Date: 3/1/26 10:16 am From: Matt Shurtliff via groups.io <mmscornhusker...> Subject: [NEBirds] Lucky day at Loess Bluffs NWR
Here's a few pics from Loess Bluffs NWR yesterday. The accumulation of Snow Geese was the biggest I've ever seen, my best guess is > 2 Million, but it could've been significantly higher. But then I got an even bigger treat.
At about 4:45 pm, birds began lifting from the mass. The geese weren't repositioning like we often see. They weren't scared up, circling, and returning to the ground. They were rising, gaining altitude, and heading north. It started with a trickle, then a steady stream, and then a MASSIVE flow. Over the next hour the exodus became spectacular as flight after flight of birds lifted off, some of the flights 50K or greater. Just a great sight to see.
If I had to guess, I'd say more than half of the geese present at the refuge left late yesterday afternoon. Maybe even 3/4.
In addition to those leaving from the refuge, I could see HUGE flights of Snows going north over the Missouri River. At this size I wouldn't even call them skeins, though multiple several-mile long vees were moving. It was just a huge mass of birds. They birds weren't coming to the refuge, they were heading north. I couldn't put a number to what was moving up the river. The Snow Goose Superhighway was open.
Bonus - as I was circling around the refuge to leave, there was a murmuration of blackbirds. I got to a spot where I could see, and the numbers were staggering. Birds from all around were accumulating at the refuge. They ended up in the trees and in the cattails. As light went away, as you focused binoculars on the cattails, it was an enormous frenzy of blackbirds. I've only seen one bigger in my life, years ago in January at Cheyenne Bottoms in KS.
No way to count the blackbirds, but it's entirely possible I had an 8-digit bird day, > 10 Million, between the two species.
What a joy to see. This is why I watch birds. I'm so lucky.
