Nebraska: The Hunt and a Touch of Wyoming & Colorado

My third day in Nebraska was a journey to the old farm and to venture to Camp Hayes Recreational Area, which is a small man-made lake not far from the old family farm. The lake is so small that powered watercraft are not allowed.  But with the Red Willow Creek feeding it and flowing out of it, there is a lot of great habitat for birds.  

I always get a kick out of seeing recently hatched Killdeer chicks and I had to stop the car to allow this one to find better cover than on the road.  

 Killdeer Chick

 Killdeer Adult

Double-crested Cormorant

Whitetail doe and fawn

Spent a few hours in the town of Hayes Center reminiscing with my classmates and then headed out, taking the long way back to Denver, with an overnight stop in Sidney, Nebraska.  My plans were to leave Sidney early in the morning and head west to Kimball, Nebraska.  I was keen on trying to locate Mountain Plover in Nebraska.  They breed in western Nebraska in a restricted range and habitat, but are probably a bit more common on their breeding grounds just a bit south, across the border in Colorado.  The Mountain Plover is a migratory bird that spends winters further south than their breeding grounds, and some show up in Arizona in winter.  This is where I have always seen them in the past.  So I was going to attempt to locate them in Nebraska.  The drive to Kimball was shrouded in fog making visibility really tough.  It was still foggy when I arrived on the roads south of Kimball and was getting a feeling that the weather was going to jinx my effort.  Walked down one road for a ways without my camera and found a male McCown's Longspur in breeding plumage!  Being without my camera was a mistake, so headed back to the car and got my camera, but was not able to relocate the longspur.  Headed down the road a bit further and pulled over and lo and behold, there was a Mountain Plover on a side road.  I took photos from the car as I did not want to spook it.  Yay, success can be so awesome at times!  It is a mis-named bird as it does not spend any time in the Mountains.  This sighting was also cool to me as this one was in breeding plumage, compared to all those I see in Arizona in winter, non-breeding plumage.  Yes, it is a subtle difference, but still fun to see the differences.

Mountain Plover in breeding plumage in Nebraska

Mountain Plover in non-breeding plumage in Arizona for comparison.

Horned Larks were everywhere!

From there I headed into Wyoming where I have never done any birding in the past, so I stopped at an eBird Hotspot called Wyoming Hereford Ranch which is just east of Cheyenne, WY.  A great place to spot and I highly recommend this spot to anyone interested.  By then the fog had lifted and the lighting was much better.  Ended up with 34 species to start my Wyoming bird list.

 American Goldfinch

Gray Catbird

  

 Spotted Sandpiper

 Western Wood-Peewee

Western Wood-Peewee

My next couple of days was spent in Colorado staying with friends.  Birding was not the full focus of my stay, but I did manage a couple of photos during the bouts of rain and overcast skies and even some snow.

 Barn Swallow

Steller's Jay

One of the key birds that I wanted in Colorado was the White-tailed Ptarmigan.  Unfortunately, due to bad timing and the incredible amount of snow fall in Colorado the roads to the best location were still closed.  At least I have learned from this adventure and hopefully I will be better prepared for the next trip to Colorado for this bird.  The trip overall, was a success and I am happy with the results. I was able to add 19 new species to my Nebraska list, 9 species to my Colorado list, and got my first 34 species to my Wyoming list.  

     

McCook, Nebraska, Aug 2012

After having such a successful birding adventure with my niece, Trina, I ventured back to the 'city' of McCook which is where I was staying with my sister and her family.  In the afternoon I asked my nephew if he was interested in visiting Barnett Park on the south side of McCook.  This park is a picnic area with a few trails and a pond with some water fountains in it.  My nephew, Maxwell, has a good eye for birds as he was quickly pointing out several that he saw.  The pond was populated with over 50 Canada Geese and a few domestic ones as well.  Also found one Mallard and a couple of 'Mutt Ducks', which are hybrid cross with Mallard and domestic ducks.  Probably the one water bird that struck me as being out of place was a Double-crested Cormorant.  Guess I never really expected one on a pond in the plains of southwestern Nebraska, but guide books show they do occur in this area, but sure don't remember any from my youth.  Here are a couple photos of this bird after it left the water to dry out its feathers.

 Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

This is the only bird I was able to photograph in the park, but we did see several other very nice birds as well, including; American Kestrel, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Red-headed Woodpecker, Western Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Blue Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Cardinal.

Once we returned to my sister's house she decided to go for a walk in her neighborhood and of course, I just had to go along and take my camera with me.  During the walk we found an American Goldfinch, Eurasian-collared Doves, Mourning Doves, Western Kingbirds, House Finches, and a very cooperative Baltimore Oriole.

 Baltimore oriole

Baltimore Oriole



And as we were near the end of our walk we came upon a couple of Western Kingbirds, and one of them was very approachable.  I don't think this bird knew what to think of a human with a camera.  Sure gave me some quizzical looks.

Western Kingbird



We finished our walk with a leisure evening on the back patio.  During this time I saw American Robins, Northern Cardinals, House Finches, lots of Chimney Swifts in the evening sky, Common Grackles, Mourning Doves, and a European Starling.  This starling was a bit unusual as it was a juvenile in the middle of a molt and looks very different than most starlings that we see day to day.

European Starling



Maybe birding this state is overlooked by many birders.  Obviously there are a lot of great birds to be found within the state, but like most states, knowing where to find them is a bit tricky.  Just about everyone is familiar with the Sandhill Crane migration that occurs every year in February and March in the central part of the state, but I think there is much more to explore and see throughout the state.