
Year birds: +1 (**353**)\
State birds: +1 (**357**)\
Life birds: +0 (**534**, +1 in MN)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/428457)

---

This was a weird fall, it was unseasonably warm for pretty much the entire month. It was great to get out an enjoy the weather, but I was getting a little antsy as far as year birding went, since most of my remaining targets are winter birds! As I sit here writing today, I can see the 6 inch shoots of next year's garlic just poking out of the 4 inches of fresh snow we've gotten in Lincoln, as my resident pair of Cardinals munches on seeds in the falling snow.

Anyway, I spent most of the month locally, making many trips out to a few sunflower and weedy fields in hopes of finding a Redpoll. It seems like it is going to be a good year for them, with many irrupting down south of the great lakes, and already a handful of reports here in Nebraska. Despite my efforts, I wasn't able to track one down, so that potential lifer will have to wait until December.

I had a few other birds in mind this month, notably small gulls, specifically Kittiwake. I scanned the beaches and waters of Branched Oak a number of times, but couldn't come up with this less-than-annual rarity.

### County Birding

I spent a few weekend days doing some county birding, exploring a few counties I'd never visited in winter and got a number of fun photos, including probably my best ever photo of a Red-headed Woodpecker!

[![Red-headed Woodpecker](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/645276959/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/645276959)
_Red-headed Woodpecker, Otoe County_

### Red-tailed Hawk Variety

As winter sets in, so do the interesting Red-tailed Hawk morphs. I ran into Harlan's, Krider's, and a dark morph Western/Northern Red-tailed this month. It's always cool to see some more variety!

[![Red-tailed Hawk](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/645410544/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/645410544)
_Red-tailed Hawk, Lancaster County_

### Weird Duck Season

Winter is probably best known for having weird ducks. I saw 25 species of ducks and other waterfowl this season and went on multiple "wild duck chases" to do so.

The first chase was when Steven Mlodinow reported a Mexican Duck in Scotts Bluff. Keegan and I decided to head out early the next day and try to relocate it. We spent 2 hours at the WTP where it was seen, scanned multiple highway-side ponds, with no luck. We eventually tried nearby Lake Minitare and there were thousands of distant ducks. We suspect our target was out in there, and unfortunately had to call it a day. A week later the duck was seen again in one of the exact roadside ponds we had checked! I decided that bird will have to wait until some other time, one 12-hour chase was enough.

Redemption came on the last day of the month. I had just gotten back from a cold morning of birding looking for Redpoll, when Sam Manning reported an American Black Duck in Douglas county! I had 3 hours until I needed to be at dinner, and it was a 1 hour drive each way, so after some quick mental math, I hopped in the car. Keegan and I had just gotten American Black Duck as a lifer in Minnesota on Thanksgiving day, so our hopes were high that we'd be able to pick it out with our fresh experience.

When I arrived, Keegan and Pat were scoping the pond, and they said it had just flown, and my heart sank a little. But we took our time and after a bit of scanning, relocated one of the ducks, phew! I was able to snap a few bad-buit-identifiable photos in the last hours of gray light of that cold winter day, year bird #353.

[![American Black Duck](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/646159373/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/646159373)
_American Black Duck, Douglas County_

### One month to go!

I'm hopeful that I might be able to get another bird or two this December. Redpoll seems very possible, but the one bird that I _really_ want is a Snowy Owl. So yes, my car doesn't quite get a break yet, I'll be driving gravel roads and scanning shortgrass prairies to see if I can find one. Also in mid-December, I have a trip planned out west with Eugene and Keegan, where we are targeting birds like Redpoll, Cassin's Finch, Evening Grosbeak, and more. No matter what we get, it will be fun to do a trip with others, capped off by the Christmas Bird Count in Scotts Bluff.

---

Thanks this month to Steven, Stephen, Keegan, Sam, Pat, Caroline (as always for putting up with my absence), and everyone else who has supported me this month and this year. We're on the final stretch!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/428457)

353. **American Black Duck**, Douglas


Nebraska Big Year: November Recap


Year birds: +2 (**352**)\
State birds: +1 (**356**)\
Life birds: +1 (**532**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/417420)

---

October was another one of the slower months, as expected. I picked up one expected species, and one complete surprise.

### Sparrows

My main target for the month was Nelson's Sparrow. After a report on the 1st, I went out looking at Little Salt Fork Marsh. The few of us there spent about 2 hours with no luck, when I received a call from Mark Brogie. He told me he was currently looking at not one, but FIVE Nelson's Sparrows out at Niobrara State Park. I decided to take the day off and head that way for the "sure" bird. Mark met me there, we drove over to the spot, and the birds immediately popped up!

[![Nelson's Sparrow](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642829690/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642829690)
_Nelson's Sparrow, Knox County_

The month continued on with many more sparrow species. And funny enough, just the next day I went to Marsh Wren with Eugene and we had 2 coooperative Nelson's Sparrows! Over the month of October, I saw pretty much all 19 expected resident and migrant sparrow species for Eastern Nebraska.

### Other Ideas

After reaching the record last month, this month let me relax a little... but instead I started going after crazy things. Keegan and I attempted to flush Yellow Rail one weekend at Jack Sinn WMA, and we did the same with a group of UNK folks out at Rowe the next weekend. We failed to find any of this incredibly secretive and hard to detect rail, but picked up quite a few county birds, and Keegan got his year "nemesis" American Bittern out at Rowe!

Throughout the month, I continued to check marshes, mudflats, and reservoirs for any vagrant shorebirds, gulls or jaegers, but nothing showed up. I spent a bit of time county birding in surrounding counties, ticking off birds like Harris's Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow in nearly all neighboring counties.

