Tag Archives: Nebraska birds

When I was kid, I always looked forward to taking a drive with my grandparents during the March thaw to see the spring migration of birds along the Platte River in rural Sarpy County, Nebraska. We never had to travel very far from our homes in Gretna to see the migrating birds either. It’s those drives that helped develop my appreciation for birds. Truth is, you still do not have to venture far at all to enjoy the spectacular spring migration of birds …

You’re staying at home, hardly going anywhere except for essentials. There’s not a lot to do. Or, is there? Have you ever taken the time to watch or listen to the birds around your yard, acreage, farmstead, ranch house or lake house? After all, it is spring and that means courtship, breeding and nesting. But spring is also means migration. Our overall diversity of birds peaks in early May, so new species arrive every day or week. I have to …

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 …

“What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?” – David Attenborough Are Everywhere You Are One thing you cannot help in this world is seeing birds. They are virtually everywhere! Look up, look down, look over there, go to the waters, the woods, the wavy field of grass or watch through the window of your home, you’ll see birds. More than 450 species of birds …

I am a recreational birdwatcher, and proud of it! Even if I could get organized enough to keep a life list of birds I’ve seen, I simply enjoy just watching them and attempting to get some decent photos of them to share with you. Birders, or avid birders, as I call them, are easy to identify. They each keep a remarkable log of bird sightings to include the description of the species, numbers of them, date and time seen, as well as habitat and weather conditions along with any bird …

On my Weekly Outdoor Report airing on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News, I’ll be highlighting this month of May which is bird month here in Nebraska. Birds are all around us! Birds are enjoyable to watch! I’ll be showing you some cool video of birds, plus emphasizing the importance of our feathered friends as well as mentioning a couple fun birding events in the area for you to attend to view an array of bird life. The outdoor report airs LIVE …

For a moment, while in my deer hunting stand the last couple evenings as the sun was setting and the wind was blowing out of the south/southwest, I thought I was reliving an old black-and-white, Alfred Hitchcock horror movie I saw as a child, entitled: The Birds! That flick did cross my mind somewhat as I watched dozens of turkey vultures overhead from my tree stand in northeastern Douglas County, NE. I had the best time watching these large nongame …

Discarded fishing equipment such as abandoned line, hooks, weights, etc. continues to be a major problem for the environment and a major threat to an array of wildlife in and around the water. It can maim and kill birds and other wildlife! Look what happened to this cormorant! Just yesterday at Carter Lake in northeast Omaha, avid birder Jim Ducey of Omaha, NE brought to my attention yet another graphic incident involving birds getting tangled up with discarded fishing tackle. This …

If you live in or around the Omaha-metro area, you don’t have to travel very far to experience the spring migration of waterfowl. I took these shots today along the Elkhorn and Platte Rivers in western Douglas and Sarpy Counties. The rivers were busy places with ducks and geese here and there! I caught the tail end of a bald eagle that was pursuing waterfowl, too! Here is a broad shot of the eagle in pursuit-mode after some flocks of …

My family and I are counting birds amid the old-growth trees in our Metcalfe Park neighborhood in north-central Omaha. We are counting birds for The Great Backyard Bird Count www.BirdSource.org This is a fun, very worthwhile citizen science project for the whole family to do! As you’ll note by clicking the link to the website for the count, it’s in full swing and it’s not too late to get involved where you live! Here are a few of the birds we …