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Any Birders On Here?

Had to rewatch the Big Year last night. I had a Sandhill Crane at DeSoto Bend last night that was an Iowa first for me. Surprise visitor!

Found a reported and pretty rare Lazuli Bunting at Summit Lake near Tekamah on Friday #305 life, #264 NE. (Usually found farther west, friends birding all weekend in W. NE only saw one.). Bell’s Vireo today at DeSoto brings me up to 306 life and 180 IA, 199th bird of the year for me.

I put in close to 20 hours of birding this weekend for those 2 new ones. Migrants are mostly through, warblers have been a trickle all spring and the tap is almost off. Probably be taking a Friday excursion this week to try and round up some of the misses.
 

Saw my first Blue Crane so far this year, hummingbirds are back, seeing the Kingfishers arriving as well, seagulls of course, but no Pelicans as yet.

The Mergansers havnt arrived, but all the duck species are here, but havnt seen a Wood duck.
The Orioles have arrived as well.

Looking for Bluebirds

Its been a few weeks now, but the Loons are a callin, for 3 weeks now
 
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What is a a ‘blue crane’? Do you mean Great Blue Heron?

Eastern bluebirds are really scarce this year. I had one at my place in March and two earlier this month, almost nobody is reporting them, people watching nesting boxes report numbers way down from normal. I put my boxes out when i saw the first one, and only house sparrows and house wrens have visited them thus far.

nobody really knows what happened…some speculation about Feb storms, but nothing concrete.
 



FeelLikeAStranger said:
What is a a ‘blue crane’? Do you mean Great Blue Heron?

Eastern bluebirds are really scarce this year. I had one at my place in March and two earlier this month, almost nobody is reporting them, people watching nesting boxes report numbers way down from normal. I put my boxes out when i saw the first one, and only house sparrows and house wrens have visited them thus far.

nobody really knows what happened…some speculation about Feb storms, but nothing concrete.
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Blue Heron
Saw a Bluebird at my daughters, none at the house though.
I told her all about it, and she just nodded, brat
 
Slow Fat & Ugly said:
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the cedar waxwing. Love their look. Enjoy their brief visits in spring and fall here in west Omaha.
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Had some down by the pond last night.

They are seen in Douglas Co year-round. Listen for the really thin whistle in the tops of the trees.
 




4 new lifers +1 NE bird today.

S. 14th St Lincoln
common gallinule
least bittern

denton area- Henslows Sparrow

spring creek audubon
bells vireo (NE)
willow flycatcher
 
FeelLikeAStranger said:
What is a a ‘blue crane’? Do you mean Great Blue Heron?

Eastern bluebirds are really scarce this year. I had one at my place in March and two earlier this month, almost nobody is reporting them, people watching nesting boxes report numbers way down from normal. I put my boxes out when i saw the first one, and only house sparrows and house wrens have visited them thus far.

nobody really knows what happened…some speculation about Feb storms, but nothing concrete.
Click to expand...

Interesting on the bluebirds.

We've had a breeding pair on our property for a few years now and their second set of hatchlings is about to fly the coop. At present we've got the original breeding pair, two juveniles from last years clutches and the two from this years first clutch. We never had a single bluebird until the male showed up to check out the house my wife hung two or three years ago.
 
Migration is pretty much over. Only residents at Ponca SP Saturday, except an Alder Flycatcher that was new for me. Piping Plovers for the year were cool.

Went from Creighton to west of ONeill last Friday. Chestnut Collared Longspurs (beautiful!), Broad Winged Hawk, Least Tern were all new birds for me. Burrowing Owl was another treat.

I had 25 life birds, 33 NE birds in May.

39 life birds for the year, 45 NE birds.

so far, the best year of birding I’ve had, numbers-wise, since the first couple of years. My skills are improving, especially song recognition, but still rusty. I got tendinitis in my right forearm after 2 days of driving and holding binocs last weekend. D’oh!

Now, it gets tough…gotta take some trips to get new ones now…Western NE especially.
 
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Did a SE Nebraska swing on my day off to try and find up to 4-5 new Nebraska birds. I was at 275 for NE and now hope to get to 300 yet this year, but it’s now getting super tough, especially in summer. Western NE is basically where all my targets are now-western species I haven't seen yet. Been trying to schedule this SE swing for some unusual summer residents for a month. Literally had 5 possible targets between the two areas per eBird.

Indian Cave SP for Acadian Flycatcher>road south of Table Rock for Scissor-tailed flycatcher and Northern Mockingbird->Table Rock WMA at dusk for singing chuck wills widow and whippoorwhils. (Both nocturnal)

got the Acadian, got the scissor tailed, didnt see a mockingbird, heard the chucks and there were no whippoorwhils singing at Table Rock WMA, so I had to swing back through Indian Cave at 11PM to hear them. didnt hear any chuck’s there…another place they are found annually, so good thing I was able to hit Table Rock.

I got a true bonus at Indian Cave in the afternoon…Red-Shouldered hawk screaming and flying over me. Really rare for this time and place…or NE in general. it wasnt in the rare bird report today, so somebody is probably reviewing it. Too quick for pics or a recording, so they may not confirm it, but the call was distinctive for me to count it.

got two lifers in MO last week-Acadian Flycatcher and white eyed vireo. Chuck wills widow was a lifer, so at 319 now.

picked up 5 new NE life birds, 280 total, and added a vesper sparrow for the year to hit 200 exactly in NE. Not sure I’ve had a 200 year before or not. To give you an idea, #1 ebirder for the year in NE is currently at 310. I’m down in the #30 range. Not bad for starting at the end of March. The five new lifers should put me just outside the top 50 all time for NE on ebird.

Here is a pic of a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher south of Table Rock, NE yesterday. Saw 5 total on a 5 mile stretch of road where they are historically found every year. Only time I have seen them before is golfing in Manhattan KS. Freaking cool! Got to see one do its flycatching display and vocalize…beautiful birds and unmistakeable with that crazy long tail.


49EECC2C-DFA5-4573-9DA8-476E13950C94.jpeg
 

Strategery said:
I tell you what, it's been a helluva hobby during COVID. Just find a place outside and walk around. I'm over 250 species in Nebraska this year, which is a record for me.

I've birded on and off since college, but revived it about 5 years ago. I travel a lot for work and decided I'd take advantage of it to see different kinds of birds. It helps me look forward to trips that I normally wouldn't be too excited about.
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OK, I went back and re-read this.

250 in 2020 for Nebraska is pretty salty, only 21 on ebird were over 250 for the whole year.

i missed the first 2.5 months, live in IA, and am at 200 right now in july for NE. Unless I make it to the panhandle at least once, it will be tough for me to get there this year.

nice work!
 
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