[![Fox Sparrow](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/643453118/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/643453118)
_Fox Sparrow, Seward County_

### Visible Migration

October is the month of Franklin's Gulls, I saw over 60,000 throughout the course of the month! But an interesting few days of prolonged northern winds during peak raptor migration released a spectacle directly over Lincoln. On October 5th, a huge kettle of an estimated 1,800 Swainson's Hawks circled over town in the evening. Not only was this a new bird for my yard list, this was the first time I'd ever seen something like this before, and it will take a long time to top! (The photo below is "only" 500 of the flock)

[![Swainson's Hawks](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642995294/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642995294)
_Swainson's Hawks, Lancaster County_

### One last surprise

Near the end of the month, there was one last surprise. I'd been hearing reports of vagrant hummingbirds in Michigan, North Carolina, New York, and Kansas, when would Nebraska get one? The answer was October 29th! A gracious homeowner re-spotted a purple throated hummingbird in her Canna lilies and sent it off to some friends and Game and Parks to ID. Joel confirmed it was a Costa's and put some of us into contact. A few of us went out first thing the next morning and were able to spot my lifer **Costa's Hummingbird (#352)**! Over the next few days, Jennifer was an amazing host, and as of today, I think nearly 50 people have gotten to enjoy this very lost hummingbird.

[![Costa's Hummingbird](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/644361919/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/644361919)
_Costa's Hummingbird, Lancaster County_

[![Costa's Hummingbird](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/644361162/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/644361162)
_This is one of my favorite photos of the whole year. It was nearly freezing that morning, and I was lucky to capture the hummingbird's breath!_

[![Costa's Hummingbird](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/644361164/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/644361164)
_He liked to hang out at the very top of one of the lilies._

---

As always thank you to everyone that I got out and birded with: Mark, Eugene, Dan, Tommy, Olivia, Em, Jacob, and more. And especially thanks to Jennifer for being such a great host for the vagrant hummingbird, the entire birding community appreciates it!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/417420)

351. **Nelson's Sparrow**, Knox
352. **Costa's Hummingbird**, Lancaster


Nebraska Big Year: October Recap


Year birds: +9 (**350**)\
State birds: +3 (**355**)\
Life birds: +3 (**530**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/407849)

---

### Migrants, Migrants, Migrants

September is maybe the second biggest month in birding, with the slow drip of fall migration. For Nebraska birding, that means catching all the migrants in the panhandle that only pass through in the fall. Following a trip at the end of August, I still had 3 main western migrant targets.

On the second weekend of the month, I headed back out to good old Oliver Reservoir in search of a Townsend's Warbler. I met up with the Brogies and a few other birders, and after finding a rare (for the panhandle) Chestnut-sided Warbler, we connected with two **Townsend's Warblers (342)** in a mixed foraging flock! The next day I birded with Eugene at Oliver again, and Dusky was the main target. While we didn't find that, I did get photos of what we believe to be a Western Warbling-Vireo

[![Townsend's Warbler](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/641530297/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/641530297)
_Townsend's Warbler, Kimball County_

[![Western Warbling-Vireo](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/641530306/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/641530306)
_Western Warbling-Vireo, Kimball County_

### Rarity Attempt

There's a saying, you miss every shot you don't take. Well, I decided to take a shot at some rarities. The second weekend of September, I headed as far southeast as I could in the state in search of a Black Vulture or Fish Crow. I spent nearly the whole day in Pawnee and Richardson counties, but only came up with Turkey Vultures and American Crows. Someday these birds will be found there, with climate change, it's only a matter of time, both species are slowly adjusting their ranges north.

### Sabine's

For the next couple weeks, I also made a few trips out to Branched Oak in search of Sabine's Gulls. On my fourth trip to Branched Oak, I found one loafing around on the beach! I quickly got the word out, and after my bike ride (the original point of the trip), I met up with a few more birders and we relocated it foraging south of Lieber's Point. This wasn't a life or state bird, but it was a new bird for my Lancaster county list (269)!

[![Sabine's Gull](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/641993878/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/641993878)
_Sabine's Gull, Lancaster County_

### West... again

Mid to late September is the beginning of Sapsucker season, so I headed west again (catching on to the pattern?) I left around noon on Friday, hoping to squeeze in a little birding in the evening, and boy, am I glad I did. I started on the west side of Oliver Reservoir looking for warblers and flycatchers in the young willows, and sure enough, I got on a flycatcher right away. I took my time with this bird (that was fairly cooperative) and took as many photos as I could before I concluded that it was my lifer **Dusky Flycatcher (344)**! Frankly, I had given up hope on this bird after missing it in 2 previous trips, so it was a huge boost to the effort to find one!

[![Dusky Flycatcher](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642247349/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642247349)
_Dusky Flycatcher, Kimball County_

The next day, I birded the traditional sapsucker spot at Oliver Reservoir, but the bird did not show. It was quite a slow day, actually. It was around 11am and I was moving to the west end of the lake to see if the flycatcher was still there, when I got a text from Michael Willison. He had a sapsucker at Exit 1. So I hopped in the car and drove the 20 or so miles over to exit 1 and after an hour of searching the pines, finally found the adult male **Red-naped Sapsucker (345)**!

[![Red-naped Sapsucker](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642251568/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642251568)
_Red-naped Sapsucker, Kimball County_

Happy with getting my 2 main targets for the trip, I headed to Scotts Bluff, where I found another Sabine's Gull on Lake Minitate. After spending the night at Wildcat Hills SRA, I made the trip home, stopping at Prairie Dog WPA on the way home for a shot at Sprague's Pipit, but they didn't show.

### NOU Meeting

Earlier this summer, I had organized a group to meet up before the NOU meeting and go on a boat trip on Lake Mac in search of gulls or jaegers. Unfortunately, the rental company cancelled on me, but Keegan and I decided to stick to our plans and spend a couple days birding in the west before the meeting.

On Thursday, we headed to Crescent Lake NWR, in hopes of some late and potentially rare shorebirds (especially Red Phalarope). We didn't come up with much of anything, but while we were there, Mark Brogie notified me that they had a Pine Warbler in Big Springs. It's truly a miracle that the text even came through because cell service in the NWR is spotty at best. After scanning a couple more lakes, Keegan and I set off straight for the Big Springs Cemetery. After about an hour of searching, the **Pine Warbler (346)** appeared with a group of Yellow-rumped Warblers. It showed well for a bit and even sang a little!

