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18 Mar Great Horned Owl nesting ["bkgr10" ] 17 Mar Am. Woodcock- Boyer Chute NWR 3/17 [Justin Rink ] 16 Mar Re: Woodcock appeal [Jeanine Lackey ] 15 Mar RE: Black-billed Magpie in Madison County ["Walker, Thomas" ] 15 Mar Re: Woodcock appeal [Michelle Johnson ] 16 Mar Black-billed Magpie in Madison County ["sparvophile" ] 16 Mar Woodcock appeal ["flyingcarlini" ] 15 Mar Re: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! ["LJH" ] 15 Mar Calamus and Antelope Co. Geese [Mark Brogie ] 15 Mar Oak & Branched Oak on Sunday [Jim Mountjoy ] 15 Mar Wachiska Audubon Society Trip: Rainwater Basin/Alda River Bridge 3/14/10 ["Edward" ] 14 Mar Waterfowl ["Clem Klaphake" ] 14 Mar "Twin" Oak Lakes 3/14 [Justin Rink ] 14 Mar Geese! [james gibson ] 14 Mar Snow Geese [Jan Johnson ] 14 Mar Webster Co. birds [Robin and Lanny ] 14 Mar Long-eared Owl - Custer Co. 3/14/10 ["tbirdboy10" ] 14 Mar Barred Owl on Nest [] 14 Mar Ross's Geese ["sparvophile" ] 14 Mar RE: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! ["Eades, Rick" ] 14 Mar Re: Calamus Area 2/24 [] 14 Mar Geese, geese and more geese [Colleen Noecker ] 14 Mar Re: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! [Jeanine Lackey ] 14 Mar Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! ["Edward" ] 14 Mar A Declaration of Ornithological Spring ["LJH" ] 13 Mar A day for the raptors [Ruth Stearns ] 13 Mar Killdeer and WF Geese ["Kathy DeLara" ] 13 Mar Saturday birding ["Moni" ] 13 Mar Rusty Blackbirds and more - Custer Co. 3/13/10 ["tbirdboy10" ] 13 Mar Re:Spring is coming [] 12 Mar Belated Fontenelle Wetlands report (3/10 [Justin Rink ] 12 Mar Longspurs [Jan Johnson ] 12 Mar Re: Spring is coming (Waxwing FYI) [Justin Rink ] 12 Mar Fontenelle Forest ["Phil Swanson" ] 12 Mar Oak Lake gulls and more [Jim Mountjoy ] 12 Mar Oak Lake Gulls 3/12 ["Jorgensen, Joel" ] 11 Mar Oak lake gulls 3/11 ["flyingcarlini" ] 12 Mar Tens of thousands of geese. [Theresa Pester ] 12 Mar Possible California Gull, Oak Lake, Lincoln [Jim Mountjoy ] 12 Mar Spring is coming ["kcarnes68" ] 11 Mar Bellevue Birds [Loren Padelford ] 11 Mar Oak lake gulls 3/11 ["flyingcarlini" ] 11 Mar Pawnee and Branched Oak 3/10 Oak Lake 3/11 [Ruth Stearns ] 11 Mar Fillmore County report/ York co eagle ["Wic7ita" ] 10 Mar RBMG ["Clem Klaphake" ] 10 Mar Re: Oak Lakes to tree swallows at Jack Sinn [] 10 Mar Peregrine Falcon ["wallie2fargone" ] 10 Mar New arrivals ["Eades, Rick" ] 10 Mar Looking for Volunteers for Eastern Nebraska Greater Prairie-Chicken Surveys ["acliske" ] 10 Mar Thayer's and Glaucous Gulls: Oak Lake [Daniel Leger ] 10 Mar Waterfowl,Raptors,and Prairie Chickens:Spring is Here! ["LJH" ] 9 Mar Peregrines and a Curlew name Sandy ["Jorgensen, Joel" ] 9 Mar Thayer's Gull and Grackle ["Jorgensen, Joel" ] 09 Mar Cranes, Branched Oak Lake, etc. [Jim Mountjoy ] 8 Mar Scottsbluff ["Alice Kenitz" ] 8 Mar Re: New Bird List [Don and Shirley Maas ] 08 Mar Re: geese-- opinion time ["LJH" ] 08 Mar Lincoln Salines/Whitehead/Shoemakers 3/07/10 ["Edward" ] 8 Mar Branched Oak Birds [Ruth Stearns ] 8 Mar Grackles ["Clem Klaphake" ] 7 Mar Franklin County 3/7/10 [Robin and Lanny ] 7 Mar Forest Lawn Cemetery- Omaha 3/7- SEOW [Justin Rink ] 7 Mar Spring Birds - Longspurs ["Clem Klaphake" ] 7 Mar birds and travels [Jeanine Lackey ] 7 Mar eastern edge of Rainwater Basin ["Jorgensen, Joel" ] 07 Mar FOS Cedar Waxwings ["jerrynickersonnebraska" ] 07 Mar New Bird List ["bbrukner" ] 07 Mar Re: geese-- opinion time [] 7 Mar Re: geese-- opinion time ["Ross Silcock" ] 7 Mar Unusual Eur Collared-Dove (ECDO) in Waterloo, NE ["Ross Silcock" ] 07 Mar More Spring Birds ["Wic7ita" ] 07 Mar Lincoln Saline Wetlands 3/06/10 ["Edward" ] 6 Mar Swamp Sparrow and Killdeer [RICHARD H SCHMID ] 6 Mar Golden Eagles!! ["Marty Mathieson" ] 06 Mar Snow Geese ["Jjeth" ] 6 Mar Re: March 4, Spring coming to Lancaster County [] Subject: Great Horned Owl nesting From: "bkgr10" <bkgr10 AT dishmail.net> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:19:12 -0000 I took a snapshot of a Great Horned Owl nesting. It was on the Middle Loup River about twenty miles from Burwell. You can view it here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkgr10/4442620586/. There is also a shot of a Cedar Waxwing there. Their flycatcher like behavior, catching bugs in the air over the river, attracted my attention. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkgr10/4441875183/in/photostream/ Subject: Am. Woodcock- Boyer Chute NWR 3/17 From: Justin Rink <spindalis79 AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:11:15 -0700 (PDT)   Happy St. Scolopaxy's Day (get it?)     Tonight after work I headed to Boyer Chute NWR (Washington Co.) for the sole purpose of potentially locating some AMERICAN WOODCOCK.  I was not disappointed.  However, before finding the Woodcocks, I walked along the furthest east trail that parallels a chute, and eventually leads to the Missouri River. Birds of note included -1 Great Blue Heron (FOS) -12 Wood Duck (FOS) -30-40 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (in a large flock of Red-wings perched atop a Cottonwood.  Many of the male RUSTIES were squeaking out their "Marsh Wren-like" song.  Great analogy, Tim.)      At around 7:40 I pulled into the Main Parking Lot. As soon as I opened the door I heard the first "Peent!"   I heard at least three (3) male AMERICAN WOODCOCK calling and performing their unique flight display over the parking lot. I also observed a WOODCOCK pair doing some kind of unison courtship or territorial display. Though, their main displaying ground was across the road from the lot.  A couple from Blair that I met were inquisitive about the "bat" that was fluttering over them.   John and Shari, would you be open to changing your field trip location?   Good birding.   Justin Rink Midtown Omaha, Douglas Co., NE spindalis79 AT yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Woodcock appeal From: Jeanine Lackey <jeanine.dinan AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:59:51 -0500 Hi, I used to live two miles from BOL and would walk the dog along NW 98th and then into the NE entrance of the Lake (where you go to access the marina). I consistently observed/heard Woodcocks displaying along both the east and west sides of 98th on the WMA areas. That would be the first place I would check for Woodcock. On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 11:36 PM, Michelle Johnson wrote: > > > Hi John, > > Josef Kren, Gertrude Wood and myself have heard and seen woodcocks in April > at Branched Oak Lake. I will find out the exact location and let you know. > > > Regards, > Michelle Johnson, SE Lincoln > > --- On Mon, 3/15/10, flyingcarlini > > wrote: > > From: flyingcarlini > > Subject: [NEBirds] Woodcock appeal > To: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com > Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 7:16 PM > > > > > Hello Birders, > > This might be a pie in the sky request but does anyone know of a reliable > location in southeast NE to see/hear woodcocks displaying? We thought it > might be a fun idea for Wachiska Audubon's april field trip. (Dan are you > ready to lead this one since you've had the most recent encounter? Just > kidding- sort of.) > > John Carlini & Shari Schwartz, Lincoln > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > -- J-9 I still hear your voice on warm summer nights, whispering like the wind.... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEBirds/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEBirds/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: NEBirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com NEBirds-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: NEBirds-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: RE: Black-billed Magpie in Madison County From: "Walker, Thomas" <thomas.walker AT nebraska.gov> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:43:57 -0500 IF they are raising young nearby (in the past) now is the time to locate old nests before the trees get their leaves. You really can't miss the nests, large round ball of "twiggy" sticks with a hole through one or both sides. There are several along the interstate between Ogallala and Brule if anyone is out this way - you can't miss them if you watch to the north side of the interstate. T. J. Walker - District Manager, Wildlife Division - Partners Section Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 301 East State Farm Road North Platte, NE 69101 Office Phone 308-535-8025 Cell Phone 308-530-7659 ________________________________ From: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com [NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of sparvophile [sparvophile AT yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 9:25 PM To: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com Subject: [NEBirds] Black-billed Magpie in Madison County Worked the Cowboy Trail west of Broken Bridge Rd near Norfolk (Madison County) this afternoon. Pleased to report a sighting of Black-billed Magpie in the trees around the house on Broken Bridge. This is at least the third time that I've seen magpies at this location. Over a year ago, I saw two; but in my two encounters since then, I've only seen one bird. Hoping that there's another around, and that they're raising young... William Flack Kearney [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEBirds/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEBirds/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: NEBirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com NEBirds-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: NEBirds-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: Re: Woodcock appeal From: Michelle Johnson <mijohn66 AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:36:42 -0700 (PDT) Hi John,   Josef Kren, Gertrude Wood and myself have heard and seen woodcocks in April at Branched Oak Lake.  I will find out the exact location and let you know.    Regards, Michelle Johnson, SE Lincoln --- On Mon, 3/15/10, flyingcarlini wrote: From: flyingcarlini Subject: [NEBirds] Woodcock appeal To: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 7:16 PM   Hello Birders, This might be a pie in the sky request but does anyone know of a reliable location in southeast NE to see/hear woodcocks displaying? We thought it might be a fun idea for Wachiska Audubon's april field trip. (Dan are you ready to lead this one since you've had the most recent encounter? Just kidding- sort of.) John Carlini & Shari Schwartz, Lincoln [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Black-billed Magpie in Madison County From: "sparvophile" <sparvophile AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:25:15 -0000 Worked the Cowboy Trail west of Broken Bridge Rd near Norfolk (Madison County) this afternoon. Pleased to report a sighting of Black-billed Magpie in the trees around the house on Broken Bridge. This is at least the third time that I've seen magpies at this location. Over a year ago, I saw two; but in my two encounters since then, I've only seen one bird. Hoping that there's another around, and that they're raising young... William Flack Kearney Subject: Woodcock appeal From: "flyingcarlini" <flyingcarlini AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:16:26 -0000 Hello Birders, This might be a pie in the sky request but does anyone know of a reliable location in southeast NE to see/hear woodcocks displaying? We thought it might be a fun idea for Wachiska Audubon's april field trip. (Dan are you ready to lead this one since you've had the most recent encounter? Just kidding- sort of.) John Carlini & Shari Schwartz, Lincoln Subject: Re: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! From: "LJH" <rogercheryl AT q.