While visiting the Loess Bluffs refuge in northwest Missouri, you notice one thing pretty quickly. If the weather is mild, like it has been this winter so far, there will be a lot of birds there. Mostly snow geese, which isn’t unusual. Millions of them will pass through here, particularly on their migration back north in the spring. Some, if water remains open, will stay all winter.
And along with so many geese come the predators. There were over 100 winter eagles there on my visit, and it was easy to see why. They would constantly fly over the geese, which would make them burst into the air in mass…and the eagles were always on the lookout for one that was injured or sick. A fair number of carcasses could be seen around the perimeter of the lake. With a few evening coyotes thrown in for good measure. No one is going hungry here at the moment.