[![Pine Warbler](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642648083/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642648083)
_Pine Warbler, Deuel County_

After getting the Pine Warbler (which I'd missed twice this year already), we headed to Lake Mac to search for a **Great Black-backed Gull (347)**. Paul Dunbar had found it earlier in the day on beach 5, and sure enough, we got to beach 5 and it was right there! It's always nice to have an "easy" chase. The gull stuck around on Friday and Saturday and was seen by many at the NOU meeting.

[![Great Black-backed Gull](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642649365/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642649365)
_Great Black-backed Gull, Keith County_

On Friday, since I'd already gotten the gull, Keegan and I set out on yet another adventure to Kimball with the bird nerds: Boni and Colleen. We had a great day at Oliver and found a Red-naped Sapsucker which was a state bird for both of them! On the way back, the Brogie's struck again, when they flushed some **Sprague's Pipits** in Cheyenne County. We all packed back in the car and went to look. After a bit of searching, we did finally hear and get eyes on them. Paul Dunbar also came along and got to experience the record-breaking bird with us! We celebrated with lunch and sundaes in Potter.

[![Sprague's Pipit](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642650701/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642650701)
_Sprague's Pipit crew, Cheyenne County_

The NOU meeting itself didn't turn up anything new for the year, but it was still a great bit of birding. Sabine's Gulls, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Sprague's Pipits are more were some of the highlights of the weekend.

### Sparrows

Back at home, it was time to look for Nelson's and LeConte's Sparrows. On the 30th, I set out to Marsh Wren and found a single **LeConte's Sparrow (349)** among dozens of Lincoln's. Nelson's is the target for the coming week.

### West... again... again...

And just when I thought I was done heading west for the month, Stephen Brenner found a very rare **Pacific Wren** at Oliver Reservoir. This bird was recently split from Winter Wren and only has a few records for the state. I quickly made the determination that a wren was more likely to stick in the same spot than something like a warbler, so I set off on the second longest one-day chase of the year.

I arrived at Oliver around 4pm and started working the area where the wren was seen. I tried pishing and little bit of call playback. It had been abotu 30 minutes and I was beginning to get discouraged, when a tiny little bird popped up not 6 feet away from me in a tiny conifer. At first I saw it scurrying across the ground and wasn't even sure it was a bird. It gave 2 quick high pitched call notes and gave me a good look, a tiny dark brown wren with it's tail straight up. I got my camera up and then it dove into the grass, I got a poor photo (manual focus) before it flew away and disappeared into the brush. It's moments like this that you realize how absolutely ridiculous birding can be. I drove nearly 6 hours to get a 10 second look at a tiny bird that likely just finished flying hundreds of miles from the Black Hills or the northern Rocky Mountains, insane! It wasn't the most satisfying lifer, but it was an excellent bird to hit the mark of 350 with! I spent another hour in the area trying to relocate it, but the bird was simply being uncooperative, so I decided to call it and head the nearly 6 hours back home.

[![Pacific Wren](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/642755719/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/642755719)
_Pacific Wren, Kimball County_

---

**Record Watch**: We did it! With the addition of 9 birds this month, I have officially topped the previous record by 3 birds. From here, I will still be putting in a good effort, but the pressure is off. 350 was initially my "stretch" goal, but who knows, maybe 355 is possible? There are quite a few winter and irruptive species that I still need for my life or state list (looking at you, Snowy Owl).

I want to give a **huge** shoutout to Mark and Ed Brogie for locating 2 of my last 3 birds (PIWA, SPPI), Paul Dunbar for locating the record-tying GBBG, Stephen Brenner for finding the elusive Pacific Wren, as well as everyone that I birded with this month: Eugene, Keegan, Boni, Colleen, Michael, Paul, Mark, Ed, Eli, Dan, and I'm sure more than I'm forgetting. And especially thanks and love to my fiance for putting up with my antics, being gone _literally_ every weekend, and taking off on a 12 hour road trip on a random Tuesday morning. It truly wouldn't be possible to reach anywhere near this number without all the support I've gotten!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/407849)

342. **Townsend's Warbler**, Kimball
343. **Sabine's Gull**, Lancaster
344. **Dusky Flycatcher**, Kimball
345. **Red-naped Sapsucker**, Kimball
346. **Pine Warbler**, Deuel
347. **Great Black-backed Gull**, Keith
348. **Sprague's Pipit**, Cheyenne
349. **LeConte's Sparrow**, Lancaster
350. **Pacific Wren**, Kimball


Nebraska Big Year: September Recap


Year birds: +11 (**341**)\
State birds: +4 (**352**)\
Life birds: +3 (**527**, +3 in Colorado)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/399564)

---

August is usually referred to as the "summer doldrums", but my August was full of incredible rarities! It started off on the tail end of a successful trip out west in July. Keegan and I had just driven out through North Platte where we picked up a Rufous Hummingbird. Our other hummingbird target was Calliope, so we headed out to Gering to search.

### Hummingbirds!

Since no Calliope hummers had been reliably reported yet, we decided to start off the day with a little county listing. We headed out to the least populated county, Banner, to find some birds. Long Canyon had some great habitat, and we were able to find 26 species, including some panhandle specialties like Lesser Goldfinch and Cassin's Kingbird.

On our way back to Gering we stopped over lunchtime at some hummingbird feeders in the Wildcat Hills. We almost immediately found Black-chinned Hummingbirds, both adults and 2 juveniles! A Broad-tailed visited for a short while, and a third species flew right up to us, as if to say "hey, look at me" before feeding on some Rocky Mountain Beeplant. I quickly took photos so we coud identify it. We were torn between Broad-tailed and Rufous, but really couldn't place it in either bucket, before we realized it was our lifer Calliope Hummingbird (331)!