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:38:05 -0000 Ed, You are correct in the Identification of the Glaucous Gull, And I think you are also correct with the Thayer's ID. Then again, between the Iceland and Thayer's Gulls, one can never be 100% sure. The photos of the Herring Gull with fish, the head-on Franklin's Gull, and the Blackbirds are absolutely fabulous. Thanks for posting them! (the blackbird one would indeed make a very good,and challenging, jigsaw puzzle) Good birding to you, Luke Hamilton Bridgeport, NE Subject: Calamus and Antelope Co. Geese From: Mark Brogie <mbrogie AT esu1.org> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:47:08 -0600 Visited Calamas near Burwell yesterday: Found 1 Glaucous Gull, 20 Herring, and 100's of Ring-bill Gulls. (west end open) As for ducks, mostly Common Mergansers, but did have 2 Greater Scaup. Closer to home, 17 miles (directly south) of Creighton found 2 HUGE flocks of Snow Geese feeding in pasture. One was very close to the road and measured a half mile by a half mile square. If you have a goose even every two square yards, (DO the Math) thats a lot of birds. I spend almost 2 hours going thru them looking for something rare, with no luck. I did estimate that the one group had over 400 Ross's Geese in it. The second group was farther away and I did not spend much time with it, although it was even a larger group of birds. Mark A. Brogie Creighton Community Schools Home: 1609 Redick Ave., Box 10 508 Seeley, Box 316 Creighton, NE 68729 Creighton, NE 68729 (402) 358-3663 (402) 358-5675 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Oak & Branched Oak on Sunday From: Jim Mountjoy <jmountjo AT knox.edu> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:03:11 -0500 I made a fairly quick tour of some Lancaster County lakes during late morning/early afternoon on Sunday. The Glaucous Gull was still at Oak Lake in Lincoln, but this time on the section east of I-180. As previously mentioned, there is a fairly large section of open water now at Branched Oak Lake in the NW arm, although it was still somewhat distant viewing from Area 7. Common Mergansers dominated the waterfowl here, but I also saw 9 Hooded Mergansers, 2 male Red-breasted Mergansers (FOY) and a few Common Goldeneye and one scaup (probably Lesser). Back on Branched Oak Road a pair of Wood Ducks (FOY) flew over calling, and 3 Harris' Sparrows spished in with a big flock of American Trees, but I still can't find a Song Sparrow anywhere. Pawnee Lake, as Justin Rink noted, still seems thoroughly frozen. Jim Mountjoy Lincoln NE Subject: Wachiska Audubon Society Trip: Rainwater Basin/Alda River Bridge 3/14/10 From: "Edward" <edwodonnell AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:01:41 -0000 I'll make this pretty short because I'm dog tired and because any attempt on my behalf to relay what and how many of the whats were seen would be severely lacking since Mr. Einemann was along for the trip. His list is the thing that should be acknowledged and not any crazy thing I dreamt up. While he was scoping and taking careful notes, I was gulping energy drinks and wiping pork rind crumbs off of my jacket...so yeah, that's why. Well that and because he has forgotten more about birding things than I'll ever hope to know. However, I did manage to get a few good shots off, get a new bird and reach a minor epiphany. Rusty Blackbird! I know I posted a picture of a Rusty Blackbird a month or so ago, but let's face it, it was really kind of terrible. It wasn't much more than a dark colored lump in a rotty ol' apple tree. These are much much better. Eagle eye Carlini spotted him on the side of the road in some saplings and I just started firing away. A very compliant bird that went from a difficult position to hopping down in the grass right in front of me. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4434848062/sizes/l/ and a little bit different pose. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4434842288/sizes/l/ Although the process started with the Thayer's and Glaucous Gull shots, the epiphany (minor and perhaps obvious to everyone here...except for me) really hit me with this Rusty Blackbird shot. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4434049809/sizes/l/ I was showing the shots to Shari a little bit later on the Camera screen and she remarked that she liked that one because you could see the great coloring on it's back. I hadn't even thought of that. All I saw was a horrible image. I simply compared it to the first two because they appeared to be exposed properly and pretty sharp. Even though I was slowly learning that Birders look at birds much differently than non-birders, the point was driven home today. On Flickr, a well composed tack-sharp shot of a Robin would generate more interest and kudos than a shot of a slightly out of focus Piping Plover. At the sake of starting to ramble like Jerry Lewis after hour 47 of his Telethon, one last shot of a Northern Shrike (Yay, new bird, but I want another chance) specifically cropped for a reason that birders would understand. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4434099289/sizes/o/ People that don't would say there is too much space and it needs to be cropped tighter. Whew, I guess it wasn't very short after all. Ed, Lincoln. Subject: Waterfowl From: "Clem Klaphake" <ckavian AT cox.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:53:23 -0500 Drove down to Nemaha County today for a short ime and saw the following at Talmadge on the Otoe/Nemaha County line: - 3 Hooded Mergansers - 80+ Pintails - 60+ Gadwall - 40+ Ring-necked Duck - 14 Shovelers All were FOY for me. - A ton of Mallards Also at the same wetland were 5 Bald Eagles, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 15 Killdeer Stopped on Beach Road in Cass County near the Platte River and there were 23 C. Goldeneye, 10 C. Mergansers and 2 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS Clem Klaphake Bellevue, NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: "Twin" Oak Lakes 3/14 From: Justin Rink <spindalis79 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:09:30 -0700 (PDT)   This afternoon I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip out to Lancaster County to check out the area lakes.  I had never visited Oak Lake before, so I drove out to see if I could locate the two pale-winged gulls that had been mentioned previously.  Several Ring-billed Gulls along with a few HERRING GULLS.  No sign of the afformentioned species, however.    I then headed northwest toward Pawnee (currently frozen) and Branched Oak Lake.  I noticed a bit of open water near the marina at Branched Oak.  There were an estimated 4-5,000 COMMON MERGANSERS in this area, along with about eight (8) or so BALD EAGLES.  There were also quite a few Ring-billed Gulls and about eight (8) HERRING GULLS.  A couple large skeins of geese also flew over the lake.  Birds in the flock numbered 400-700.  In the mix SNOW and a few ROSS'S GEESE.  KILLDEER were also calling around the marina/campground.    After getting back on I-80 I decided to try for the gulls again.  Still no Glaucous or Thayer's.  However, the number of HERRING GULLS had increased to around ten (10). Jim Mountjoy's previously posted  BELTED KINGFISHER (FOS) was barely audible on the opposite side of the lake.    Good birding.   Justin Rink Midtown Omaha, Douglas Co., NE spindalis79 AT yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Geese! From: james gibson <jgibson38 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:13:03 -0700 (PDT) Hi All:  We drove from Marion SD to Chadron this afternoon.  We saw thousands and thousands of snow geese.  No binocs so can't say if Canadas or other spp were mixed in.  One 'flock' (river?) of geese stretched from as far as I could see south to as far as I could see north.  We stopped a few minutes and there was no end of this 'river' of geese--wave after wave after wave.  Other groups from two to about two thousand were scattered all the way to the Missouri.  But only one group of about 500 near Merriman NE. Jim Gibson Chadron [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Snow Geese From: Jan Johnson <bluebird47 AT cedarwb.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:59:56 -0500 We've had thousands fly over this weekend. Late yesterday afternoon I found about 20,000 in a corn field 1/2 mile north of us. When we left at 11:00 this a.m. they were still there and their numbers were up to approx. 30,000. I'd heard many flocks fly over low after dark last night. We got home about 5:30 this evening and the flock was still in the same corn field with even more flying over and joining them along with a smaller flock of about 3-5 thousand a half mile south of us. I never cease to be thrilled to heard their loud chorus in such large numbers and see the entire group take wing. Laplands are around in large flocks, too. We saw flocks of approx. 300, 5000, 1000 today. I had both a Great Horned Owl in the yard this a.m. and a Screech Owl this afternoon. Hoping to go see the cranes next weekend! Jan Johnson Wakefield notes-from-a-bird-brained-quilter.blogspot.com http://web.me.com/bluebird47 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Webster Co. birds From: Robin and Lanny <snowbunting AT rcom-ne.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:28:36 -0600 Nebraska birders, Sunday, March 14, Lanny and I went birding in Webster County. We saw 35 Ring-necked Ducks on a pond a couple miles south of Liberty Cove Recreation Area. We saw five Yellow-rumped Warblers and three Black-capped Chickadees at the Republican River bridge south of Guide Rock. Lanny saw two new species in Webster for a new total of 139 and I also saw two new species for a new total of 135. Robin Harding northern Kearney County, Nebraska For more information about birding in Nebraska, see the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union web site at: http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/ Subject: Long-eared Owl - Custer Co. 3/14/10 From: "tbirdboy10" <tim.birdboy AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:06:41 -0000 Hi NEBirders, I stumbled across a beautiful Long-eared Owl in the neighbor's shelterbelt this morning. I was walking in the shelterbelt in an attempt to get closer to a flock of geese (more on that below). A medium-sized owl flushed out of a cedar, but I didn't get a good enough look to call it anything. A few minutes later, it flushed again and flew over my head. This time I got good (albeit brief) looks at the slim body, blackish-brown barred underparts, and orange face. It's rather ironic that I would find one randomly, because I've scoured that shelterbelt before in search of Long-eared Owls. The geese were interesting. There were about 300 birds, all crammed in a tiny little pond out in the middle of my neighbor's pasture. Most of them were 'Lesser' Canada and Cackling Geese, with a few Greater White-fronted and "normal" Canada mixed in. Not a sight I see every day around here; most of the geese just keep flying over. I checked the Broken Bow Sewage Lagoons this afternoon and found a pair of Canvasbacks in addition to normal stuff (Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Gadwall, Wood Duck). Tim Hajda Broken Bow, Custer Co. tim.birdboy AT gmail.com www.ebird.org Subject: Barred Owl on Nest From: Dastage AT aol.com Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:09:37 -0400 I have a Barred Owl incubating 2 eggs in a nest box in my back yard in western Douglas County, Nebraska (as of March 13) This is the 6th consecutive year that Barred Owls have nested in the nest box. Dave Stage Elkhorn, NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Ross's Geese From: "sparvophile" <sparvophile AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:50:24 -0000 Light geese out in force these past few days. A few days ago, I picked up a cooperative flock in a field near North Bend, which