Nebraska Big Year: December Recap
January 01, 2026
Year Birds: +3 (356)
State Birds: +3 (360)
Life Birds: +2 (536)
eBird Trip Report
The final push! I did my best to pick up a few more birds as the end of the year approached. Redpoll was the highest bird on my radar. After a few reports in early November, I was pretty confident that later in the winter, I'd be able to run across one. I spent most of my spare birding time in December trolling gravel roads, checking sunflower fields, and scouring through every Goldfinch flock with an open ear listening for anything different.
Mexican Duck: Reprise
On December 5th, the Mexican Duck, that Keegan and I were unfortunately unable to relocate last month, resurfaced at the pond off of Highway 26 near Scottsbluff. We were originally planning on going up to the northwest to look for Redpoll, and Eugene was originally planning on birding Lake Mac and Lake O on the 6th. I quickly contacted both of them, and we decided to meet up and make an attempt.
Keegan came over to my house the night before and we got up at 3:30am, picked up Eugene in Kearney around 6, and were at Lake Ogallala just after sunrise. Since we were in the area, we decided to bird just a little bit in the area, Lake O is known for usually having some good birds!
We scoped through the ducks at Lake O, finding many species of ducks and grebes, and a single Surf Scoter. We drove around to the other side and were surprised to find a slightly darker-mantled Gull on the wire, a Short-billed Gull! A good omen for the day. After Lake O, we scoped a giant flock of gulls resting in Martin Bay and continued west on the north side of Lake Mac.
What is THAT?!?!
They say that you really can't turn birding off, and this is especially the case when driving with 2 other birders. On the drive we were calling out raptors, loads of Kestrels, many Red-tailed Hawks and Eagles, a couple Shrikes, and even a Ferruginous Hawk. Shortly after crossing into Garden County, we saw something completely different. Flying with a Rock Pigeon, we saw a slightly larger bird, dark overall, with white wingtips.
I quickly pulled over, Eugene and I turned to eachother and I said, "Are you thinking... Caracara?!?". I quickly flipped the car around in the middle of the highway (luckily not a busy one), and got us even with where it flew over the car, and sure enough it was a CRESTED CARACARA!!! Eugene got on it with his spotting scope, I put the flashers on, left the car running and went straight for my camera. HOLY COW. WHAT a bird. It took us a few minutes to realize what had just happened, Eugene said his brain was short-circuiting because he realized what it was, but we were in NEBRASKA!
After confirming the ID, we took photos until it drifted out of sight to the southwest. Then we quickly got the word out, Keegan sent an email, while I posted in Discord then called Mike and Mike who were on their way to the Mexican Duck, only 20 minutes behind us. When they arrived we were able to relocate it perched on a hay bale near the WMA. We didn't get incredible views, but we did get definitive views. We are so pumped that so many people got to see the bird in the following weeks, only the second record for the state, and the first chaseable one!
Mexican Duck: Continued.
So, anyway, after the Caracara interlude, we continued on to look for the Mexican Duck, completely open to the fact that even if we miss the duck, we already had an incredible day.
Lucky for us, we arrived at the pond, scoped for just about 10 minutes before I noticed one that was a bit darker overall. As it was dabbling, I could see the entirely dark mottled underside and undertail coverts. We moved from CR 26 to the shoulder of the highway and were able to get some decent photos.
We spent the rest of the day birding in the Scottsbluff area, hoping for some early winter finches, but with a good cone crop in the Rockies, it seems like birds like Cassin's Finch and Mountain Chickadee are content to stay west. It was nice to meet up with fellow birders at Flyover Brewing Company for dinner before making the long drive home. (keep an eye out for a food review blog post to hear more about Flyover)
Note: There is still some doubt about the purity of the Mexican Duck. Both Steven Mlodinow and Chris Wood think that it is within acceptable ranges for northern Mexican Ducks. The main issue is the curled tail feather, which I've found in my research is not always indicative of Mallard ancestry. Either way, I think if this bird is a hybrid, the Mallard ancestry is back at least a couple generations, 95% of the field marks show Mexican Duck. That being said, I will follow the NOU Records Committee. If they decide it isn't good enough, I will remove it from my list.
