Flora & Fauna

You can’t miss them. You really can’t. Around bridges over rivers or creeks this time of year, they immediately snatch your attention. Maybe it’s their sheer numbers (hundreds, if not thousands of them) and their extreme aerial acrobatics that catch your eye. Or, maybe it’s them coming in and out of their clusters of gourd-like mud nests clinging to the walls beneath bridge overhangs that capture your awareness. Or, perhaps it is the throng of bird activity along the muddy bank of a stream or mud hole …

LINCOLN, Neb. – It is natural for some people who see a young wild animal apparently abandoned by its mother to want to rescue it. The correct course of action is to leave it alone. Here are some rules of thumb from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission regarding wildlife babies: — A lone fawn, or other young bird or mammal, may appear to be abandoned or injured, but the mother frequently is off feeding or drinking. Do not move …

Still have an open Nebraska Spring Turkey Permit?  If so, you could be holding the golden-ticket to some of the best memory-maker hunts the spring has to offer.  You might need some minor tweaks to your strategies, though… More and more hens are starting to nest full time now.  While some others, for whatever reason, won’t be nesting at all this year.  So gobblers are trolling for any and all the remaining hens interested in breeding while avoiding hens that …

If people ask, one group of animals often receives credit for fueling my passion for wildlife photography a little more than the others do. Capturing imagery of mammals, reptiles and amphibians is certainly just as rewarding, but it is often the birds that keep me going.  It seems there are always birds around whenever and wherever I feel the need to shoot a wildlife photo, and with more than 400 species of birds in Nebraska, I still have a lot …

You’re a hunter. You’re an angler. Or, perhaps you’re both like me. Maybe, you’re even a trapper. You know that you are the principal contributor, the main backer of wildlife conservation, management, habitat enhancement and protection in our country. You know that hunters and anglers were the driving forces behind the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, a set of wildlife management and conservation principles established more than a century ago that declare fish and wildlife belong to all Americans, and that they need to be scientifically managed in a way …

LINCOLN, Neb. – This year marks the 100th anniversary of the International Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This legislation protects migrating birds such as hawks, shorebirds and songbirds, to name a few. This historic Act has allowed for once dwindling populations of numerous bird species birds to rebound through sound land management, hunting regulations and conservation measures. “Today, we know Nebraska plays a critical role on an international scale for migratory birds that have no borders, and it is our responsibility, …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The peregrine falcon pair atop the Nebraska Capitol have apparently opted not to use the nest box placed on the 18th floor and instead have chosen a new site. The new nest site appears to be in a gutter at the base of the Capitol’s dome. One consequence of the falcons’ decision is that the nest and eggs are inaccessible and outside of the view of Falcon cam, which has provided streaming video of the nest box …

LINCOLN, Neb. – The public is invited to celebrate International Migratory Bird Month by participating in Willows and Wings on May 19 at Willow Creek State Recreation Area in Pierce County. This event includes a bird identification hike and an introduction to eBird, an online citizen science tool for monitoring bird populations. All ages and experience levels are welcome. No park entry permit is required as May 19 is Free Fishing and Park Entry Day in Nebraska. Flights of birders …

Nebraskans have become accustomed to seeing wild turkeys from border to border but it has not always been that way. When I was growing up in southwestern Nebraska in the 1970s and ‘80s, it was much more of a rarity to see them. Similar to many wildlife species, wild turkeys are native to Nebraska but factors related to Euro-American settlement wiped them out of the state in the early 1900s. Along with a lot of other wildlife, though, turkeys have …

We’ve been dreaming about this weekend for sometime.  But none of our visions contained weather like what’s being forecasted for Nebraska’s opening weekend of shotgun spring turkey season.  Being a hardy lot we Nebraskans still have intentions of heading out to fill a tag or two.  Here’s how… Snow Unless it comes in blizzard proportions, or is mixed with the conditions listed below, a little snow barely registers for turkeys who are focused on love right now.  Strategies need to …