allowed me to add both species to my Dodge County list. Spurred by that success, went out the next day to try to put Ross's on a few more county lists. Rotten luck. Stiff breeze in the northwest; spitting cold rain; and uncooperative birds-- found some flocks, but they were on the north side of the road, so I had to face into the wind to scope them; they were too far away to identify a Ross's without a long period of study, to make sure it wasn't a Snow with its head turned a bit; and the candidate Ross's all flew or tucked their heads within seconds of my putting the scope on them. Came home cold and wet and disappointed. Went out again yesterday. Genus Chen was apparently sorry that it'd treated me so badly, and was trying to make up for it. Found a highly cooperative flock in Polk County and another in Butler Co., with Ross's fairly close to the road and holding their heads up so that their bills could be seen in detail. Also seen: a single Lesser Scaup; a single Northern Shoveler; a scant handful of Green-winged Teal; and decent though not large numbers of Northern Pintail, Gadwall, and Redhead. Plus the other geese, of course. William Flack Kearney Subject: RE: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! From: "Eades, Rick" <rick.eades AT nebraska.gov> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:40:04 -0500 Agreed. How many common grackles and brown-headed cowbirds can you find mixed in with the blackbirds?? This photo would make a good jigsaw puzzle. Rick Eades Lincoln Hi Ed, Nice photo's of whatever species of gulls you saw. I love watching gulls, but usually need an expert to confirm the ID. Your photo of the Red-winged Blackbirds is spectacular. Subject: Re: Calamus Area 2/24 From: rjensen AT midlands.net Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:42:25 -0500 (CDT) I enjoyed the pictures but have a question. What does the YL stand for by the house finch picture? Rita Jensen Hooper, NE > My wife Kathi, and I were birding on Wednesday around the Calamus > Reservoir area. Most interesting birds of the day were four Trumpeter > Swans on the Calamus River at the Highway 183 bridge. I have posted some > pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkgr10/with/4387871388/. > > Another interesting sight was the concentration of Bald Eagles at the > Gracie Creek area. We counted 51 visible at one time and assume there > would be quite a few more in the immediate area. There is some open water > there and so also assume that may be a factor in the concentration. We > observed a number of pairs in flight and exhibited some aerial acrobatics > and wondered if they would be pairing up now? Any comments would be > appreciated. > > Also saw tons of Robins, Tree Sparrows, Horned Larks, Canada Geese, a few > Red-Tails, Prarie Chickens, and Cedar Waxwings, Wild Turkeys, Juncos, > Common Mergansers and 2 Belted Kingfishers. > > Bob Gerten > Burwell, NE > > Subject: Geese, geese and more geese From: Colleen Noecker <nebrbluebird AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:31:46 -0500 We had to do some traveling yesterday (Sat.) in the Pierce Co. area and came upon hundreds of thousands of Snow Geese with a few Canadas thrown in. They were in fields a few miles NW of Pierce on Hwy 13 from Plainview to Pierce. There was also another huge flock just west of Osmond on Hwy. 20. The geese also stretched for miles and miles in the sky heading north. We are heading to the Gr. Island/Kearney area and were hoping to see the geese in numbers but now are thinking there can't be too many left. Looking forward to seeing the cranes though! Also saw several large flocks of Horned Larks in flight in the Cedar/ Pierce area. One other notable sighting was a pair of Eagles on Hwy 57 and 878 Rd. south of Harrtington. They were sitting in a tree above the creek and very near a house. Couldn't see an obvious nest anywhere but there are lots of trees in the area. We didn't have time to check it out more. Colleen Noecker Boone Co. Albion, NE Subject: Re: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! From: Jeanine Lackey <jeanine.dinan AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:36:03 -0500 Hi Ed, Nice photo's of whatever species of gulls you saw. I love watching gulls, but usually need an expert to confirm the ID. Your photo of the Red-winged Blackbirds is spectacular. On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 12:20 AM, Edward wrote: > > > Hola, me again. > It's been a somewhat interesting and yet frustrating and aggravating week. > I thought I'd hit Oak Lake to check out the cool things the whole town was > talking about. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was actually looking > for, but it seemed there were a couple of new kinds of birds hanging out at > Oak Lake so I had to get a picture of them. > Last Wednesday afternoon I showed up and immediately ran into John and > Shari and they had their scope on what they believed to be the Thayer's > Gull. Yeah it was Brown and look different than all the other Ring-billed > Gulls so I took pictures of it. They left shortly thereafter and I stayed > and looked closer at the other Gulls. Well there's another brown one...and > another...and another! So what I learned is that even the Gulls that looked > different than the other Gulls looked like each other. I figured I'd just > wait until I got home and look at the pictures and then check them with > pictures on the Intarweb. Not only did it not help, it just made it even > more confusing. > > But anyway, here's the picture of the possible Thayer's Gull. > http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4430463607/sizes/o/ > It's not that great, but you get what you can get. > I have a couple more of it flying the other way where you can see it's > wings and tail feathers if that's what's needed to ID it. > > This afternoon I went back to torture myself some more and I ran into 3 > people with scopes looking at the Gulls. Maybe one of them was Moni? We > didn't talk much because they were afraid of me and quickly walked over to > the bigger lake. I mentioned that I was the guy that posts a lot of pictures > on the bird forum and one of them told me that she never looks at them. Oh > well, here's a few more pictures for you not to look at. > > I think this is the Glaucous Gull > http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4430463143/sizes/l/ > But what do I know? > > This was pretty much the most common activity of the day > http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4431232942/sizes/l/ > I hope that ice melts fast because it's going to be a foot thick in fish > carnage by the end of next week. Those Gulls are savages! > > Oh, I did see an Immature Bald Eagle flying around over Oak Lake too. > > This is a little bit older photo (Oct/26/09) of a Gull (Franklin's, maybe > Franklin's I don't know what to think anymore) taken at Holmes Lake. It kind > of fits with this post and I like it. > http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4402629815/sizes/l/ > > Driving home from Shoemakers I ran into a cloud of Red-Winged Blackbirds. A > couple came out neat. > http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4431236498/sizes/l/ > > I just don't know how you can tell the Gulls apart. > I am in awe of those that can. > > Ed, Lincoln. > > > -- J-9 I still hear your voice on warm summer nights, whispering like the wind.... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEBirds/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEBirds/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: NEBirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com NEBirds-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: NEBirds-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: Another Thayer's and Glaucous Gull post: with pics! From: "Edward" <edwodonnell AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:20:52 -0000 Hola, me again. It's been a somewhat interesting and yet frustrating and aggravating week. I thought I'd hit Oak Lake to check out the cool things the whole town was talking about. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was actually looking for, but it seemed there were a couple of new kinds of birds hanging out at Oak Lake so I had to get a picture of them. Last Wednesday afternoon I showed up and immediately ran into John and Shari and they had their scope on what they believed to be the Thayer's Gull. Yeah it was Brown and look different than all the other Ring-billed Gulls so I took pictures of it. They left shortly thereafter and I stayed and looked closer at the other Gulls. Well there's another brown one...and another...and another! So what I learned is that even the Gulls that looked different than the other Gulls looked like each other. I figured I'd just wait until I got home and look at the pictures and then check them with pictures on the Intarweb. Not only did it not help, it just made it even more confusing. But anyway, here's the picture of the possible Thayer's Gull. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4430463607/sizes/o/ It's not that great, but you get what you can get. I have a couple more of it flying the other way where you can see it's wings and tail feathers if that's what's needed to ID it. This afternoon I went back to torture myself some more and I ran into 3 people with scopes looking at the Gulls. Maybe one of them was Moni? We didn't talk much because they were afraid of me and quickly walked over to the bigger lake. I mentioned that I was the guy that posts a lot of pictures on the bird forum and one of them told me that she never looks at them. Oh well, here's a few more pictures for you not to look at. I think this is the Glaucous Gull http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4430463143/sizes/l/ But what do I know? This was pretty much the most common activity of the day http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4431232942/sizes/l/ I hope that ice melts fast because it's going to be a foot thick in fish carnage by the end of next week. Those Gulls are savages! Oh, I did see an Immature Bald Eagle flying around over Oak Lake too. This is a little bit older photo (Oct/26/09) of a Gull (Franklin's, maybe Franklin's I don't know what to think anymore) taken at Holmes Lake. It kind of fits with this post and I like it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4402629815/sizes/l/ Driving home from Shoemakers I ran into a cloud of Red-Winged Blackbirds. A couple came out neat. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4431236498/sizes/l/ I just don't know how you can tell the Gulls apart. I am in awe of those that can. Ed, Lincoln. Subject: A Declaration of Ornithological Spring From: "LJH" <rogercheryl AT q.com> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:09:02 -0000 Today,on our weekly trip out to Jailhouse and Courthouse Rocks, my Mom and I saw our first Western Meadowlark of the year sitting on a fence post and whole-heartedly singing a declaration of ornithological spring. It was a beautiful sound to hear after a long winter that was, for the most part, devoid of exciting avifauna. Also of interest was a Northern Shriek at the same location, and two Horned Grebes at the Bridgeport SRA. May the winds of Migration bring you many Lifers (and to those for whom getting new Lifers in Nebraska is nearly Impossible, may it bring you many new county species) Good birding to all, Luke Hamilton Bridgeport, NE Subject: A day for the raptors From: Ruth Stearns <ruthstearns AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:07:17 -0800 (PST) Elaine Bachel invited me along to a wonderful journey bringing a five day old great horned owl to folks in Garland who have an adult female who will raise the chick.  Within seconds of placing the chick in the nest this adult female was feeding it mice and keeping it all warm.  