Date: 4/29/24 6:46 pm From: Robin Harding via groups.io <pine2siskin4...> Subject: [NEBirds] Franklin/Harlan/Furnas/Gosper
Nebraska birders,
Bill Flack and I birded together on Saturday, April 27. We started with
very nice weather at Macon Lakes WPA in Franklin County. Most of the
species that we saw were not unusual but many of them were the first for
this year. All of today’s birds have been entered onto ebird.
A Bobwhite magically appeared on the road shortly after we passed by her
location. She was just sitting, motionless, on the side of the road. When
another vehicle passed by her, she flew along with another Bobwhite who
flushed from the ditch.
At a Prairie Dog town a few miles south of Macon, we saw a Loggerhead
Shrike.
At Harlan County Reservoir, in Gremlin Cove, we walked in the campground.
We saw Purple Martins using a martin house. An Osprey flew over, giving us
an excellent view. We actually had a nice look at a Warbling Vireo singing
its song.
On the reservoir’s spillway structure, Cliff Swallows were active at their
mud nests. Below the dam at the canoe launch on the north side, we saw a
beautiful Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler. His throat was bright yellow,
his sides were black and his wing coverts had much more white than I am
accustomed to seeing on Yellow-rumped Warblers.
We walked the River Edge Trail below the dam. We were pleased to see and
hear a couple Great Crested Flycatchers. We heard a few towhees but did
not see them. We saw a Rough-winged Swallow visit a hole in the river
bank. We also saw a couple Black-capped Chickadees.
We carefully drove slowly back and forth across the bridge south of Alma a
few times. There was little traffic so we paused a few times to look at
birds. We spotted Willets, Godwits, Franklin’s Gulls, Avocets and Ibises.
It was very cool.
We stopped along a road south of Orleans to look at a large flock of
blackbirds. There were mostly Brown-headed Cowbirds and Yellow-headed
Blackbirds but we thought there was a Brewer’s among them so we studied
them for a while. Finally we saw one male and one female Brewer’s
Blackbird. There were also some Cattle Egrets.
In Furnas County, at the Southern Valley wastewater pond, we saw many
phalaropes but they all appeared to be Wilson’s. We also saw a flock of
dowitchers. For a while they were flying around the pond and calling.
They sounded like Long-billed Dowitchers.
We drove through Gosper County on the way back and found another Loggerhead
Shrike.
Bill and I each added species to our Nebraska county lists. In Harlan,
Bill’s new birds were Willet, Long-billed Dowitcher and White-faced Ibis.
For me, they were Willet, Marbled Godwit, Brewer’s Blackbird. In Furnas,
Bill’s new bird was the Great-tailed Grackle. For me, they were
Great-tailed Grackle and Long-billed Dowitcher. In Gosper County,
Loggerhead Shrike was new for Bill.
