Nebraskaland Magazine

Spring has sprung! The amount daylight is increasing. The weather will be warming. In Nebraska, there are a multitude of activities that you can do in early spring. Here are eight to encourage you to step outside. (1) View Early Spring Birds. A wide variety of opportunities await Nebraska bird watchers in early spring. The migration of wild fowl is truly something to behold! The spring spectacle of the sandhill crane migration along the Platte River in south-central Nebraska should …

How a forest-dwelling shorebird makes a living in Nebraska’s prairies By Joel Jorgensen and Stephen J. Brenner Photos by Eric Fowler As winter’s grip begins to loosen in early March, one of the first tangible signs of spring comes in the form of one unusual bird’s evening courtship display. Along with first returning flocks of geese, sandhill cranes and a noticeable northward push of bald eagles, the American woodcock is one of our earliest arriving migratory birds, often laying claim …

Nebraska’s weather has done its usual March, Nebraska thing this week.  I say it is erratic.  That, and the cold water, makes this one of the toughest times of year to catch fish from open water.  On the other hand, if you can still get on the ice, late ice can be some of the best fishing of the year.  That is exactly why I hope every year for the ice to last as long as possible. But, assuming that …

Best of Show BEST OF SHOW – Wondrous Woodies Photo by Roy Swoboda, Meadow Grove @wild.focus.photography With more than 3,500 entries submitted through Instagram, the 2022 Nebraskaland Magazine Photo Contest once again drew a record number of stunning images, forcing us to add an additional category, Invertebrates, to our perennial categories of Wildlife, Flora, Scenic and Recreation. This year’s Best of Show winner, “Wondrous Woodies,” by Roy Swoboda of Meadow Grove, was taken on a slough near the Missouri River …

March can be a bit of a “‘tweener time”.  You know, the ice is too thin to walk on, but too thick to cast into.  The water may be liquid, but the weather is bad.  As a result, some of us sit and stare at our tackle boxes.  Or, we make a trip to our favorite tackle shop, walk the aisles and drop some $$$$$.  While doing that, I know what goes through your mind, “Wow, that looks like a …

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission approved changes to 2023-2024 waterfowl hunting seasons in Commission Orders at its March 14 meeting in Kearney. For the 2023-2024 seasons, the Zone 3 and Zone 4 duck seasons will open a week later than last year with Youth Hunt dates the weekend prior. Other season dates are calendar date adjustments. Waterfowl seasons are set by balancing hunter preferences with migration, hunter harvest, and hunter participation. The approved 2023-2024 Nebraska waterfowl season dates are: …

Visitors to state park areas in southeast Nebraska will find enhanced day-use and camping amenities. Projects completed in 2022 or to be finished in 2023 will appeal to an array of park users. The following is a roundup of those improvements and projects: Indian Cave State Park A new boardwalk to the cave at Indian Cave State Park has been installed, replacing the one destroyed by mudslides in 2019. This boardwalk is compliant with the American with Disabilities Act and …

By Joel Jorgensen, Nongame Bird Program Manager A few years ago, if someone raised the possibility of a limpkin reaching Nebraska, an appropriate response would have been “when pigs fly.” That is because, not long ago, limpkins were restricted to Central and South America, the Caribbean and Florida. In North America, any limpkin wandering north of the sunshine state would have been big news. Over the past two decades, limpkins began to increase in Florida and push a little farther …

Updated March 17, 2023 Guests at northeast Nebraska state park areas were treated to some improvements in 2022, with more set to be completed in 2023. The following is a roundup of those improvements and projects: Summit Lake State Recreation Area Summit Lake State Recreation Area near Tekamah saw aquatic habitat and angler access improvement projects completed to improve the fishery and guests’ experience. The west and south sediment basins were excavated to restore them to their original capacity and …

Visitors to Nebraska’s south-central state parks will notice several improvements this year. Projects completed in 2022 or to be finished in 2023 will appeal to an array of park users. The following is a roundup of those improvements and projects: Johnson Lake State Recreation Area At Johnson Lake State Recreation Area near Lexington, 70 campsites are being upgraded to 50-amp electrical service and one site is being upgraded to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This project, to …