It was a wonderful chance to see this remarkable bird and her instant bond with that chick.   But Garland is past Branched Oak, so we spent a couple of hours there this late afternoon, driving mostly on the side roads off the main road to Liebers Point.  It was a day for raptors, although the Red Shouldered was not seen.    We had 15 Bald Eagles, all in that same area mentioned  earlier today by Moni Usasz, 2 Sharp Shinned, a gorgeous female Coopers who sat nicely in a tree for as long as we were watching, cleaning her nails, 5 Redtails, and 3 Northern Harriers.   About 350 to 400 mergansers, most appearing to be the Common Merganser, but also a handful of the Red-breasted, and at least one Hooded.   Also 200 or so gulls, mostly Ring-billed, but also a dozen or so Herring Gulls.  Additionally we saw Robins, Bluebirds, Flickers, Canada Geese, Mallards, Turkeys, Crows, Starlings and Red-winged blackbirds.   Overhead at least two waves of 2000 to 3000 snow geese each.   As we were leaving the area, we spotted a Merlin in Area 1, then a Kestrel, and to finish of the day of raptors, we spied a Peregrine Falcon diving from the State Capitol, as we pulled into town.  Ruthie Stearns ruthstearns AT yahoo.com 328-9859 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Killdeer and WF Geese From: "Kathy DeLara" <renosmom AT charter.net> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:55:06 -0700 This morning I drove out by Winter's Creek Lake to see if I could find any cranes. A group of 8 flew into a field but that was all that I could see. They all seem to be staying east of here this year. At Winter's Creek Lake there were a few thousand Canada Geese, Red-heads, Common Mergansers, 1 pair of Am Wigeons and a few Common Goldeneye. Also 50 or so Ring-billed Gulls and one Herring Gull. Near the entrance there was a Northern Shrike, one has been there most of the winter. Another shrike was near Lake Alice. The water at Winter's Creek Lake is still mostly ice, but some areas opening up. Lake Alice is still completely froze over except for a small area in the middle where 100 or so Ringbilled Gulls were gathered. Also on the ice were 2 adult Bald Eagles and two immature. Saw one AM Tree Sparrow a long the road and about 100 Am Goldfinches. Don't know what happed to the tree sparrows this year, just haven't been seeing any. East of Chilibaba I found my first of year Killdeer. On Chilibaba pond there was a several hundred Canada Geese and about a dozen (foy)White-fronted Geese. The only Snow Geese I have seen this winter were a small flock, I think 7, really early and then a couple of small groups, maybe 30, flying over last weekend . When I got home this morning I heard, then saw, about 1500 flying over. Guess they are just not stopping here. Also at Chilibaba was one male Hooded Merganser, a few pair of Common Mergansers and Mallards. There are still apox 30 Bald Eagles at the Scottsbluff Sewer Lagoons, there are quite a few ducks on the water but a train was stopped along there and I couldn't really see what all was there. Lots of gulls for sure. At home a pair of Chickadees showed up a couple weeks ago, I though they were gone since I didn't see them for a few days, but they have been around for several days now so hope they will stay. We haven't had any stay in the yard for quite a few years now. A Sharp-shinned Hawk is still making her rounds in the neighbor hood every day and I saw another one by Berggren Pond this morning. Only thing on the pond were a few Canada Geese and Mallards. A Kingfisher flew across making a lot of racket like they do. It's a beautiful day here, warm and sunny, birds are singing and crocus are blooming. Spring is on it's way....It's been a long winter..... Kathy DeLara Mitchell NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Saturday birding From: "Moni" <musasz AT neb.rr.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:28:06 -0600 Terri Brown and I stopped by Oak Lake this AM and found the Glaucous gull but not the Thayer's. However, I don't generally look very hard at gulls so could have missed it. No ducks to be seen there Went on to Branched Oak lake and saw 10-15 bald eagles - only open water was on the north - lots of common mergansers and a small group of goldeneyes (sp.) - all quite far away. FOY killdeer, eastern bluebirds, goldfinch, 1 horned lark, 2 mallards, several juncos, red-tailed hawks, am. kestrels, canada geese paired up and complaining at us and skeins and skeins of snow geese flying south and west. Spring at last! Moni Usasz Lincoln, NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Rusty Blackbirds and more - Custer Co. 3/13/10 From: "tbirdboy10" <tim.birdboy AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:03:43 -0000 Hi NEBirders, The weather was finally tolerable this morning, so I took a walk from the Broken Bow Sewage Lagoons to my house (all SE of Broken Bow). I recently got back from a short birding trip to Tennessee/Georgia (see more below), and I'm amazed at how many birds arrived in the short period of time I was gone. Anyway, a nice surprise was: Rusty Blackbird - 8 (7 males, 1 female). I was crossing a creek over a bridge when I heard a weird bird songs coming out of the cottonwoods along the creek. I was puzzled for a few moments, then I realized that it was the blackbirds singing. If you haven't heard their song before, be sure to look it up; it almost reminds me of a Marsh Wren. The males still had some rusty edges on their heads. Nothing else out of the ordinary, but I thought I'd mention a few "spring-y" birds that have arrived or have greatly increased in number in the area the past 10 days (many of which are FOY): Greater White-fronted Goose - a few flyovers Snow Goose - thousands of flyovers Canada Goose - thousands of flyovers Northern Pintail - about 120 flyovers Redhead - 48 at sewage lagoons Lesser Scaup - 14 at sewage lagoons Killdeer - everywhere Ring-billed Gull - 7 flyovers Harris's Sparrow - multiple locations Red-winged Blackbird - hundreds everywhere, singing Western Meadowlark - dozens everywhere, singing Brown-headed Cowbird - 1 male near my house My trip to Tennessee and Georgia was a success: I got 4 out of 5 of my target birds. (Apparently Fish Crows have something against me.) Lots of fun seeing and hearing southeastern species again. If anyone's interested, I threw together a trip list which can be viewed here: http://sites.google.com/site/gatntriplist/ . Tim Hajda Broken Bow, Custer Co. tim.birdboy AT gmail.com http://ebird.org Subject: Re:Spring is coming From: NevaLCP AT aol.com Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:56:17 -0500 Yes, they are coming north eventually. A few years ago, the last week of April we were camped in Arkansas on the Norfork River and when we arrived, late afternoon, the campground area had thousands of waxwings present. Almost every tree was occupied by a few hundred. The next morning I could only find about 50 in the whole area. I have seen sizable flocks in Nebraska in the spring but never a mob like that. I wonder how long and how far north these massed flocks hold together. NevaP, Lincoln ________________________________________________________________________ 1a. Spring is coming Posted by: "kcarnes68" kcarnes68 AT yahoo.com kcarnes68 Date: Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:46 am ((PST)) I know that this is for NE birds, but I am in Florida right now. We are seeing huge flocks of cedar waxwings here. I didn't know that they gathered in such groups. I imagine that they are here waiting for the right moment to fly north. When I say hundreds in a group I am not exaggerating. Where do waxwings winter? Central or South America? Ken Carnes Lincoln Cedar Waxwings winter in the U.S. all the way down to Panama. They can be found during the winter in Nebraska. What you are experiencing in Florida is staging. The congregate before heading north. They are a social species so large flocks are common on the wintering grounds. This species does winter in Florida and often in large numbers as well. Individuals will sometimes linger in the south into May or early June. Hope this helps. Justin Rink --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Belated Fontenelle Wetlands report (3/10 From: Justin Rink <spindalis79 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:56:39 -0800 (PST)   Wet lands is an understatement.  During the afternoon of 3/10 I ventured out to Fontenelle.  Nothing really of note, the usual late winter/early spring transient species were present. I did hear a BROWN CREEPER and saw the large flocks of geese that others have been witnessing.  There were also a pair of BARRED OWLS conversating back and forth with one another. Spring is beginning to trickle in, though barely.  Some of the new migrants included R-w Blackbirds and a single Killdeer.    I walked the pond trail to the boardwalk, then I trekked Gifford Road over to North Stream Trail.  I then took the Cottonwood Trail back to the parking lot.    The complete e-bird report is below:   Location:     Fontenelle Forest Observation date:     3/10/10 Number of species:     27 Greater White-fronted Goose     250 Snow Goose     200 Ross's Goose     5 Cackling Goose     30 Canada Goose     100 Common Merganser     9 Red-tailed Hawk     1 Killdeer     1 Barred Owl     2 Red-bellied Woodpecker     4 Downy Woodpecker     5 Hairy Woodpecker     2 Northern Flicker     1 American Crow     4 Black-capped Chickadee     17 White-breasted Nuthatch     12 Brown Creeper     1 American Robin     24 European Starling     22 American Tree Sparrow     17 Song Sparrow     1 White-throated Sparrow     1 Dark-eyed Junco     27 Northern Cardinal     9 Red-winged Blackbird     14 House Finch     2 American Goldfinch     3 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)   Going back even further to Monday (3/08) I had a few FOS species in and around work including KILLDEER and COMMON GRACKLE.  A MERLIN was witnessed flying over Saddle Creek Rd. in Midtown.   On 3/05 I witnessed a HARLAN'S HAWK flying over Indian Creek Nursery.    Good birding.   Justin Rink Midtown Omaha, Douglas Co., NE spindalis79 AT yahoo.com   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Longspurs From: Jan Johnson <bluebird47 AT cedarwb.net> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:46:06 -0600 There have been larger than normal flocks of birds along the roads when I drive to school. The poor shape they're in doesn't allow stopping to view any birds. But I finally did so tonight and found a couple flocks of Lapland Longspurs. One flock was about 1,500 birds. Here at home I have a flock of Red-wing Blackbirds in the yard. I counted 6 Rusty Blackbirds amongst them tonight. Of course, my Screech Owl is daily entertainment in the yard, too. I'm hoping to finally get out and find something else this weekend. What a horrible winter it's been and this past week of rain and drizzle has just compounded the misery of the situation. Jan notes-from-a-bird-brained-quilter.blogspot.com http://web.me.com/bluebird47 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Spring is coming (Waxwing FYI) From: Justin Rink <spindalis79 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:29:32 -0800 (PST) Hi Ken.   Cedar Waxwings winter in the U.S. all the way down to Panama.  They can be found during the winter in Nebraska.  What you are experiencing in Florida is staging.  The congregate before heading north.  They are a social species so large flocks are common on the wintering grounds.  This species does winter in Florida and often in large numbers as well.   Individuals will sometimes linger in the south into May or early June.   Hope this helps.   