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Any Birders On Here?

Whooping Crane yesterday in Hall County. Cener of both pics. It's the white one :). Numerous Sandhills in there too. In second pic wings are extended and you can see the black tips. Pics are lousy but I was an easy 500 yards away.

This is the second one I've seen in state on Spring migration. A few years back there was a group of 6 that stayed in Thayer County for a month on fall migration. I've also seen larger numbers at their wintering grounds at Aransas NWR in Texas.

Finding one in the spring is truly finding a needle in a haystack!


Whooping Crane, Hall, NE 2021-03-07 (2).jpg
Whooping Crane, Hall, NE 2021-03-07.jpg
 
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I played golf once at a course in mpls A hawk was going after a albino squirrel. Slowed play as squirrel won the day
 
Really rare Common Crane south of Gibbon NE. Has been hanging around on W Road for the last week +.

We went out to see it. Fri night, nearly dusk as a thunderstorm was coming in, my wife spots it in the scope. I look, nope. This happens 4X. 3 other people there can’t find it either. My wife is a novice birder, first time looking through a spotting scope. Big lightning, birds fly, hail starts. SH!TTTTT!!

Back out this AM, scanning flocks in the same field for 2 hours, nothing. Lunch at Rowe Sanctuary, drive back to W Road and a group had it scoped about half a mile away. I got to see it for a few seconds clearly. #278.

If you want to see a rare bird in Nebraska...get there ASAP. Tough to spot. This one is really faithful to the same field every day and folks are out there staking it out.

COMMON CRANE – Birds of Nebraska – Online

birds.outdoornebraska.gov birds.outdoornebraska.gov
 
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Strategery said:
Whooping Crane yesterday in Hall County. Cener of both pics. It's the white one :). Numerous Sandhills in there too. In second pic wings are extended and you can see the black tips. Pics are lousy but I was an easy 500 yards away.

This is the second one I've seen in state on Spring migration. A few years back there was a group of 6 that stayed in Thayer County for a month on fall migration. I've also seen larger numbers at their wintering grounds at Aransas NWR in Texas.

Finding one in the spring is truly finding a needle in a haystack!


View attachment 61840View attachment 61842
Click to expand...

PM me if you see one again this year. They keep reports for them hidden on ebird.
 
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FeelLikeAStranger said:
Really rare Common Crane south of Gibbon NE. Has been hanging around on W Road for the last week +.

We went out to see it. Fri night, nearly dusk as a thunderstorm was coming in, my wife spots it in the scope. I look, nope. This happens 4X. 3 other people there can’t find it either. My wife is a novice birder, first time looking through a spotting scope. Big lightning, birds fly, hail starts. SH!TTTTT!!

Back out this AM, scanning flocks in the same field for 2 hours, nothing. Lunch at Rowe Sanctuary, drive back to W Road and a group had it scoped about half a mile away. I got to see it for a few seconds clearly. #278.

If you want to see a really rare bird in Nebraska...get there ASAP.
Click to expand...
The little lake is ice out, the big is going.
The Trumpeters are four now, as babies and mates have doubled the 'herd'.
Everytime I go out at night, and the yard lights come on, they greet me
 
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I was at a wedding in Kearney over the last weekend, lots of cranes in the fields from about shelton to kearney, on both sides of the river... pretty cool sights
 
Lakes have thawed in the past two weeks here.
The eagles have been funneling and picking up cold fresh winter kill.

Geese everywhere,swans out,woodpeckers going nuts, redwing blackbirds out in numbers.
 
on a roll this week with 3 lifers out of 4 chased. Couldnt find a surf scoter reported at Carter Lake, but saw 3 Peregrines downtown Omaha Fri afternoon. Horned Grebe at Manawa and Carolina Wren at Towl Park in Omaha today. I called in the latter with the Song Sleuth app at a location where one was reported earlier in the week on ebird. Played the song a few times until I heard the bird answer. Recorded it and it analyzes the sonogram vs reference library. I’m hooked and will be using it heavily this year. Birdnet is another that does recording and analysis.
 




Was in the yard a few days ago, the ground squirrels were rummaging about, I was watching them fill their cheeks with winter surviving acorns when all the sudden they all just disappeared, 3 seconds later an Ospreys flying directly overhead, about 80 feet up
 
Let’s see...Surf Scoter last week at Summit Lake SRA. Dunlin at DeSoto Bend. Yesterday White winged Scoter, red-necked grebe, red breasted merganser at Stagecoach SRA south of Lincoln, all new birds for me. Also horned grebe (state) eared, pied-billed and western grebes at that lake along with everything else. Barred owl was another Ne bird.

earlier i had stopped at the I-80 eastbound rest area before exit 426 and called in 4 Louisiana Waterthrushes with the song sleuth app, life/state Bird.

very good week for targeting species I havent seen on ebird and then following the reports. Now with the apps...can call in or record stuff i dont know the songs of And figure them out. If I get my digiscope game tightened up, I can hopefully get a few more that I cant ID in the field, especially shorebirds. The Dunlin I mis-ID‘d initially as a pectoral sandpiper, but then reviewed my recording and had an expert confirm dunlin After they were reported at DeSoto by someone else In Similar time frame.

i’m currently working mostly on birds that have a < 1% chance of seeing in all of Nebraska in April, but technology is making this SO much easier than 30+ years ago When we just had to go somewhere suitable or previously reported by word of mouth or a call-in rare bird hotline and hope something would be there.
 
Northern Waterthrush at Towl Park in Omaha today. That was #295 Life and #245 NE, #244 was a Black and White warbler same place.

So far this year I have 17 new lifers, 17 new NE and 43 new IA birds (up to 177). looking back, that’s my best year for lifers since 1986 (17 total) and not far behind 1985 when I went birding in CO for the first time.

my initial goal was to hit 300 and 250 NE. I hadn't worried much about IA numbers, but I am now. Adding 23 more IA to that goal to hit 200. With any luck, I’ll get closer to all three tomorrow at DeSoto and some other spots in the area.
 




Started birding when I bough my house here in San Diego 18 years ago. In my yard I have yearly nests of Anna's and Black Chinned hummingbirds, Coopers hawk pair, Hooded Orioles, Black Phoebes, White Capped Sparrows, Barn Owl pair, Lesser Gold Finches, House Finches, Morning doves, Crows (just found out when winds blew nest out of one of my palm trees), and had Nuttals's woodpecker on occasion. Just outside my yard we have a Great Horned owl nest and Barn Owl nests throughout the neighborhood. Their is some open space not far that has Burrowing Owls but they are hard to spot.


I will dig my all time list out of the camper. So many during the year with various seasonal visitors that I had to get into birding. Couple of my favorites is the Townsend's Warbler that visits in the winter and our local Red Crowned Amazon Parrots.


One of my favorite movies is The Big Year.




C
 
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