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Nongame Bird Blog

Prairie-Chicken Festival 2016

I had the pleasure again this year of helping out with the Nebraska Prairie Chicken Festival hosted by Calamus Outfitters.  Even though the wind blew, it was an excellent weekend and the chickens showed very well and put on a great performance.  I also caught wind of a big-time rarity that visited the area back in February.  Below are a few photo highlights from the weekend. This is an Eastern Screech-Owl we called in at dusk on Friday evening. American …

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Egg #4

I am a little late with this update about egg #4 since I was at the Nebraska Prairie Chicken Festival Friday and Saturday.  However, apparently the fourth egg did appear late Friday or early Saturday. We are at the point where it is more a question of if there will be a fifth egg rather than when it will appear.  If there is a fifth egg, we should see it by Monday morning.    If you are looking for our …

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No kestrelcam in 2016

Even though our American Kestrels are back this year and will be laying eggs soon, we will be unable to provide streaming video of them this year.   This is due to some network capacity limitations as well as some other technical stuff I do not understand. Our apologies and we will try to find a solution and hopefully kestrelcam, and scenes such as the one above, will be back in 2017.  Good birding!

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Egg #3

As expected, the female Peregrine Falcon laid egg #3 midday Wednesday. A fourth egg, if there is to be one, should arrive during the day on Friday.   If you are looking for our our streaming video where you can watch the birds and their eggs live, please click HERE. Good birding!

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The Wilkinson Whooping Cranes

As announced in a press release last week, Wilkinson Wildlife Management Area in Platte County was partially closed to public access until late yesterday (5 April) due to the presence of three adult Whooping Cranes.  The birds were visible from a county road and nearly 400 people have come out to see them during their stay.  Monday evening, the birds put on quite a show and I was fortunate to capture some video of them dancing.  The video is below.  In addition to the …

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Egg #2

Either late Sunday or early Monday the female Peregrine Falcon laid egg #2. Egg #3 should appear in about two days.  If you are looking for our LIVE! streaming video where you can see every breaking moment at the Peregrine Falcon’s nest box, click HERE. Good birding!

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First egg!

I was out in the field today so I am late to the show.  As everyone knows, the Peregrine Falcons welcomed their first egg today! Expect to see egg #2 in about 2 days.   If you are looking for our streaming video, please click HERE. Good birding!

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Expect an egg anytime

It is time.  The Capitol’s Peregrine Falcons should be welcoming there first egg into the world anytime. Maybe by the time you read this, it will have happened already. The two previous years, the female Peregrine Falcon laid her first egg on 31 March.  Will she make it three years in a row?   She has also been increasingly hanging out in the nest box, often just sitting there (such as in the photo, below).  Such lethargy is expected when …

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Peregrine Falcons – same pair?

Spring is here and with it comes various avian rituals.   Sandhill Cranes on the central Platte River, Greater Prairie-Chickens booming on leks and the Capitol’s Peregrine Falcons courting, mating and preparing to welcome their first egg into the world.  As falcon fans start seeing more and more activity at the nest box on the 18th floor of the Capitol via NGPC’s falconcam, one obvious question is always asked,…is it the same pair of adult falcons?  For the past ten years, …

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Bald Eagle nest surveys

It is that time of year again when Lauren Dinan and I are out and about checking Bald Eagle nests to determine the number of active nests in the state.   We’ve grown accustomed to statewide Bald Eagle nest numbers increasing and breaking records each year.  In 2016, we tallied 118 active nests, breaking the previous record of 111 active nests set just a year earlier.  Remember, as late as 1990 there were no active Bald Eagle nests in the state. …

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