Justin Rink Midtown Omaha, Douglas Co., NE spindalis79 AT yahoo.com --- On Fri, 3/12/10, kcarnes68 wrote: From: kcarnes68 Subject: [NEBirds] Spring is coming To: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, March 12, 2010, 11:43 AM   I know that this is for NE birds, but I am in Florida right now. We are seeing huge flocks of cedar waxwings here. I didn't know that they gathered in such groups. I imagine that they are here waiting for the right moment to fly north. When I say hundreds in a group I am not exaggerating. Where do waxwings winter? Central or South America? Ken Carnes Lincoln [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Fontenelle Forest From: "Phil Swanson" <pswanson19 AT cox.net> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:59:40 -0600 At Fontenelle Forest today I saw my FOY Killdeer, Northern Harriers, Rusty BB, and Red-winged Blackbirds. Also saw White-fronted Geese, Snow and Ross's Geese, Canada and Cackling Geese, Mallards and Pintails. Phil Swanson Papillion [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Oak Lake gulls and more From: Jim Mountjoy <jmountjo AT knox.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:42:23 -0600 Yes, yet another Oak Lake report! I stopped by in mid-afternoon today (it is pretty close to UNL), and could not relocate the possible California Gull. However, I finally did connect with the Glaucous and Thayer's Gulls - only took me three tries! Also, this morning a FOY Belted Kingfisher was rattling out there, and in the pm I saw 2 male Hooded Mergansers in the thin strip of water at the edge of the lake. This is a place worth checking more than once... Also saw some of the thousands of Snow Geese that Theresa Pester mentioned continuing west over the middle of Lincoln in the early afternoon. Jim Mountjoy Lincoln Subject: Oak Lake Gulls 3/12 From: "Jorgensen, Joel" <Joel.Jorgensen AT nebraska.gov> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:27:09 -0600 Hi all: I stopped by Oak Lake during lunch and relocated the Glaucous and Thayer's Gulls. As you would expect, gull numbers have increased, the increase mostly coming from the Ring-billed contingent. Probably ~500 gulls present. This also got me thinking about the all-time gull list at this (these?) little urban impoundments. The species that I know of that have been recorded here are: Franklin's Gull Laughing Gull Bonaparte's Gull Ring-billed Gull Thayer's Gull Herring Gull Glaucous Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Not bad, and there are a few other species that will probably be recorded here in the future. - Joel XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Joel Jorgensen Nongame Bird Program Manager Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Lincoln, NE 68503 402.471.5440 joel.jorgensen AT nebraska.gov XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Oak lake gulls 3/11 From: "flyingcarlini" <flyingcarlini AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:54:06 -0000 Hello Birders, Headed out into sleet and poor visibility this morning with little hope we'd see the 1st winter Thayer's and 1st winter Glaucous. Almost immediately saw the Glaucous towering over some Ringed-bills. It fell into the ice once while walking around. Just after Ruth arrived it took flight ENE with another gull and disappeared into the snowy sky. Yesterday saw the Thayer's in that same area N. of parking lot. BIG Thanks to Joel and Dan for finding these lifers and to Justin for the heads up! John Carlini & Shari Schwartz, Lincoln Subject: Tens of thousands of geese. From: Theresa Pester <warblerluvr AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:04:27 -0800 (PST) I must be on and east to west flyway.  Just the same as last year there are tens of thousands of snow and blue geese flying over from east to west.. I wish I would have times how long this has been going on.  It's just like the Eveready Bunny, it keeps going and going. I know for sure 5 minutes since I first saw it.  Who knows how long it was going on before I saw them.   Theresa Pester Walton [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Possible California Gull, Oak Lake, Lincoln From: Jim Mountjoy <jmountjo AT knox.edu> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:56:42 -0600 This morning I made another check of Oak Lake, and while I failed again to find Thayer's or Glaucous (must have pretty bad timing...), I did see a first winter gull that seemed a good candidate for a California Gull. I would like a better view of some details, and it would be good to see it in flight as well, but I though it worth mentioning as something to look for if people are checking out the lake anyway. Jim Mountjoy Lincoln Subject: Spring is coming From: "kcarnes68" <kcarnes68 AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:43:30 -0000 I know that this is for NE birds, but I am in Florida right now. We are seeing huge flocks of cedar waxwings here. I didn't know that they gathered in such groups. I imagine that they are here waiting for the right moment to fly north. When I say hundreds in a group I am not exaggerating. Where do waxwings winter? Central or South America? Ken Carnes Lincoln Subject: Bellevue Birds From: Loren Padelford <lpdlfrd AT cox.net> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:36:54 -0600 Hi Birders, This afternoon, 3/11, we found 25 Common Mergansers and 4 Ring-billed Gulls in the open water in the marina area at Haworth Park in Bellevue. A couple large flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds flew over also. South of Offutt AFB in the flooded fields along La Platte Road there were: 6 Woodducks, 15 Redheads, 25 Ring-necked Ducks, 20+ White-fronted Geese along with many Canada Geese and Mallards. There were a few flocks of Snow Geese flying over the area. Loren and Babs Padelford Bellevue, NE lpdlfrd AT cox.net [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Oak lake gulls 3/11 From: "flyingcarlini" <flyingcarlini AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:05:04 -0000 Hello Birders, Headed out into sleet and poor visibility this morning with little hope we'd see the 1st winter Thayer's and 1st winter Glaucous. Almost immediately saw the Glaucous towering over some Ringed-bills. It fell into the ice once while walking around. Just after Ruth arrived it took flight ENE with another gull and disappeared into the snowy sky. Yesterday saw the Thayer's in that same area N. of parking lot. BIG Thanks to Joel and Dan for finding these lifers and to Justin for the heads up! John Carlini & Shari Schwartz, Lincoln Subject: Pawnee and Branched Oak 3/10 Oak Lake 3/11 From: Ruth Stearns <ruthstearns AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:19:10 -0800 (PST) We drove around both Pawnee and Branched Oak yesterday, Canada Geese, Tree Sparrows, Robins, House Sparrows, Starlings, Crows, Red Wing Blackbirds, Cardinal and a pretty Bluebird at Pawnee about mid morning....then at Branched Oak watched 5 to 6000 Snows fly over from southeast to north west in many waves over about 15 minutes in Area 1, also about 44 or so Tree Sparrows.  Enjoyed watching a Tom and two female turkeys in area 2, along with a couple of Canada Geese, 7 Flickers, a Cardinal, Red tail, 2 Blue Jays and 2 Juncos.  6 more Turkeys were by the side of the road as we pulled out of area 2.  On the west side of the lake, in a cornfield were 200 or so Canadas with 8 to 10 White Fronts, 8 mallards and 2 dozen American crows.   Watched a female Harrier in the road to Liebers point.   More Tree Sparrows, a Bald Eagle, Crows and Ringbills finished off the Branched Oak drive, as well as watched an immature Bald Eagle on the ice at the dam.   Found that same large flock of Canadas, Cacklings, White Fronts and Redheads as reported by Larry Einemann on West Raymond Road near highway 79, but no one was there this morning when I was back there about 10am.  I did check out Oak Lake this morning (9:30) and met two birders who kindly shared their scope with me as it snowed, as we watched the Glaucous Gull.   What fun!  The Thayer's was not in sight, and the Glaucous took off while we were there.   I returned about 11, and did not see the Glaucous, but did see the Thayers.   I checked out Whitehead Saline Wetlands, but without a scope, many of the waterfowl I was seeing were too far away to identify.  (and it was pouring out)   Did see about 8 Shovelers, which was a first for this year.   Ruthie Stearns 402 328-9859 ruthstearns AT yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Fillmore County report/ York co eagle From: "Wic7ita" <juanitapat AT csus.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:14:57 -0000 Common grackles were here Sunday, March 7, in company with red-winged blackbirds. The Great-Tailed Grackles seem to have moved on. Lots of ducks in the air and around a wetland/compensation area on HWY 81 about 2 mi north of Fairmont. Two red-tailed hawks within 100 feet of each other not far from the wetlands I mentioned above. Northern harrier. American Kestrel. Here's the intriguing observation: Sunday, March 7, (mostly snow)geese flowing over from east to northwest, horizon to horizon. I stood watching for ten minutes and they were still materializing at the edge of vision. Wednesday, March 10, there were big and numerous flocks of geese coming from north to SOUTH, as if they'd run into winter up there and were going back! The JUNCOS RETURNED. Having been almost all gone last week, they showed up yesterday--again, the sense that "we've been up north and no way we're staying there." American Robins in full force, and the Eurasian C-Doves whooping up a storm. Bald Eagle at Hwy 81 and Big Blue just south of McCool (York county) yesterday, March 10. Juanita Rice, Fairmont (Fillmore) Subject: RBMG From: "Clem Klaphake" <ckavian AT cox.net> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:18:17 -0600 I checked out the wetlands area of Fontenelle Forest today, but found nothing of significance. Then drove south of Bellevue in Sarpy County and found large flocks of Canada, Snow, and White-fronted Geese in the cornfields. Mixed in with the geese were 15+ Wood Ducks. Then checked out Beach Road sandpit lake and found it still frozen except for the edges and: - 2 Red-breasted Mergansers - 8 Common Mergansers - 6 Common Goldeneye - 1 Ring-billed Gull - 1 Bald Eagle on the same nest that was successful last year. Clem Klaphake Bellevue, NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: Oak Lakes to tree swallows at Jack Sinn From: larryeinemannl AT aol.com Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:30:02 EST Hi! It seems that Dan Leger beat me to Oak Lakes this morning. I arrived about 8:45 on March 10, 2010. I was at Whitehead Saline Wetlands prior to that. I corroborate Dan's sighting of the Thayer's gull (seen the day before by Joel) and the glaucous gull. There were also ring-billed and herring gulls present along with a hooded merganser. Earlier at WSW on N.27th were a couple of hundred Canada geese along with 1 cackling goose and about 100 ring-billled gulls. Also present were northern pintails (10), mallards, wood ducks (9), 4 green-winged teal, 5 northern shovelers, 1 American wigeon, 1 gadwall, 2 American coots (FOY) and a killdeer. A mile north of Shoemaker Marsh on N.27 was a huge flock of 2000+ red-winged blackbirds along with about 15 brown-headed cowbirds and about 15 common grackles. (It is hard to determine makeup of such a large group that is milling and flying about.) At one time they were briefly harassed by a merlin. About two miles northeast was another flock of about 600 red-winged blackbirds. Large flocks of blackbirds were encountered elsewhere in northern Lancaster County, but often were too far away to identify. Jack Sinn Memorial WMA from US 77 to N.112 on Ashland Road was teeming with waterfowl. Some 10000+ snow geese interspersed with Ross's geese whitened some areas. There were sizeable numbers of Canada, cackling, & greater white-fronted geese also. Most ponds were still frozen over; however a few had a few feet of open water around the