Winter Birding in Nebraska

Due to a death in the family in December, I had to make a trip to southwestern Nebraska.  While it is difficult to deal with a death in the family, one of the activities that gave me personal time to reflect on life and death, was the opportunity to spend some time with nature.  Even in the cold of winter, nature is amazing and can offer a sense of joy and what is right in this world.  And by getting out to see what abounds during the cold of the winter, we can learn to appreciate all it has to offer.

First free morning that I had to myself, I ventured out and arrived at Barnett Park before sunrise and the temperature was a 'balmy' 19° F, (-7.2° C), at the start!  Much of this early birding was completed within a short distance of my rental car for brief periods of warmth.  At first it was slow and quiet, but as the sun rose and a trace of warmth started to settle in, the birds became a bit more active.  

Downy Woodpeckers are fairly common throughout most of the United States, but in Arizona they are most generally restricted to the northeast part of the state and in the higher elevations.  

Downy Woodpecker - Male

 Great Blue Heron - surprising to see them in such frigid temps.

 Snow Goose

Canada Geese

A video of the Republican River and some Canada Geese flying over

The second place I visited was Red Willow Reservoir north of the town of McCook.  I liked it so much, that when I had a chance to take my niece, Trina McPherson, out birding a couple days later, I selected this same location for that journey as well. 

 Cedar Waxwing - always a favorite

 Downy Woodpecker - Female

 'Red-shafted' Northern Flicker - Also saw a 'Yellow-shafted', but it did not pose for a photo.

 Ring-billed Gull - Not a great photo, but nice that if had caught something for breakfast.

 Red-bellied Woodpecker - Haven't been able to capture too many photos of this bird.

 This photo shows some of its red belly for which it is named.

American Goldfinch - not in its bright summer plumage, but still very attractive.

  

On the second trip to this location with Trina, we found some different species that surprised me a bit as I expect some of them to be more confined to further west in the United States.  However, eBird does show records of these birds in Nebraska.  But they were new to me for my Nebraska state list. 

 Townsend's Solitaire - this was one of my surprise birds.

 Mountain Bluebird - This was my biggest surprise and awesome to see!

 Mountain Bluebird - in a tree before it went down to the water edge for a drink.

Trumpeter Swans - Not a great photo by any means as they were on the far side of the lake.  I was thrilled to be able to add them to my Nebraska list and after consulting eBird, I discovered this was the first report in eBird for this species for Frontier County.  

Winter birding can be spectacular just about anywhere.  You might not always see the birds in their bright breeding plumage, but there is more to birding than just flashy colors.  So glad that I was able to work in some time to spend with nature during my stay and happy to have Trina join me for a couple of hours one morning.