One Last Trip West
The next weekend, before the CBC in Scottsbluff, I went on a 3 day trip with Eugene and Keegan in the Pine Ridge. Our main targets were winter finches, especially Redpoll, which historically has been slightly easier to find in the northwest corner of the state, and even had reports in November.
This plan was great, but the weather began to turn on us. Our first day in Chadron was relatively fruitless. High humidity led to foggy conditions and the cold snap led to even more frost. We found some decent birds in the Chadron area, but nothing new for the year.
The next day was foggy again, We drove East Hat Creek, West Hat Creek, Pants Butte, and Sowbelly Roads without a hint of a winter finch. A Snow Bunting on Hat Creek was a nice surprise though! After driving the canyon roads in thick fog and frost without any results, we headed to Gilbert Baker. Despite the cold, we went on a 2 mile or so hike through the haunting winter landscape. There were plenty of winter birds to be had, but once again, none of our targets, until we got back to the parking lot.
As we were getting back to the car, we heard a different flight call, a rounded high pitched "pew" call, just a couple times. We heard it a few more times in the next 15 minutes as we tried to nail the bird down and finally, we got on it, an Evening Grosbeak (356)! After chasing it around the WMA, it found a nice berry bush and was content to let us get photos as we got within 15 feet of it! It was so nice to get a lifer (and a rarer one at that) after a couple days of tough birding.
CBCs
This year I participated in 2 CBCs. The first was Scotts Bluff. We were a little hesitant to go for the Mexican Duck the week before thinking it might be around for the CBC, but I'm sure glad we didn't wait. The Mexican Duck was not found on the CBC day, and hasn't been seen since. Despite that, we still had a great CBC. Keegan, Eugene, and I covered the southwest quadrant of the CBC. At the WTP in the morning, Eugene found a CBC first Long-tailed Duck. Later in the day, we ran across a flock of goldfinches, and while looking for Redpoll, we found another count first: Lesser Goldfinch! Finally, in Carter Canyon, we nabbed a third count first with a Winter Wren (there was a previous CBC record but it is Winter/Pacific since it was before the split).
A couple weeks later, I participated in the Lincoln CBC. I had a pretty good morning with Em in Wilderness Park where we found over 25 Brown Creepers (high count), 2 Winter Wrens, and 3 Kingfishers, all good birds for the count. I went out after dusk to check for Owls and found 3 Barred Owls.
Nemesis
Have I told you I'm looking for Redpoll? Yeah, my year nemesis. I spent nearly all my free birding time in the month scouring American Goldfinch flocks looking for my nemesis. There was a really good spot at Branched Oak that regulary had 200-300 birds, but try as I might, I couldn't turn any of them into a Redpoll. Near the end of the month, it was reported a couple times at a private feeder in Seward. I contacted the homeowner and was able to get permission to go look, but despite 6 hours on 3 separate days, I was unsuccessful. That's a bird that will have to wait for another year.
As the year rolls around to 2026, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone that has followed along and supported me throughout the year. I have a list of over 75 people that have helped me out over the course of the year and I am very grateful for all of them.
There will be a couple more posts in the future as I continue to reflect on the year (top 10 birds, best food, other stories not in the recaps etc.), so keep posted for those. Along those same lines, I will be giving a presentation about my experience at Rowe Sanctuary on March 14th 2026, and at Crane Trust on March 28th 2026, so keep an eye out for those if you are interested.
Check out my main Big Year page for maps, my full bird list, and some data visualizations!
- Crested Caracara, Garden
- Mexican Duck, Scotts Bluff
- Evening Grosbeak, Sioux
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