shores. Gadwalls, mallards, green-winged teal and pintails were also present along with 5 canvasbacks (FOY). The area also had an adult bald eagle and red-winged blackbirds and one field had 10 killdeer. A Cooper's hawk and a northern harrier plus quite a few red-tailed hawks were also present. I saw no rough-legged hawks here or elsewhere. Two weeks ago the area was a rough-legged refuge. A small pond (partially open) farther east had 8 common goldeneyes, 3 lesser scaup, 9 hooded mergansers, 5 ring-necked ducks, 16 common mergansers and two tree swallows (FOY). I wonder how the swallows will fare with the snow and cold wind coming by Thursday and Friday? An immature bald eagle was also present. Notably absent were horned larks. None were sighted over the 70 miles of country roads traveled. There were many muddy roads, some very soft. Do not expect easy traveling under those conditions. Last week horned larks were common on the roads and along them; today none were sighted. Since the lakes (Holmes, BOL, Oak, and Capitol Beach) are still frozen, waterfowl are attracted to shallower ponds or runoff pools. Just west of Raymond in a roadside pool were about 470 Canada, 70 greater white-fronted & 40 cackling geese and 5 redheads (FOY). Branched Oak Lake was not too good. It remains 99% frozen. Present were herring and ring-billed gulls, perhaps about 100 crows, a number of bald eagles, a coyote walking on the ice. A few acres of open water on the northwest arm had about 400 common mergansers, a few pintails, gadwalls, 4 common goldeneyes, 5 hooded mergansers, mallards and some green-winged teal. Walking through a stream bed area at Area 9 produced no woodcocks as were previously reported. A short walk on the south side produced a chickadee and a fox sparrow. Absent for the day were downy woodpeckers. Eastern meadowlarks were not observed yet at sites they normally occur in later on. According to Rick Eads report a few easterns have made it into the area. I heard a western meadowlark at Jack Sinn and at Arbor Lake. By the time I arrived at BOL I was running out of time so did not cover it adequately. Did not have time to get to Pawnee Lake. The winter doldrums have receded and spring has slowly come upon us over the past week. Get out and enjoy; the birding scene changes every day. Good birding! Larry Einemann Lincoln, Nebraska In a message dated 3/10/2010 7:10:13 A.M. Pacific Standard me, dleger1 AT unl.edu writes: Hi folks, Thanks to Joel's report yesterday, I went over to Oak Lake at 8:15 this morning and quickly found the immature Thayer's Gull. As an added bonus, there was a very pale immature Glaucous Gull in the same area. At one point they were no more than 2-3 feet apart, taking turns at what appeared to be a picked-over fish carcass. The lake is still mostly ice. I got excellent looks through the scope since the gull flock isn't too far away from land. Both birds were in a large flock of mostly Ring-billed Gulls, with quite a few Herring Gulls, adults and immatures. The area is what I would describe as the north end of the lake, to the NW of the parking lot at Sun Valley and Charleston Streets. Ah, the joys of spring migration! Dan Leger Lincoln [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Peregrine Falcon From: "wallie2fargone" <jonasbirds AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:38:19 -0000 NEBirdsters, While walking to my car after work in downtown Omaha (16th and Cummings)I had the pleasure of finding a Peregrine Falcon resting on its freshly killed Rock Pigeon three feet away from my passenger side door. I tried to snap off a photo with my phone camera but with no success. After a short period it got wary of me watching it and took its meal around the corner to a vacant parking lot. A nice after work surprise. Jonas (omaha) Subject: New arrivals From: "Eades, Rick" <rick.eades AT nebraska.gov> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:50:08 -0600 In NW Lincoln this afternoon, I saw my first grackles (common and great-tailed) of the year and heard the first eastern meadowlarks singing. Rick Eades Lincoln [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Looking for Volunteers for Eastern Nebraska Greater Prairie-Chicken Surveys From: "acliske" <jill AT nebraskabirds.org> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:33:10 -0000 If you're from eastern Nebraska, consider volunteering to run a Greater Prairie-Chicken lek survey route or two this April. No prior survey experience is necessary. We will conduct these surveys only in April 2010, so you would not be making a long-term commitment. Each route is twenty miles long and will be surveyed only once. You'll stop about every one mile (20 total stops) and get out of your car for two minutes to listen and scan for prairie-chicken lek activity. A route will take about an hour to complete, not including your travel time to and from your home. For more information, including a map of route locations, visit the GPC survey webpage on the Bird Partnership website. The lek survey routes are portions of BBS routes. If you have a BBS route in eastern Nebraska, we would love it if you would consider adding an extra run this April, since you know where the usual stop points are. Happy Spring, Jill Nebraska Bird Partnership [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Thayer's and Glaucous Gulls: Oak Lake From: Daniel Leger <dleger1 AT unl.edu> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:10:02 -0600 Hi folks, Thanks to Joel's report yesterday, I went over to Oak Lake at 8:15 this morning and quickly found the immature Thayer's Gull. As an added bonus, there was a very pale immature Glaucous Gull in the same area. At one point they were no more than 2-3 feet apart, taking turns at what appeared to be a picked-over fish carcass. The lake is still mostly ice. I got excellent looks through the scope since the gull flock isn't too far away from land. Both birds were in a large flock of mostly Ring-billed Gulls, with quite a few Herring Gulls, adults and immatures. The area is what I would describe as the north end of the lake, to the NW of the parking lot at Sun Valley and Charleston Streets. Ah, the joys of spring migration! Dan Leger Lincoln [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Waterfowl,Raptors,and Prairie Chickens:Spring is Here! From: "LJH" <rogercheryl AT q.com> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:05:58 -0000 This past week I've been birding in Garden,Morrill,Grant,and Kieth Counties. Here are the highlights. Garden Co.,around Lewellen: Gadwall 4 Bufflehead 6 Goldeneye 3 Canvasback 1 Lesser Scaup 1 Coot 1 Sandhill Crane(on our way up there were only about 50,but on our way back there were well over 1,500) Morrill Co. ,Mostly Bridgeport SRA:(totals for the week) Redhead 7 Gadwall 5 Ring-necked Duck 2 Common Merganser 2 Canvasback 5 Lesser Scaup 11 Snow Goose 2 Goldeneye 3 Cackling Goose 6 B-capped Chickadee (We both heard two-note spring call) R-legged Hawk 1 (a dark-morph male) Osprey 2 Grant Co. ,around Whitman Goldeneye 7 Coot 2 Canvasback 14 Redhead 12 Common Merganser 20 Ring-necked Duck 1 Lesser Scaup 20 Trumpeter Swan 5 (Two of these were among the other ducks, giving us a true appreciation of how big they really are) Ferruginous Hawk 1 (My mom was especially pleased to see this one. She has hypothisized for two years that "those big, very light-bellied Hawks that we could never see well enough to positively ID" were Ferruginous Hawks. And ,as often happens in our birding ventures, she has been proven right) Northern Harrier 2 R-legged Hawk 2 American Kestrel 1 Greater Prairie Chicken 5 (While we didn't hear or see them "booming," we did see two males put their "ears" up and fight with each other for a few minuets. Could they have been establishing dominance for the best spots on the leking grounds? Kieth Co. Lake Ogallala Bufflehead 6 American wigeon 5 Lesser Scaup 20 Gadwall 10 Readhead 8 Canvasback 4 Bald Eagle 1 All in all an excellent week of birding which resulted in over a dozen new county species, bringing my total county species list to 520. As far as the birds are concerned, this winter(aptly named "The Winter of Our Discontent"in the last NOU newsletter) is over! HOORAY!!! May the coming spring bring you many new species, Good birding too all, Luke Hamilton Bridgeport NE Subject: Peregrines and a Curlew name Sandy From: "Jorgensen, Joel" <Joel.Jorgensen AT nebraska.gov> Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 16:22:37 -0600 Hi all: My mindset has changed like the weather. I am now thinking spring. With that said, I would like to remind folks of a couple things going on in the Nebraska bird world that you can access from you computer. First, our Peregrine Webcam is up and running. While the birds are not sitting on eggs or anything quite yet, a single falcon will make an occasional appearance around the nest box. Activity should increase in the coming weeks. We usually have eggs by early April. Please remember that streaming video can be watched by clicking on the image. Also, do not forget about the Kestrels, that webcam is on, but not much going there just yet. Likewise, activity should pick-up soon. The NGPC Peregrine Webpage can be found at: http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/webcam/peregrine/default.asp Second, you may remember (and think we forgot) about our 2 satellite-tagged Long-billed Curlews. I've been receiving a few emails recently asking, what's up dog?? In November, we lost Bailey's signal. However, Sandy's signal is still going strong, but she just hasn't moved much over the past 6 months. We are hopeful that the transmitter will continue to function through the spring migration, which may start, heck, anytime for all we know. We will be updating that webpage frequently if and once she begins migrating north. That webpage is at: www.birdsnebraska.org Good birding. - Joel XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Joel Jorgensen Nongame Bird Program Manager Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Lincoln, NE 68503 402.471.5440 joel.jorgensen AT nebraska.gov XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Thayer's Gull and Grackle From: "Jorgensen, Joel" <Joel.Jorgensen AT nebraska.gov> Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 13:47:47 -0600 Hi all: Over the noon hour I found a pale first-year Thayer's Gulls at Oak Lake with about 200 Ring-billed and 40 Herring Gulls.. On the drive to work this a.m., I saw my first Common Grackle for the year. - Joel XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Joel Jorgensen Nongame Bird Program Manager Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Lincoln, NE 68503 402.471.5440 joel.jorgensen AT nebraska.gov XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Cranes, Branched Oak Lake, etc. From: Jim Mountjoy <jmountjo AT knox.edu> Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:11:48 -0600 On Sunday, my wife and I traveled to the Grand Island/Kearney area for our first visit of the season with the cranes. The birding actually started in my backyard early in the morning with my FOY Common Grackle. The crane numbers exceeded my expectations for what I understand is a slow starting season. We found impressive flocks to the east of Alda Bridge early in the day and near the Rowe Sanctuary later in the day. In between, we visited Funk WPA where water levels did not seem very high. There were good numbers of Mallards and N Pintails, along with some Green-winged Teal and a couple of N Shovelers in one pond in the southern part of the area. The north end was quite dry, although some ducks & geese, including a few Redhead, were in a wet corn field. Flocks of Lapland Longspurs were also flying around overhead. Other highlights for the day included one male Yellow-headed Blackbird east of Alda Bridge, Brown-headed Cowbirds mixed in with starlings in a feed lot, Western