The air here this time of year usually is filled with the grunts and squawks of thousands of white pelicans and their chicks. The giant birds, known as aerial acrobats, have made it their home for at least 100 years. Now their nesting grounds are quiet. The pelicans are gone. And no one really knows why. Everybody from biologists to bartenders has a theory. The 4,385-acre refuge in central North Dakota had been known as the home of the largest nesting colony of white pelicans in North America. The nearly 28,000 birds that showed up to nest here in early April took off in late May and early June, leaving their chicks and eggs behind.

Probably nothing to do with the end of the world, but when it is near, I expect the wildlife to get restless...