[![Calliope Hummingbird](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/639795388/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/639795388)
_Calliope Hummingbird, Scotts Bluff County_

### What now?

After getting our target bird on the first day of our trip, we decided to head to the Pine Ridge to see if we could pull out any rarities. Birds on my mind were Black Hills breeders, like Canyon Wren, Lewis's Woodpecker and Dusky Flycatcher. We had a lovely morning birding Harrison WTP and Sowbelly Canyon, before hopping over to Gilbert Baker WMA to take a quick look.

It was nearing mid-morning and it was getting hot fast, so we took a quick hike from the parking area across the creek and back. On our way back, after not seeing much, we heard a bird singing near the creek. As I had just been in Florida, after a few seconds I was able to identify the distinctive song as a **White-eyed Vireo** (332)! Totally unexpected! We pished it in and were able to get some decent photos of the particularly ragged individual.

[![White-eyed Vireo](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/639795114/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/639795114)
_White-eyed Vireo, Sioux County_

After that, we spent the night in Alliance, had some AMAZING barbeque (Golden Hour, highly recommended), and came back east via Crescent Lake NWR, which was _loaded_ with shorebirds, mostly Avocets and Baird's.

### Rarities

At this point in a big year, there isn't much left, so every new bird is pretty much a rarity. Mid-August was FULL of them.

On the morning of August 11th, an **Arctic Tern** was found at Lake Minitare by Stephen Brenner. I immediately set off on the longest chase of the year so far, driving 12 hours round trip to pick up this life bird and year bird #333!

[![Arctic Tern](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/640179117/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/640179117)
_Arctic Tern, Sioux County_

Not long after, on August 15th, I decided to do a loop of some lakes around Lincoln to look for Laughing Gulls or other post-breeding wanderers. At Oak Lake Park, I hit the jackpot, not with gulls, but with a pair of **Long-tailed Jaegers** (335)! I initially assumed they must be dark Ring-billed Gull juveniles, but took some more photos and they were unmistakably Jaegers! Immediately, I got the word out, and a handful of birders were able to come enjoy them before they took off and headed South.

[![Long-tailed Jaeger](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/640332519/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/640332519)
_Long-tailed Jaeger, Lancaster County_

### Splits and Lumps

Every Year the AOS reviews taxonomy, and based on research splits and lumps species. This year we didn't have any lumps affect my year list, but we did have one split, the Warbling Vireo. **Western Warbling Vireo** is now a new species, so the bird I heard singing in May at Oliver Reservoir will now count for my list! At the time, it would be #314, but now I'm slotting it in at #334 at the time of the split. Unfortuantely, I didn't get photos or a recording of the bird, so that will be a goal for next spring!

### Dream Bird

At the beginning of the year, I created a short list of birds that I would absolutely LOVE to see in Nebraska. These included a few that had been seen before as well as some that hadn't, like Greater Roadrunner, Harris's Hawk, Roseate Spoonbill, and Swallow-tailed Kite. On August 17th, my dream came true! John and Shari got eyes on a **Swallow-tailed Kite** at Pioneers Park in Lincoln! I had family over at my house working on a project, but we were just about done when the word got out so we headed that way IMMEDIATELY. As we were driving up, a bird soared over the road, and it was it! We quickly got the word out that we had refound it. The bird was later seen by pretty much everyone in the state, it seemed, and later in the week we discovered a second bird!

[![Swallow-tailed Kite](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/640516197/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/640516197)
_Swallow-tailed Kite, Lancaster County_

### Rarities: Reprise

Coming off the high of the stream of rarities in Nebraska, I headed west on a personal trip to do some hiking in Colorado. The trip was wonderful and netted me 3 more life birds ([Colorado trip report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/406020)). Literally as I was summitting a mountain, I got a text from Steven Mlodinow that he found an adult **White Ibis** at Lake Mac. Luckily, I was able to convince my wonderful fiance to take a quick detour on the way home, and I was able to tick off #337 for the year! The bird was quite distant and took some searching, but this definitely was a bird I was not expecting to see 2 years in a row.

[![White Ibis](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/640913385/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/640913385)
_White Ibis, Keith County_

### West Again

The end of August means the beginning of migration, so I headed out west again to try to find some of the western fall migrants with Keegan and Paul Roisen. The trip started off very well, on the first day we were able to track down a skulky **Macgillivray's Warbler** (338) and another life bird for myself **Gray Flycatcher** (339). Unfortuantel, the flycatcher only perched for a split second and did a couple deep tail dips for me, but Keegan and Paul didn't get to see it. Later in the trip, we found a **Hammond's Flycatcher** (340) at Gotte Park and a **Cassin's Vireo** (341) at the Gering Cemetery.

While out west, we got word that Michael Willison found a Virginia's Warbler at Exit 1. We headed there immediately, and with group of 6 birders, fanned out in the area, but despite our efforts we were unable to refind it. Also, while on the trip, a Pine Warbler was found in Omaha, but it seems that bird has also skipped town, it's just a risk you take when you travel during a year like this.

That leaves only 2 western migrant targets, Townsend's Warbler and Dusky Flycatcher. Try as we might, we simply couldn't nail down either species on this trip. We may have been slightly early.

---

**Record Watch**: With the incredible amount of rarities in August, I think I am in a great position to beat the record. 7 to go to set a new record, 9 for the big 350, and I still have a shortlist of 16 or so birds that are regular. As always, I am incredibly thankful for all the birders who have helped me out this month and encouraged me, especially the current king of Nebraska Big Years, Paul Dunbar! I couldn't do it without you all.