Meadowlarks starting to sing, and an adult White-crowned Sparrow along with several Harris' Sparrows at the Rowe Sanctuary's feeders. Late in the day today, Dan Leger and I visited Branched Oak Lake. We were mostly searching for spring, but our first notable bird was a reminder of winter - a young Glaucous Gull out among the many Herrings and Ring-bills. A Killdeer flying over was more in line with hopes for a change of season. Along the road to Lieber's Point a Red-shouldered Hawk was perched on a telephone pole, just as previously reported by Ruthie Stearns. We also encountered 5 young Bald Eagles at Area 9 on the north side of the lake, in addition to 1 or 2 adults seen out on the ice of the lake. A little later, also in Area 9, we finally encountered our primary quarry, a displaying American Woodcock. It twittered and beeped away, despite the increasingly large raindrops that soon caused us to scurry back to the car. On the whole, spring seems to be winning. Jim Mountjoy Lincoln NE Subject: Scottsbluff From: "Alice Kenitz" <akenitz AT prairieweb.com> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 14:39:22 -0700 Hi all, Drawbaughs had a Mourning Dove in their yard this morning. Maybe spring will come after all!! Alice Kenitz Gering [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: New Bird List From: Don and Shirley Maas <snowbirds2012 AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 14:02:10 -0700 I'm all for a Hot Tub List. I got a Cooper's Hawk, American Kestle and two Canada Gesse and this AM from my resort pool here in AZ. There were probably more species but viewing was tough because of rain at the time. The things we have to suffer through. Don Maas [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: geese-- opinion time From: "LJH" <rogercheryl AT q.com> Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:29:25 -0000 Paul, On the "blue" goose I think that you can safely call it a hybrid. The "grin line", the fuzzy outline of the white on the head and the darker wing coverts all point to the Snow Goose. The Hybrid Canada is a much tougher call, and while we can never be 100% sure in such cases, I'm leaning toward the Graylag Goose mainly because of body shape. Also because of the lack of blackish marks on the belly that I would expect to see if it were a hybrid with a GW-F Goose. Thanks for sharing these excellent photos of some odd-looking and rare hybrid geese. Good Birding to you Luke Hamilton Bridgeport, NE Subject: Lincoln Salines/Whitehead/Shoemakers 3/07/10 From: "Edward" <edwodonnell AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:16:10 -0000 Hola, I went back to Lincoln Saline Wetlands since I had such good luck the day before, but it was pretty much a wash. A handful of Canada Geese, a Ring necked Duck, 4 Northern Shovelers, 3 Common Goldeneyes and lots of Ring billed Gulls. However I did get an ok shot of a White crowned Sparrow. They were mixed in with a larger group of Tree Sparrows and a Harris's Sparrow or two. Just not a lot going on there. I decided to hop on I-80 and see if there was any open water on Whitehead Wetlands. It can be a pretty good spot because you can park in the Countryside Suites Motel and get a good view of it. It's filled quite nicely with only a little bit of ice left. I could see maybe 100 Canada Geese and and 100 Mallards at the far East side, but decided to take a few shots anyway. Looking at the pictures later blown up, I could see that there were also a few Green winged Teal, Northern Pintails and 8 Wood Ducks mixed in. Another part of that Marsh was full of Ring Billed Gulls. This might be a good place to check out now and then. Here's the exact location of the parking lot if you're not sure. 40.880444,-96.680065 Copy the coordinates put them in the Google Search box and hit enter. Now click on the map that appears on the upper Left. Now you can zoom in or out. Then I went up to Shoemakers. Although I didn't see much of anything other than lots of Red winged Blackbirds, the Marsh has open water in it. Ed, Lincoln. Subject: Branched Oak Birds From: Ruth Stearns <ruthstearns AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 06:51:56 -0800 (PST) Yesterday afternoon we drove around Branched Oak Lake.   The most fruitful part of the drive was going in the road to Lieber's Point, where the Red-Shouldered Hawk from a week ago was back in the same spot.   A Lapland Longspur joined a pair of Horned Larks on the road.  Driving back out an hour or so later, spotted an American Woodcock bobbing around under one of the pine trees on the north side of the road near the entrance booth.  (2:30pm)   A female Wood Duck in the nearby stream was another first for the year.   Also seen were Canada Geese, Bald Eagles, Ring-billed gulls, Red tails, Blue Jays, Flickers, American Crow, Tree Sparrow, Cardinal, Junco, Gold finch, House Finch, WB Nuthatch, Robins, a treeful of Cedar Waxwings, and a thousand or so Red-Wing Blackbirds. Ruthie Stearns ruthstearns AT yahoo.com 402 328-9859 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Grackles From: "Clem Klaphake" <ckavian AT cox.net> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 08:56:28 -0600 Had my first the spring Common Grackles show up this morning at my feeders. Clem Klaphake Bellevue, NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Franklin County 3/7/10 From: Robin and Lanny <snowbunting AT rcom-ne.com> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 21:54:23 -0600 Hi Nebraska birders, Sunday March 7, Robin and I tried to find a few birds in Franklin County. I will list our highlights with further detail in the text that follows. Snow Goose Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Bald Eagle Eastern Screech-Owl Black-billed Magpie Cedar Waxwings Cedar Waxwings were everywhere inside the Naponee Cemetery. We saw a Cooper's Hawk southwest of Naponee, but still in Franklin County. We saw several Bald Eagles today, three may have been a family group. We saw two juveniles flying with an adult. We saw enormous numbers of Snow Geese. We saw Common Mergansers flying up and down the Republican River. We saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk at the Bloomington Republican River Bridge. We heard a Black-billed Magpie at Ash Grove WMA. At a pond in the hills southwest of Franklin we saw a pair of Common Goldeneye and a pair of Bufflehead. Robin added four birds to her Franklin County list for a new total of 137. I added three birds to my Franklin County list for a new total of 138. May your birds be lifers and your troubles temporary. good birding and goodbye, Lanny Lanny Randolph south central Nebraska Kearney County 2028 34th rd Minden, Ne. 68959 308-216-0427 SnowBunting(at)rcom-Ne.com Subject: Forest Lawn Cemetery- Omaha 3/7- SEOW From: Justin Rink <spindalis79 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 17:13:33 -0800 (PST)  This afternoon I went out and birded for a couple hours at Forest Lawn Cemetery.  While I was walking a road that was sloping downhill I heard a commotion of Blue Jays behind me coming from a Cedar.  These were later joined by a couple of American Crows.  I walked up to where the mobbing was taking place.  Soon, a medium-sized pale owl bolted out of the tree.  I lost sight of the bird, though the bird was then flushed again.   I looked up in time to see a couple of Am. Crows in pursuit of a male SHORT-EARED OWL which was circling his way up on a thermal, and soon disappeared out of sight.    Other highlights included the return of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, a few PINE SISKINS, and a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.  One of the SISKINS was singing voraciously and incorporated mimicked phrases from Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, House Sparrow, D-E Junco, and Evening Grosbeak into it's concierto.   The complete e-bird report is below:   Location:     Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Cemetery) Observation date:     3/7/10 Number of species:     20 Canada Goose     41 Short-eared Owl     1 Red-bellied Woodpecker     3 Downy Woodpecker     6 Hairy Woodpecker     4 Blue Jay     13 American Crow     5 Black-capped Chickadee     17 Tufted Titmouse     2 Red-breasted Nuthatch     1 White-breasted Nuthatch     13 Eastern Bluebird     4 American Robin     27 European Starling     4 Dark-eyed Junco     16 Northern Cardinal     10 House Finch     4 Pine Siskin     17 American Goldfinch     3 House Sparrow     3 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)   Good birding,   Justin Rink Midtown Omaha, Douglas Co., NE spindalis79 AT yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Spring Birds - Longspurs From: "Clem Klaphake" <ckavian AT cox.net> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 18:36:26 -0600 I dorve around southern Saunders County for a short time this afternoon - Ashland, Ceresco, and Memphis SRA. Overall lots of birds on the move: - 1000-1200 Lapland Longspurs (generally north and west of Ashland) - 3000-4000 Snow Geese - Ross's mixed in - Large flocks of Canada Geese with Cackling mixed in - 45 Redhead Ducks - 2 Lesser Scaup - 2 C. Goldeneye - 1 N. Harrier (female) - 2 Rough-legged Hawk (both light) - 3 Kestrel (2 male and 1 female) - 2 Bald eagle - 15 Red-tailed Hawks - 12 Killdeer - 40+ Horned Lark - 42 Cedar Wawing (Memphis SRA) - 1 Hairy Woodpecker ( " " ) - 2 Western Meadowlark - singing - numerous other meadowlark species - 7 Eurasian Doves (Memphis area) - 50+ Tree Sparrows - 2000-2500 Red-winged Blackbirds (with a casual look it appeared to be generally 1/3 females and 2/3 males) A few shallow wetlands have mostly opened up, but the larger lakes were still frozen over. Lots of standing water in corn and soybean fields. Clem Klaphake Bellevue, NE [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: birds and travels From: Jeanine Lackey <jeanine.dinan AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 17:10:23 -0600 Hi, While driving back roads from Hordville to Valparaiso this morning I stopped at a few flooded crop fields and wetlands that had filled with snow melt. Ducks and geese were everywhere.....mostly pintails, mallards,and Green-winged Teal,and mixed groups of white fronts and Canada's. Also of note were the huge flocks of Horned Larks and longspurs flying in a northern direction. Beware though, some county roads were impassable due to muddy conditions. On March 5th saw: Whooping Crane Prairie Falcon Bald Eagle(immatures and adults)all in one location. That's all for now. Jeanine Lackey -- J-9 I still hear your voice on warm summer nights, whispering like the wind.... Subject: eastern edge of Rainwater Basin From: "Jorgensen, Joel" <Joel.Jorgensen AT nebraska.gov> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 15:39:07 -0600 Hi all: I took a drive mid-day and visited Oak, Capitol Pawnee, and Branched Oak Lakes and then headed out to western Seward County. As reported by others, the lakes remain frozen with only a few RB Gulls (and eagles on BOL) sitting on the frozen water. The wetlands in the eastern RWB still have some ice, but are coming alive. In the RWB, I saw: Canada, Cackling, Snow, Ross's, Gr. White-fronted Geese Mallards Gadwall N. Pintails Am Wigeon Green-winged Teal No. Shoveler 9 Wood Ducks Canvasbacks Redheads Lesser Scaup 3 Greater Scaups Ring-necked Ducks ~50 Sandhill Cranes flying over North Lake Basin 2 Rough-legged Hawks 5 No. Harriers Killdeer thousands of Lapland Longspurs Red-winged Blackbirds ~30 Great-tailed Grackles near Emerald Flocks of ducks and geese appeared to be arriving all the time, also saw several flocks moving west along the interstate on the way home, apparently headed for the RWB Finally, on 28 February, I saw a Rough-legged Hawk in western Richardson County. -Joel ======================================= Joel Jorgensen Nongame Bird Program Manager Wildlife