Winter's Respite

The month of January 2020, was month of highs and lows. There were two low points in the month and it was the low points that dictated my return to Nebraska and my home stomping grounds and where I grew up.  The number one low point was that my only sister lost her battle with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that she had been battling for about the last nine years.  So sad to lose her, but she is no longer suffering from this terrible infliction.  During this period, I also attended the funeral of an aunt who had a great life that ended at the age of 96 years.  She was the last of my mother and father's generation.  

The weather in Nebraska in January can be a mixed bag, and during that time, that fact was true.  Had days that began with single digit temperatures that only warmed up into the 20's during the day, but also had some days that got as high as the upper 40's during the day with sunshine.  Some days were windy which exacerbated the cold, but also had some days with no wind and very pleasant.  Staying indoors all day, every day, is not usually my norm.  I had to get out when I could to revel in some nature, (plus, I had to get away from all the food that was being delivered to the house!)  I could have easily put on 20 lbs!  My sister would have encouraged me to get out and see some birds and those were the high points of the trip to Nebraska.  

Birding in Nebraska in January is not something that I have done since getting into the birding hobby, and I was able to add 10 new species to my Nebraska list during that time.  On my 2nd day there, I discovered a Marsh Wren in some dried cattails in a park near McCook.  This species is not normally a rare bird in the state by any means, but in the month of January, it is considered pretty rare and most have migrated to southern and warmer climes.  In researching eBird, I could find only 6 other reports for a Marsh Wren in the state of Nebraska for the month of January, and none of those reports were from Red Willow County, which is where I discovered this one. I first detected it by its chit-chit-chit notes and with a little pishing it popped up for a distant photo and eventually came in a bit closer for better photos.  This species can be quite shy and hard to photograph.  

 Marsh Wren

Another bird that showed up rare on my eBird report on the second to last day was Greater White-fronted Goose.  Not super rare by any means, as reporting 1 would not have been a problem, but anything over that number was rare according to the filters set for Red Willow County.  I had 24 of them.  In my one photo, I am able to count 23, could not fit in the 24th bird since it was bit further away from the main flock. Easy to count count them by counting the number of orange legs and then dividing by two.  HaHa! 

Greater White-fronted Geese - they can be identified by the orange legs and feet.

On that same outing a Trumpeter Swan flew in with two Canada Geese.  The geese landed in the pond, but the swan apparently was not impressed.  It flew around for a couple circles and then headed west.  Nevertheless, it was a new county bird for me. 

 Trumpeter Swan

Other new birds to my Nebraska list included a Northern Shrike and Harris's Sparrow.  The Harris's Sparrow kind of caught me off guard, but as soon as I saw it, I thought to myself, 'Of course, this a likely winter species in Nebraska'.  The Northern Shrike had crossed my mind as being a potential bird to find in winter, but was not sure of my chances.  Thankfully, I missed my turnoff to a lake and went about a mile north before I discovered my error and there was my Northern Shrike.  

 Harris's Sparrow

Northern Shrike

Three species of woodpeckers were nice which included both Downy and Hairy, which can be a bit confusing to novice birders.  And a Red-bellied is always a nice addition. 

 Downy Woodpecker

 Hairy Woodpecker

 Red-bellied Woodpecker

Two species of nuthatch were accommodating for photos: White-breasted and Red-breasted.  I was rather pleased with the photos of the Red-breasted.  Will have keep that one in contention for next year's calendar.  

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

 White-breasted Nuthatch

Many other winter birds were fun to observe and photograph in the cold.  Many of these are fairly common and also fairly well known.  However, when a common bird presents itself in a nice setting with the right light, I usually have no hesitation in lifting the camera for photos, as you will see in some of the following pictures.  

 American Robin - Immature

 American Robin - Adult

 Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing - Note the red on the wing feathers that look like red wax. Hence the name waxwing.   

 Blue Jay

 Northern Cardinal - Female

Northern Cardinal - Male

 'Slate-colored' Dark-eyed Junco

Bald Eagle - Juvenile, probably transitioning into 2nd year.

 American Tree Sparrow

 Black-capped Chichadee

 Cedar Waxwing

More Cedar Waxwings - This is one of my favorite birds.

My departure from Nebraska, took me back through the northeastern part of Colorado where I made a couple of stops for more birding before flying out of the Denver airport.  I added 9 new birds to my Colorado list including this Song Sparrow, which is a different subspecies than what we normally see in Arizona. 

Song Sparrow

While the trip was not a trip filled with joy, I know my sister would have been happy for me in finding and enjoying the birds that I did find during my brief forays into nature.  It is a visit and a trip that I will never forget.  All of these photos are for you Kathy.  I know you would have enjoyed them. 