Thanks this month to Colin, Stephen, Olivia, Steven, John and Shari, Boni, Paul R, Keegan, Tommy, Eugene, Michael, and especially my lovely fiance Caroline for putting up with my antics and weekend absences!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/399564)

331. **Calliope Hummingbird**, Scotts Bluff
332. **White-eyed Vireo**, Sioux
333. **Arctic Tern**, Scotts Bluff
334. **\*Western Warbling Vireo**, Kimball
335. **Long-tailed Jaeger**, Lancaster
336. **Swallow-tailed Kite**, Lancster
337. **White Ibis**, Keith
338. **MacGillivray's Warbler**, Kimball
339. **Gray Flycatcher**, Kimball
340. **Hammond's Flycatcher**, Kimball
341. **Cassin's Vireo**, Scotts Bluff

**\*** (taxonomy split)


Nebraska Big Year: August Recap


Year birds: +2 (**330**)\
State birds: +0 (**347**)\
Life birds: +0 (**520**, +8 in Florida)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/390734)

---

As I expected, July was a difficult month for the big year. Motivation to get out and bird was a bit low, but I still got out and about searching for the slim chance of a rarity in a few different places throughout the state.

### Florida!

July started off slow, because I took a break from Nebraska birding! I took a short trip to Florida over the 4th of July weekend and had a great time. I wasn't primarily birding, but I was able to find a day to dedicate wholly to birding (along with a little on the side), and came away with 8 life birds. You can see [my trip report on ebird](https://ebird.org/tripreport/391872) for more. Highlights of that trip were Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman's Sparrow, 2 southern US endemics.

[![Red-cockaded Woodpecker](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/638668544/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/638668544)
_Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Citrus County, Florida_

### Back to Nebraska

Back in Nebraska, the search began for the rare wandering waders and water birds. A few birds I had in mind going into the month were Yellow-crowned Night Heron, White Ibis, Common Gallinule, and a couple more even rarer birds.

Early in the month, I took a day trip to Columbus to do some Platte County birding. The main goal was to get to 125 species in Platte County, and check a few spots for anything rare, Lake North always seems to turn up something. Nothing rare made an appearance, but I did just barely get to 125 for the county, with a surprisingly difficult-to-find Eastern Meadowlark.

Other excursions included a trip to Clay county, where unfortuantely 6 of the 8 locations visited were mostly dry. We had the best luck at Smith Lagoon where a high count of 11 Great Blue Herons, and over 100 Lesser Yellowlegs were the highlights.

Besides that, I spent most of my time birding in my home county of Lancaster, checking a few different spots that still had water, most notably Jack Sinn WMA. The best bird of a few trips there was a Western Sandpiper (county #266)! This one was fun to find, since Keegan was able to get down and see it to add it to his Big Year list, as well as many other birders in the next couple days. At one point, as many as 5 Western Sandpipers were found at the location!

[![Western Sandpiper](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/639000710/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/639000710)
_Western Sandpiper, Lancaster County_

### Through the Grapevine

One of the most crucial parts of a Big Year is always having ears to the ground for any rarities that are showing up. I am constantly checking ebird alerts (Nebraska and neighboring states), Facebook, NEbirds emails, Discord, and keeping in touch with multiple people so I'm in the know about anything that shows up.

The first of these this month was a report of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron that Eugene received. He posted some cell phone pics that were sent to him on Discord and I had to go investigate. Sure enough, the bird was still there at the Fremont Golf Course, and I was able to tick off #329, one of the most expected wandering waders.

[![Yellow-crowned Night Heron](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/639064157/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/639064157)
_Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Dodge County_

The second of these was a report of a Rufous Hummingbird posted on Facebook. With the help of other local birders, I was able to find the general area of the report and get a quick look at year #330 in a neighborhood in North Platte on my way out west for the weekend!

### Misses

The only notable miss for the month is Laughing Gull. There was one report by TJ Walker at Calamus Reservoir that I simply couldn't chase in the middle of the week. I hope another one shows up a little closer to home in August!

---

Thanks this month to Eugene, Keegan, Boni, Paul, Dan, and everyone else that's cheering me on!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/390734)

329. **Yellow-crowned Night Heron**, Dodge
330. **Rufous Hummingbird**, Lincoln


Nebraska Big Year: July Recap


Year birds: +6 (**328**)\
State birds: +3 (**347**)\
Life birds: +0 (**511**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/380323)

---

May was a marathon and June was a slog. Breeding season is in full swing and with it came the heat. New birds were few and far between, but very high quality.

### Pawnee Prairies

One of my first targets of the month was Henslow's Sparrow, so on June 1st, I met Keegan at Burchard WMA in Pawnee county, which is historically a great spot for the species. We looked there for over 2 hours, finding many Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolink, and other grassland birds, but not our target. Having no luck there, I decided to give Pawnee Prairie WMA a try, and sure enough, within 15 minutes we had singing **Henslow's Sparrows** (323)! They were a little too far away to get good photos, but I did bring along some good recording equipment and got [a great recording of one singing](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/636884867).

### Bittern

That same week, there was a report of a Least Bittern in Omaha. I was skeptical at first, thinking it might just be a migrant. But after it was spotted again and heard displaying, I went right away. On the monring of June 6th, I left Lincoln before dawn to arrive at Flanagan Lake around sunrise. We tromped through the wet grasses on the overgrown fishing jetties to the location where the bird was last seen, and after a little bit of effort (to hear over all of the blackbirds), we heard the [distinctive grunt display](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637149052) of the **Least Bittern** (324). This was a new state bird for me as well, having only seen it once in Mexico.

### Crescent Lake BBS

June is the month of Breeding Bird Surveys, and this year, I decided to take on my first. I was assigned the Crescent Lake Route, that starts in Crescent Lake NWR, goes south through the sandhills, and then into a little bit of farmland. As I was driving all that way, I decided to make a long weekend trip of it.

On my way out, I detoured south into Chase county to look for Cassin's Sparrows. Dr. Cooper had found some just a few days earlier near Enders Reservoir. While I was looking, I ran into Eugene, and he said he'd had one just up the road. Sure enough, I pulled up the road, and I got great views of a pair of **Cassin's Sparrows** (325) singing and collecting food, likely for young in a nearby nest!

