NATURE CAN BE FUNNY in her mood swings. Warm one day. Cool or cold the next. Rainy the next and maybe even enough snow to cause people to re-examine the calendar.

Did I forget wind? No. Mother Nature has a lot of wind events planned for us. We just do not know when she will kick them into high gear.

Through it all, migrating birds are making their way northward in spite of the weather. Birds know the time is right to fly toward summer nesting locations.

One bird that actually may stay in Central Iowa all winter is the Goldfinch. It is our state bird, so designated by the Legislature way back in 1932. Iowa shares its good taste in birds to celebrate along with New Jersey and the State of Washington.

This yellow bodied bird with black wings could be a stand-in for the Iowa Hawkeyes logo just by its colors. Hawkeye fans’ approval probably not so much.

The Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) is one of the most widespread species in North America. Its bright yellow with contrasting black forehead and black wings catches the eye easily.

A nickname is wild canary. But it is not a canary, it is a finch family member. The male’s yellow plumage is largely the result of pigments within the seeds the bird eats.

Two feather molts, one in the fall and the other in late winter allow new flight feathers to grow. Spring time the signature bright yellow and black appears.

Nesting by Goldfinches can take place from late May into August. Late nestings make use of thistle down, milkweed fluff and stiff stalks of fibrous plants to make the nest cup.

Females lay three to seven eggs, which are light blue in color. Incubation takes 12 to 14 days. The male Goldfinch provides all the food for his mate. Newly hatched chicks stay in the nest for two weeks. And Goldfinches normally produce two nests each year to have two broods of new birds brought into the world.

Sometimes the female will build nest number two while the male is feeding the young in nest number one. Most Goldfinches do migrate south to warmer areas of the southern United States, just not always.

The diet of Goldfinches is almost exclusively seeds. Other plant types include berries, maple sap, and tree buds. A few insects may be added to this list.

Look for this yellow bundle of energy as you hike trails at county parks, or just watch the feeding station at your own home. Enjoy.

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A SANDHILL CRANE pair was observed at the Mann Wetland area on April 26. This author had observed them previously and as I keep a good watch on the area due to its easy access near the south City limits of Albion, it is easy to peruse the waters and grasslands for any new avian visitors.

I spotted the Sandhill pair near the newly water filled marsh. For about one hour I kept binoculars, spotting scope and long lens camera trained on this long legged pair of wetland loving birds.

It was good that I spent my time watching. I was in hopes that improved photo opportunities would develop. The pair were feeding along the grassy edges of the wetland, and when they began to wade into deeper water and come closer to my vantage point from inside my truck parked along the highway edge, the birds did make for interesting times.

Today’s image of the male Sandhill belly deep in water was a good image to capture. When the pair was on a small island of grasses, a neat thing happened.

The male did his courtship dance of lowering its head, then jumping into the air with wild gyrations of his outspread wings. He could not control his urge to tell his partner that he was willing and able to be her mate.

She ignored him — this time. There were several dances performed by the male. Later this month, as the pair strengthens their pair bond, they will both dance together in responses to each other.

Scientists note that Sandhill need to be seven years old before breeding. A pair will likely stay together for life, the next two decades.

The oldest Sandhill Crane on record lived to be 36 years and seven months old. It had been leg banded in Wyoming in 1973 and was found dead in New Mexico in 2010.

Fossil evidence of Sandhills comes from Florida archeological sites. Dating of the rock layers of these fossils put the bird at 2.5 million years old. Wow!

Sandhill Cranes migrate en masse into Central Nebraska every March to mid April before continuing on the migration journey to wetlands in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana and Canada.

An estimate of Sandhills on the Platte River is well over one million birds! There are other smaller sub-populations of Sandhills that also migrate from southern USA regions but are not part of the masses that focus on the Platte River of Nebraska.

The local Sandhills we see at the Mann Wetland, or at Otter Creek Marsh in Tama County, may come from Florida wintering areas. South central Wisconsin will also have a good number of Sandhills using agricultural fields adjacent to river systems of the Wisconsin River.

Sandhill Cranes have a loud raspy voice, a rolling trumpeting sound with a unique tone. The trachea (windpipe) is long and it may coil into the sternum so that their sound has a lower pitch. From my home in Albion on a quiet early morning, I can hear the Sandhills’ voice exchanges as they fly near the Mann Wetland marsh. It is good to know that the Mann Wetland is waking up after our good timely rains of April.

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Speaking of rain events, April did okay after a dry beginning. My Albion trusty rain gauge had a total of 4.25 inches for the month. If I add these rains to those that fell during March, another 0.98 inches, that makes rains so far in 2025 a nice tally of 5.23 inches.

Late April rains did have an effect upon the flow rate of the Iowa River. Early April flows were low and steady at about 10.6 on the staging Corps of Engineers gauge on Highway 14.

Nice heavy rains on the 16th began the slow rise of the river until it finally crested on April

26 at 6 a.m. at a reading of 16.64 feet. The water depth thus increased by about 6.0 feet between the 21st and the 26th.

A nice gradual decrease in water depth has taken place and continues. As of last Wednesday, April 30, the river has fallen by about three feet.

From the perspective of the Mann Wetland area and its several shallow ephemeral depressions, the rains and a small amount of river backflow created excellent conditions for migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, swallows and of course those beautiful Sandhill Cranes.

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My other featured photo of the day is a snowman lying dead on my lawn. The date was May 3, 2013. Spring weather had been great — at least we humans thought so.

However, Mother Nature pulled an ace out her sleeve as she played her hand at her version of a poker game. Cold air collided with warm moist air to make a snow event, dropping wet heavy flakes. Accumulations were in the six inch range.

I had to do something about the situation to make fun out of what we humans have no control. I scooped the snow into the shape of a “Yeti.”

Ketchup substituted for blood. Arrows shot from my recurve bow hit Yeti’s heart and he died. I wanted winter weather to end.

A few days later, all the snow melted away to be just water. All was well after that.

From Iowa history books it is noted that on May 28, 1947, over 10 inches of wet heavy snow fell in northwest Iowa at LeMars and other places in the western 2/3rds of Iowa. Surprises like that we humans do not like.

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WALLEYE fishing season opened May 3 in Iowa’s Great Lakes region of northern and northwest Iowa. All is just in time as DNR fisheries staff completed an exceptional egg collection from walleyes at Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Clear Lake and at Rathbun and the Mississippi River. Crews captured 1,910 adult female walleyes at East Okoboji, Rathbun, Spirit and Storm Lake. The goal of collecting enough eggs was met with 1,324 quarts of eggs.

That is an estimated 116 million eggs! Good work guys and gals of the fisheries bureau. Keep up the good work.

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MAY daylight hours are getting longer. On May 1, the day length was 14 hours and 2 minutes for those of us living at 42.0676 north latitude.

On May 31, the day will be 15 hours and one minute long. Sunrises will go from 6:06 a.m. to 5:37 a.m. Sunsets will begin on May 1 at 8:08 p.m. and end on the 31st at 8:38 p.m.

Just think of June 20 next month when the longest days of our year will sneak up on us. It will all be downhill from there as we head toward a new winter.

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.

Contact him at:

P.O. Box 96

Albion, IA 50005