For those readers that have followed this blog post to the end, I am including some photos of the old house where I spent the first 18 years of my life.  The house is now vacant but still standing.  My bedroom was in the northwest corner and when winter hit, that room was the coldest in the house. No indoor plumbing until I was about 8 or 9 and we relied on an old outhouse.  The house had stucco walls, which probably has kept it standing all these years.  Many old wooden houses that are now vacant have collapsed and fallen into disrepair.  All the rest of the original buildings on the farm are now gone, except for a couple of old steel grain bins.  From what I understand the house is occasionally used as a lodge for hunters these days.

 Hayes County, Nebraska

      

Nebraska: The Good 'Bird' Life

It is no secret that Nebraska is my home state, where I was born and raised.  That is also where my first recollections and my fascination with our avian friends began.  As a farm child growing up in very rural Nebraska, I have some very vivid memories of some of the birds that captured my interest as such a young age.  Of course, and like most kids, the more colorful or unusual birds caught my eye back then.  Now that I have matured a little more, it isn't always the most colorful birds that catch my eye all the time. (Still hard to ignore those colorful birds!)

Surprisingly, this year was the 50th year for my high school graduation and of course a get together was planned.  My high school graduating class consisted of only 28 students.  That tells you how small and sparsely populated some places in Nebraska happen to be.  So I planned a trip in late May for this occasion and decided to add in a few extra days for birding and visiting family.  Stayed with my sister and her family in McCook and took advantage of the birding opportunities that were there.  The first morning, I headed out to Barnett Park on the south edges of McCook to see what I could find.  It was amazing and I got the pleasure of seeing and photographing a lot of birds.

 Red-headed Woodpecker - Probably one of the best looking woodpeckers in the United States and I saw a lot of these birds during my visit.

 Downy Woodpecker

 Spotted Sandpiper - This one is in breeding plumage which we do not see very often in Arizona in the winter months. We normally see the drabber winter plumage without spots.

 Yellow Warbler - Male

Yellow Warbler - Female

American Goldfinch - Male

 Baltimore Oriole - Male

 Cackling Goose - This was a new species for my Nebraska list.  As a kid, I might have seen them, but just assumed they were probably Canada Geese.  (Little did I know back then!)

 Cedar Waxwing

Common Yellowthroat - These birds can be quite secretive and hard to photograph.

Swainson's Thrush - Not a bird that was on my radar, but found out that they are quite common.  Helps to pull out the old field guides once in a while to study range maps!

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  Later in the day, I headed north of town and visited Red Willow Lake. Saw many of the same birds, but also found a few different birds that I do not recall ever seeing in Nebraska before.  No, they are not rare by any means, but I have been away so long, that one forgets what is possible.

 Bell's Vireo

 Field Sparrow - This was another bird that was not on my radar, but their range does reach Nebraska.  Makes me wonder if they were around when I was a kid, but just shrugged them off since they were just LBJ's. (Little brown jobs! Ha Ha!)

Tree Swallow - Another bird not on my radar, but apparently fairly common, note the man-made nestbox.

The next day, I headed even further north to the small town of Wellfleet, Nebraska.  Not much of a town, but they have a nearby small lake.  When I was young and had a great uncle and aunt living in this community and I remember spending a summer with them to help them with their farming.  I can also recall our family spending time in the summer to help with the irrigation of the farm land.  It was a really nice nostalgic visit and I was astonished by the birds that I found while exploring the town and the land around the town.

 Bars Swallow - These were very common on the farm as they nested in our barn and in the summer they entertained us when we milked cows every morning and night.

 Eastern Kingbird - Another bird that i was familiar with as we had them from time to time on the farm.  Western Kingbirds were much more common.

 Gray Catbird - Do not recall this bird from my childhood, but due to their nature to be a bit secretive, they were probably overlooked as a kid.

 Orchard Oriole - This was another surprise to me.  I do not remember this species as a kid, but had Baltimore Orioles every year.  This bird was fairly common for me on this trip.

Yellow-breasted Chat - A very enjoyable bird to see and hear, even though they can be tough to see sometimes, their calls and songs cannot be ignored.

The next 4 photos are the Indigo Bunting, plus a bonus photo at the end.  This bird was one of my fondest memories of my interest in birding as a child.  Being a farm family, we were very much involved in 4-H and in 1962, 4-H offered a bird course and I gladly signed up.  We had to keep a record book, and the Indigo Bunting was the species that I focused on for my study bird.  I have added a photo of the page from the record book showing what a talented artist I was back then!  HaHa!  Regardless, of all of that, this bird along with a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that visited our farm back then, have been the impetus for my interest in birds.  It was such a joyous occasion when the male in my photos below offered me a chance to get all these great photos.  It is so blue that it almost blends in with the blue sky.

 Indigo Bunting - Female

 Indigo Bunting - Male

 

So now you all know a bit more about my childhood in Nebraska.  It is fun to return after being away for so long and now that I have a much larger understand of birds.  There is so much more of the state that I would like to explore.  So maybe i need to plan a road trip in the future!  Stay tuned for a second post covering this trip to Nebraska and my search for a special bird. 

Here is a photo of the old farm where I spent the first 18 years of my life. The house is now vacant.