[![Cassin's Sparrow](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/637613971/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637613971)
_Cassin's Sparrow, Garden County_

The BBS route itself was great, the first few stops were absolutely packed with birds. Nothing new for the year, but I got a few new county birds, and a few audio lifers as I stopped briefly after my point counts to take recordings. The highlights of the day included a pair of Black-necked Stilts at the first stop, displaying and flying American Bitterns around stop 10, and a Long-tailed Weasel in the sandhills!

[![American Bittern](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/637628414/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637628414)
_American Bittern, Garden County_

After completing the route, I birded my way through Garden county north towards Fort Robinson State Park (where I ran into Eugene again) to stay the night before birding in the pine ridge the next day. To make a long day even longer, I decided to attend the local playhouse's production of "Newsies" at the Post Playhouse, which was quite good!

The next mornning, I got up early and started birding the Soldier Creek area northwest of the state park, hoping for any sort of rare pine ridge bird. About an hour in, I got a text from Eugene who was also birding in the area over at Henry Road. He had some really good birds, so I hopped back in the car and headed that way.

I searched for over 2 hours, but was unfortunately unable to relocate the amazing Black-throated Sparrow that Eugene had found. I did, however, get great looks at the **Sage Thrashers** (326)! The pair was hanging out (likely breeding) on the Wyoming side of the road, but ocassionally flew across to the Nebraska side, or on the road itself, so I was able to count it. This was also a new state bird for me, and one I was specifically targeting for this year. As of writing, it seems they are having a sort of "irruption" year, there have been reports at 4 different locations in the past 2 weeks, 3 juveniles, and a singing bird at Montz Point WMA.

[![Sage Thrasher](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/637647668/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637647668)
_Sage Thrasher, Sioux County_

A trip out west wouldn't be complete without a visit to Scotts Bluff, so I headed that way in the afternoon, stopping at Flyover Brewing Company for my favorite wood-fired pizza (it's seriously so good) before heading to Wildcat Hills. At Wildcat, I picked up perhaps my last "easy" target for the year **Lesser Goldfinch** (327), and also got great looks at the Rocky Mountain subspecies Hairy Woodpecker that has been hanging around. Both species of Hummingbird also made an appearance, which was great to see.

The next morning (after being woken up by Yellow-breasted Chats), I checked Exit 1 on the off chance that an Ash-throated Flycatcher came early, and also birded Oliver Reservoir with Steve hoping for some late migrants, but came up short on both, so I headed back home down I-80.

### County Listing

The weekend of the 21st, I was once again prepared to head to Exit 1 for the flycatcher, as Boni was checking early that morning. I left Lincoln early, hoping that she would find it, but after no luck, I pivoted the day into a county birding adventure! I was very close to 125 species in Lincoln county, and had 7 unvisited counties in the state that were relatively close to eachother.

In Lincoln County, I just got to 125 birding along Wildlife Road, so I set off to fill in the rest of the map. The 7 new counties I visited throughout the day were Brown (48), Garfield (30), Keya Paha (39), Logan (34), Loup (36), Rock (40), and Wheeler (30). I also gained county birds in 6 other counties to tally over 300 county ticks for the day. Highlights included a Western Wood-Pewee in Brown County, and a Black-crowned Night Heron in Wheeler County.

### Loon?!?!

If you think about the birds you might see in June, I suspect the _last_ one you would think of (at least in Nebraska) are loons, especially the uncommon species that breed in the high arctic. So you can imagine the surprise on my face as I was doing yard work in 100+ degree heat and got a text from Steven Mlodinow that he was looking at a BREEDING PLUMAGE Red-throated Loon at Lake Ogallala!

This was a bird I simply _could not_ miss, so the next morning I left Lincoln at 3am, driving through thunderstorms across the plains to arrive at Lake O just after sunrise.

I started on the dam side among hundreds of Cliff Swallows, fighting the biting flies in the calm morning and began scanning the lake. I quickly spotted a large raft of Redhead, a few grebes, and a handful of cormorants. I knew loons tend to be creatures of habit and like foraging in the same spots, so I waited. And after about 20 minutes, I saw the [goofy-necked, odd-looking shape](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/638181577) of a **Red-throated Loon** (328) flying straight in. It landed on the far east side of the lake, and I was able to position myself in the middle of the diversion dam to observe and get some good photos. It dove a handful of times right after landing and then was content to sit and show off, preening, scratching, and even flapping it's wings once for me. I still can barely believe it, definitely one of the highlight birds of the year!

[![Red-throated Loon](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/638157595/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/638157595)
_Red-throated Loon, Keith County_

Big Year-wise, this was a great bird to get out of the way now, because now I can spend my time in November looking for winter irruptive species in the pine ridge instead of scanning reservoirs for loons!

Now, since I had gotten all the way out to Lake McConaughy, I decided to also take a stab at the Laughing Gull that Mlodinow had also seen the day before. I ran into Eugene again (who also got the loon) and we both split up to different parts of the lake to search for the gull. Around 12:45, I decided to break for lunch, and sure enough, right after I had ordered, Eugene texted me that he had the bird. I left as soon as I could, driving the 20 minutes back towards Martin Bay where he had was looking at the gull, and sure enough, not 10 minutes before I got back, the bird flew, never to be seen again...

I spent the rest of the day looking for it, with no luck, and decided to spend the night as well to try again in the morning. Same story: huge lake, one bird, no luck. I think I nearly put in more effort looking for this bird that the Common Crane in March. My consolation prize was the Piping Plovers. They were all over the beaches, and incredibly photogenic, especially in the morning. Lots of parents were still tending nests, but I also saw one juvenile! I gave it until 1:30 the next day, hoping that the gull would show up at the same spot in Martin Bay before heading home.

[![Piping Plover](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/638163113/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/638163113)
_Piping Plover, Keith County_

---

**Record Watch**: My goal this year is to go for the state Big Year record, and 6 months in, I think I am on track. With 20 birds to go, I have at least 11 species that I am very confident that I will be able to get, which leaves 9 more out of rarities, post-breeding wanderers, and winter irruptive species. I'll give it my best, but only time will tell...

