26 March 2020

The moving nature of Nature


Save for most of the very abundant Homo sapiens individuals, who are now confined to their dwellings, living beings keep doing their thing, as they did back in older times, as it was five weeks, five months, five centuries ago. It's March,  the beginning of the boreal spring and the austral autumn. This March of the year of somebody's lord of two thousand and twenty, animals and plants are adjusting to the change of the seasons. In only a few weeks of limited movement by  humans, the planet feels lighter and cleaner, the fields more open and available for many animals.

Human migration has now been suspended for a few weeks. But not the annual migration of birds, mammals, insects, fish and other animals.

An example: a few hundred American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) stopped at the human-created Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area (March 6th, 2020). These are among the three largest birds in North America. They keep doing their thing, migrating north to their breeding areas in the Northern plains.

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, Missouri
Some white birds in central Missouri (click for larger image)

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, Missouri
Pelicans in central Missouri (click for larger image)

Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, Missouri

Closer look: Pelicans in central Missouri (click for larger image)


Domingo Martínez-Castilla

Photos: Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, Boone County, Missouri; March 6, 2020