March Migration Madness
— Photo by DON BARTLING Spring March migration madness is a time for geese and other migrating birds to "wing it" for a better food supply.
College basketball fans look forward to March Madness every year; when NCAA teams are matched against each other, and each winning team advances to the next round until a winner is crowned.
Lose a game, and you’re out.
This year especially Gonzaga fans with the success of the Bulldogs are looking forward to the upcoming tournament.
But to bird enthusiast in Boundary County, March isn’t necessarily about basketball, but about the return of many birds from their winter ranges.
To celebrate the annual migration of birds it would be interesting to develop a version of a bird migration tournament to see which bird was the champion.
The “Favorites” would probably include the Bald Eagles, the Tree Swallows, Great Blue Heron, Hairy Woodpecker, Tree Swallow, Nuthatch or the Cedar Waxwing.
It would be very interesting to see how other species would do in such a tournament, what could be called the “Underbirds.”
This category would probably include such bird species as Green Winged Teal, Belted Kingfisher, Cinnamon Teal, Rufus Hummingbird and my favorite the Mountain Bluebird.
March Migration Madness: Instead of a “Sweet 16” of basketball teams, it could be a “Tweet 16” of migrating bird species; 16 birds that have been selected to go head-to-head, with players voting for their favorite bird of the matched pair. Every weekday there could be a new pair-up.
Participants would vote on their favorite bird, and the winning bird advances to the next round: the “Airborne 8.”
These eight winners eventually become the “Feathered 4,” and then the “Chirpionship” would select the ultimate winner.
This would be an interesting tournament for bird enthusiasts and help with the winter doldrums as we ease into spring.
Boundary County is a beautiful place for sighting a variety of birds in the spring bird migration.
Hopefully as we are counting our migrating birds the neighbors bordering Boundary County wouldn’t think that we have completely gone to the birds.
As winter turns into spring enjoy a walk in the country side and watch the 2017 spring bird migration.