Thanks this month to Eugene, Keegan, Pro, Dave, Boni, Stephen, Steve, and everyone else that I birded with and has provided encouragement or support throughout the month, I really appreciate it!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/380323)

323. **Henslow's Sparrow**, Pawnee
324. **Least Bittern**, Douglas
325. **Cassin's Sparrow**, Chase
326. **Sage Thrasher**, Sioux
327. **Lesser Goldfinch**, Scotts Bluff
328. **Red-throated Loon**, Keith


Nebraska Big Year: June Recap


Year birds: +73 (**322**)\
State birds: +10 (**344**)\
Life birds: +3 (**511**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/359607)

---

May was an absolute marathon of birding. I knew it would be a lot going into it, but getting up every day before sunrise for nearly 3 weeks, hiking 2-4 miles, and then putting in a full day's work really got to me. Luckily, all of my hard work paid off and I got some really good birds, and put myself in a really good spot for the rest of the year!

### Warbler Mania

When planning out my big year, I marked May 1-21 on my calendar as "WARBLER MANIA". The plan was to get out every morning in Wilderness Park (or elsewhere on the weekends) and bird for migrants. I knew getting as many migrant warblers as possible would be key to hitting my goals for the month.

On just the second day out in Wilderness Park, I hit pay dirt. I heard a high pitched buzzy song, and after some searching, finally got eyes on a male **Blue-winged Warbler**! Blue-winged is a very rare migrant for the state and it was a huge boost to my efforts and motivated me to keep going every morning.

[![Blue-winged Warbler](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/634857188/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/634857188)
_Blue-winged Warbler, Lancaster County_

Over the next couple weeks, I was able to find over 20 warbler species as well as a **Phildelphia Vireo** (299) here in Lancaster county! A few trips to Omaha's Fontenelle Forest and Towl park allowed me to rack up a grand total of 29 warbler species for the month!

[![Golden-winged Warbler](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/635103111/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635103111)
_Golden-winged Warbler, Lancaster County_

One of my favorite moments was when Judson messaged me that he had a **Bay-breasted Warbler** (298) and a **Mourning Warbler** (297) in one section of Wilderness Park, while I was at Tierra Park. I decided to leave, and on the way out, I found a singing **Canada Warbler** (296)! I arrived at Wilderness, got both warblers, and then Judson headed to Tierra and got the Canada. Really fun to trade rare warblers with another birder.

[![Bay-breasted Warbler](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/635755494/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635755494)
_Bay-breasted Warbler, Lancaster County_

### Meetups

Throughout the month, I organized a few birding meetups. We met twice at Fontenelle Forest early in May, and once at Indian Cave State Park the second week of May. The trip to Indian Cave was especially productive. We were able to find all of the nightjars, as well as hear a rare and elusive **Black-billed Cuckoo** (290), which was a state bird for me! Other notable birds on the Indian Cave meetup included **Blue-headed Vireo** (291), which somehow eluded me for 2 weeks, and **Kentucky Warbler** (289).

### Towhee (and detour)

Early in May, when it seemed like migration was going to happen on schedule (instead of early like last year), I decided to take a trip out west to try to track down the sneaky **Green-tailed Towhee** (274).

On my way out, I dipped down to Clay county in hopes of finding a Least Bittern, but instead found my first of year **Upland Sandpiper** (264) and **Buff-breasted Sandpiper** (265). On my way out through Hastings (waiting for my food at Arby's), I got a phone call from Mark Brogie, he told me they were currently looking at a Little Blue Heron! Naturally, I had to detour, so I rerouted from my western plans and headed up highway 2 to Halsey.

I got up at dawn and went to the little pond where the heron was seen. After about 20 minutes of waiting, I decided to check the river, and sure enough, the bird was roosting high in a tree above the river! As I watched, it flew over and landed in the small pond about 50 yards away. I spent nearly 40 minutes enjoying my new state bird, and year bird #266 before continuing west for the Towhee.

[![Little Blue Heron](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/635302063/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635302063)
_Little Blue Heron, Thomas County_

I spent the next 2 days birding in the morning and working from the Wildcat Hills Nature Center. On my second day there (and still no Towhee), I got a text from Stephen Brenner that he had a Green-tailed Towhee at Oliver reservoir, so I hopped in the car and headed there. When I told him it would be a lifer, he turned around and met me there to help! After 30 minutes of searching, and flushing the bird multiple times, I was finally able to get a passable photo of this life bird, and year bird #274!

[![Green-tailed Towhee](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/635301298/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635301298)
_Green-tailed Towhee, Kimball County_

### NOU Meeting

The bi-annual NOU meetings always seem to stir up rarities, and this year didn't disappoint! I left Lincoln early on friday morning to bird the counties on the way to the meeting with Dan, Keegan, and Paul. We birded our way through Washington and Burt counties, where I picked up a **Magnolia Warbler** as year bird #300!

We ended up in Thurston county at the Winnebago WTP (which would become a really good hotspot for the weekend) when Keegan got an alert that there was a **Neotropic Cormorant** (301) at Kramper Lake. We immediately hopped in the car and set off. It didn't take long after we arrived to find the Cormorant, which was a state bird!

[![Neotropic Cormorant](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/636052439/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/636052439)
_Neotropic Cormorant, Dakota County_

Perhaps even more interesting, on the way there, Dan and I saw a Lark Bunting, the first record for Thurston County! We hypothesize that sustained winds from the west drove this bird east. Eastern Iowa also had a record a couple days later, and other western birds also began showing up in the east, really interesting pattern!

### Out West

After the NOU meeting, Caleb and Thane headed west and they stirred up some rarities: Worm-eating Warbler, and Pine Warbler. Having seen most of my eastern targets, I decided to give it a shot. I left early in the morning on the 20th to search. Despite efforts put in by myself and the UNK big day crew, we couldn't find either bird.

I decided to salvage something out of the trip anyway, and spent the next 4 days birding in the Gering and Kimball area. In Gering I was able to pick up **Black-chinned Hummingbird** (311) and **Broad-tailed Hummingbird** (315) as well as plenty of other western breeding birds.

