to eliminate daylight savings time. It ruined one of my long-held theories, but I think we all are better with one-time function. There are just so many hours in a day.

Get your gardens going! I have cleaned my asparagus bed and cut down a few nuisance trees. The whoopers are calling.

There are also lots of American white pelicans terrorizing the neighborhood. They are magnificent birds.

Good luck.

Doctor Dan Witt is a retired physician and nature enthusiast. He can be reached at danwitt01@gmail.com.