Division Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Lincoln, NE 68503 402-471-5440 joel.jorgensen AT nebraska.gov ***NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS*** [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: FOS Cedar Waxwings From: "jerrynickersonnebraska" <jmulliken AT microlnk.com> Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:19:58 -0000 Here on the farm we had a flock of 30 or so Cedar Waxwings this morning. Also a robin or two. Other birds have been here all winter: Darkeyed Junco Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker American Goldfinch Bluejay Harris Sparrow Northern Cardinal Jerry Mulliken Nickerson, NE Dodge County Subject: New Bird List From: "bbrukner" <bbrukner AT cox.net> Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:20:10 -0000 Sure everyone has their life list, yard list, state list and so on. But we have started a Hot Tub List. While on vacation in Maui last month and while relaxing in said hot tub in upcountry Maui, a short-eared owl or pueo flew directly over us heading down the mountain slope. Very beautiful as it headed into the sunset. One bird down and who knows how many to come! Dave and Barb Brukner Subject: Re: geese-- opinion time From: <mbrogie AT esu1.org> Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:03:20 -0600 Paul, Ross, and others: Maybe a bit of Snow Goose genetics. On closer inspection: The bird does seem to have a slight concave look to the bill; where it touches the feathers. Snow Geese have a pronounced concave appearance in this area. Ross's Goose (where the feathers and bill meet) have a nearly straight line from the point where the maxilla touches the forehead to the gape (where the mandibles join). Mark A. Brogie 508 Seeley, Box 316 Creighton, NE 68729 (402) 358-5675 mbrogie AT esu1.org ----- Original Message ----- From: Ross Silcock Date: Sunday, March 7, 2010 9:23 am Subject: Re: [NEBirds] geese-- opinion time > Paul et al- > > The blue goose looks like a hybrid Ross's/Snow to me- the white > face is shaped a bit oddly, the grinning patch is a bit too > strong, and the bird looks too long-necked and bulky. All > subjective points, of course- > > Ross > > Ross Silcock > P.O. Box 57 > Tabor, IA 51653 > New Zealand Land and Pelagic Bird Tours > http://www.rosssilcock.com > > > > From: pastorpaultdunbar > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 8:49 PM > To: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com > Subject: [NEBirds] geese-- opinion time > > > > Alright, what do you all think? > > I've posted pics of 2 different birds I saw today, both in a large > flock of Canada and Cackling Geese, with a few Greater White- > fronted Geese and a couple Snows mixed in. These were up near the > Platte River in Hall County. > > One is a Canada Goose hybrid. Is it crossed with a domestic > Graylag? Feral greylag? Greater White-front? Other? Some combo? > > The other is a "blue goose," but is it purely Ross's or mixed with > some Snow? > > Paul > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: geese-- opinion time From: "Ross Silcock" <silcock AT rosssilcock.com> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 09:23:50 -0600 Paul et al- The blue goose looks like a hybrid Ross's/Snow to me- the white face is shaped a bit oddly, the grinning patch is a bit too strong, and the bird looks too long-necked and bulky. All subjective points, of course- Ross Ross Silcock P.O. Box 57 Tabor, IA 51653 New Zealand Land and Pelagic Bird Tours http://www.rosssilcock.com From: pastorpaultdunbar Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 8:49 PM To: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com Subject: [NEBirds] geese-- opinion time Alright, what do you all think? I've posted pics of 2 different birds I saw today, both in a large flock of Canada and Cackling Geese, with a few Greater White-fronted Geese and a couple Snows mixed in. These were up near the Platte River in Hall County. One is a Canada Goose hybrid. Is it crossed with a domestic Graylag? Feral greylag? Greater White-front? Other? Some combo? The other is a "blue goose," but is it purely Ross's or mixed with some Snow? Paul [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Unusual Eur Collared-Dove (ECDO) in Waterloo, NE From: "Ross Silcock" <silcock AT rosssilcock.com> Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 09:19:35 -0600 Hi all: Jan Greer of Council Bluffs sent a photo of a cool-looking ECDO in Waterloo, NE. Check it out at http://www.rosssilcock.com/WaterlooNEbirds2.jpg Ross Ross Silcock P.O. Box 57 Tabor, IA 51653 New Zealand Land and Pelagic Bird Tours http://www.rosssilcock.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: More Spring Birds From: "Wic7ita" <juanitapat AT csus.edu> Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:51:35 -0000 Saturday, March 6 3400 snow geese, in a cornfield just north of Geneva, near water; about a third were dark adults. (very rough estimates) Two groups of mixed Canadas & Cackling: 17 Canada, 9 Cackling 40 Cackling, 6 Canada. Wow, do the Common Canada look HUGE in a flock predomminantly tiny. Actually I can't be sure the Cackling were not Aleutian???I didn't check neck-rings. 12 Northern pintail, predominantly male 2 Northern Shovelers, 1 m, 1 F Red-winged blackbirds Common grackles (a few in the mix). Subject: Lincoln Saline Wetlands 3/06/10 From: "Edward" <edwodonnell AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:32:27 -0000 Hola, another awesome day so I made a quick run over to the Lincoln Saline Wetlands (Northeast side of Capitol Beach). I mainly wanted to see if the ice on Capitol Beach Lake and the little pond with the red bridge over it had melted yet. Nope, they still have ice, but I don't think they will for very long. It's going fast. I popped my head over into Oak Creek, and that's where the action was. The ice is all gone and the creek is running high. For the day I saw: 12 Wood Ducks 16 Mallards 1 Coot Several hundred Ring-billed Gulls. They just kept coming and coming. I think they were landing on the ice on Capitol Beach Lake. Heard a Killdeer. 6 Red Winged Blackbirds 1 Cardinal 100s of Canada Geese 1 Kestrel 1 RT Hawk 20 Northern Shovelers Here's one that flew by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4412716180/sizes/l/ Now for the good stuff. 1 Male and Female Common Merganser http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4412717062/sizes/l/ It's not great, but it's a new bird for me so I'll take it! 8 Common Goldeneyes. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4412718138/sizes/l/ Kind of a new bird for me. My previous photo left a lot to be desired. This one is far more convincing. 6 Ring-Necked Ducks. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30500320 AT N06/4412715410/sizes/l/ This is a new bird for me too! I saw a Muskrat swimming around with a mouth full of weeds, heard a frog and saw 12 or so Deer. It was a great day today! Ed, Lincoln Subject: Swamp Sparrow and Killdeer From: RICHARD H SCHMID <SCHMID_R AT msn.com> Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 17:18:43 -0600 Bird banding at Aksarben Aquarium (Schramm Park SRA in Sarpy Co) today was very successful. We had lots of juncos and chickadees, and a few other good birds, including a Swamp Sparrow. Later in the day at Chalco Hills (also in Sarpy Co), I saw and heard my FOY Killdeer. There is also an active Red-Tailed Hawk nest that is easily visible from the road just east of the dam and north of the soccer fields. Good birding - Rick _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469230/direct/01/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Golden Eagles!! From: "Marty Mathieson" <mmathieson AT charter.net> Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 16:22:22 -0600 Hello everybody! My better half and I went to La Mexicana, ate, then went south on the road from Gibbon to I-80. We were crossing the first Platte River bridge when we spied two huge birds flying low toward us! When they got closer we saw the gold on their throats then the lower one pulled up sharply (trees) and they caught the thermals, drifting south!. Thoughts of Killdeer were forgotten. We saw the gold on the backs of their necks as they retreated. Oh, Wow! further on a pair of Bald Eagles were nearer the Shelton bridge. Lots of Redwings, too. Marty Mathieson, Eastern Buffalo County NE. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Snow Geese From: "Jjeth" <jjeth AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:14:38 -0000 The Snow Geese are now here by the thousands. Jim Etherton 2 miles west of Doniphan, NE Subject: Re: March 4, Spring coming to Lancaster County From: larryeinemannl AT aol.com Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 14:57:18 EST Hi! I finally have a little time to post my March 4, 2010 sightings. I started the day not expecting too much. All lakes and reservoirs remain frozen over. I stopped at SW 126 between O and A, finding a large mixed flock of horned larks (~300) and Lapland longspurs (~100). Only a few sightings of 1 or 2 were seen after that along the roads. I figured that these were probably birds coming up from the south. Prior trips in the countryside over the past 2 months produced small flocks of 1 to 55. That was when snow covered most fields, forcing birds to forage on the roads. As I scanned the larks and longspurs, I was delighted to see groups of geese fly over in small flocks of several to several hundred. Some were too far away to identify, except as dark geese. Flocks were either Canadas or white-fronteds; often they were mixed with larger numbers of cacklings and a few snow geese. Some flocks had four kinds of geese in them. I kept seeing geese fly NW until early afternoon when none were moving. At Pawnee Lake I found some geese on the ice and shore including Canadas--270, G. white-fronteds--30, cacklings--8; 1 snow and 2 Ross's. I was surprised to find 5 ring-billed gulls along one of the beaches. I tramped through the areas where the fox sparrows overwintered, finding none, perhaps they moved on. At BOL I found a scattering of Canada geese around the lake with a few cackling geese. The biggest concentration of geese was on the grassy areas west of the marina with ~800+ Canada geese, ~60 cackling geese & 30 greater white-fronted geese; 6 ring-billed gulls and 9 crows were foraging on the ice at the mouth of the east marina bay. It was rather exciting seeing the start of spring migration after a slow winter. I was checking for eastern phoebes and tree swallows since the day was so pleasant, yet they too shall come in the next week or two. Good birding! Larry Einemann Lincoln, Nebraska In a message dated 3/6/2010 8:18:44 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, thomas.walker AT nebraska.gov writes: I have had birds just like that in my yard in Brady in the past. At least two of them at different times (as in one in 2007 and one in 2009). T. J. Walker - District Manager, Wildlife Division - Partners Section Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 301 East State Farm Road North Platte, NE 69101 Office Phone 308-535-8025 Cell Phone 308-530-7659 ________________________________ From: NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com [NEBirds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kathy DeLara [renosmom AT charter.net] Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 7:09 PM To: NEBirds Subject: [NEBirds] White Eurasian Collared-dove Yesterday we had a white Eurasian Collared-dove in our yard. I also saw one last year and Drawbaughs had one in their yard in Scottsbluff last year so there are a few of them around ( or I guess it could be the same one) This time I got a few poor pictures of it and posted them on my website http://www.wyoneb.net/-delara/RecentSightings.htm Kathy DeLara Mitchell Ne [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]