[![Black-chinned Hummingbird](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/636436957/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/636436957)
_Black-chinned Hummingbird, Scotts Bluff County_

In a couple trips to Oliver Reservoir I got my best ever looks at Western Tanager, as well as a couple of other Western year birds. I found a very late (and very rare for Kimball), **Western Sandpiper** (316) in a small mixed flock of shorebirds, as well as a bright **Western Flycatcher** (317).

[![Western Tanager](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/636437092/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/636437092)
_Western Tanager, Sioux County_

On Saturday, I drove back through the rain but was still able to pick up my year **Black-crowned Night-Heron** (319) near Lakeside. Despite the rain, I attempted to bird through Crescent Lake NWR. I saw plenty of birds, but there weren't many shorebirds to be found, and the roads were getting treacherous in the pouring rain, so I continued on home.

### Nemesis

Near the end of the month, and warbler mania, there was still one regular eastern warbler I just had not run into. I sent out the bat signal, asking local birders to let me know if they saw any. Of course, dozens showed up in the 4 days I decided to go out west, but on my way back, I got a text from Paul Dunbar.

I drove straight to Hastings from Crescent Lake, pulled up to the school, and he was there with a scope on the a female **Blackburnian Warbler** (320)! Not only did I get the bird, we found 2, a pretty rare bird for Adams county! It was fitting that the current Big Year record holder was the one to help me out with my last warbler.

[![Blackburnian Warbler](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/636437550/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/636437550)
_Blackburnian Warbler, Adams County_

### One last bird

Having exhausted nearly all my targets, I went out on the afternoon of the 30th looking for terns, hoping for a Common, or even a longshot at an Arctic. I had 7 spots on a 65-mile route around Lincoln scoped out. My first stop was Capitol Beach Lake, and low and behold, I saw one tern on the whole lake, and it turned out to be my **Common Tern** (322)! After countless hours searching for other rare birds throughout the month, it felt good to get one quickly to wrap up the month.

I ended with a month total of 257 species, smashing my tally last year of 228, and with my year total at 322, I'm in a really good spot for the rest of the year!

Shoutouts this month to Paul, Pro, Keegan, Stephen, Olivia, Rita, Tommy, Eugene, Cody, Lauren, Dan, Caleb, Mark, Judson, Eli, Kojo, Colleen, Shari & Jon, and everyone else that helped me out or birded with me this month!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/359607)

248. **Nashville Warbler**, Lancaster
249. **Yellow-throated Vireo**, Lancaster
250. **Sedge Wren**, Lancaster
251. **Black Tern**, Lancaster
252. **Blue-winged Warbler**, Lancaster
253. **Black-bellied Whistling-Duck**, Sarpy
254. **Orchard Oriole**, Sarpy
255. **American Redstart**, Sarpy
256. **Gray-cheeked Thrush**, Sarpy
257. **Scarlet Tanager**, Sarpy
258. **Ovenbird**, Sarpy
259. **Black-throated Green Warbler**, Sarpy
260. **Eastern Wood-Pewee**, Sarpy
261. **Short-billed Dowitcher**, Lancaster
262. **Bell's Vireo**, Lancaster
263. **Golden-winged Warbler**, Lancaster
264. **Upland Sandpiper**, Clay
265. **Buff-breasted Sandpiper**, Clay
266. **Little Blue Heron**, Thomas
267. **American Bittern**, Grant
268. **Red-necked Phalarope**, Sheridan
269. **Lark Bunting**, Box Butte
270. **Yellow-breasted Chat**, Scotts Bluff
271. **White-throated Swift**, Scotts Bluff
272. **Common Poorwill**, Scotts Bluff
273. **Black-headed Grosbeak**, Scotts Bluff
274. **Green-tailed Towhee**, Kimball
275. **Blackpoll Warbler**, Lancaster
276. **Dickcissel**, Lancaster
277. **Bobolink**, Lancaster
278. **Ruddy Turnstone**, Platte
279. **Sanderling**, Platte
280. **Cape May Warbler**, Douglas
281. **Yellow-billed Cuckoo**, Cass
282. **Acadian Flycatcher**, Sarpy
283. **Ruby-throated Hummingbird**, Sarpy
284. **Chestnut-sided Warbler**, Sarpy
285. **Scissor-tailed Flycatcher**, Pawnee
286. **Common Nighthawk**, Nemaha
287. **Eastern Whip-poor-will**, Nemaha
288. **Chuck-will's-widow**, Nemaha
289. **Kentucky Warbler**, Richardson
290. **Black-billed Cuckoo**, Richardson
291. **Blue-headed Vireo**, Richardson
292. **American Barn Owl**, Lancaster
293. **Blue Grosbeak**, Lancaster
294. **Olive-sided Flycatcher**, Lancaster
295. **Alder Flycatcher**, Lancaster
296. **Canada Warbler**, Lancaster
297. **Mourning Warbler**, Lancaster
298. **Bay-breasted Warbler**, Lancaster
299. **Philadelphia Vireo**, Lancaster
300. **Magnolia Warbler**, Burt
301. **Neotropic Cormorant**, Dakota
302. **Wilson's Warbler**, Dakota
303. **Willow Flycatcher**, Dakota
304. **Least Tern**, Dixon
305. **Veery**, Dixon
306. **Connecticut Warbler**, Lancaster
307. **Western Wood-Pewee**, Scotts Bluff
308. **Bullock's Oriole**, Scotts Bluff
309. **Western Tanager**, Scotts Bluff
310. **Cassin's Kingbird**, Kimball
311. **Black-chinned Hummingbird**, Scotts Bluff
312. **Mississippi Kite**, Scotts Bluff
313. **Lazuli Bunting**, Scotts Bluff
314. **Plumbeous Vireo**, Kimball
315. **Broad-tailed Hummingbird**, Scotts Bluff
316. **Western Sandpiper**, Kimball
317. **Western Flycatcher**, Kimball
318. **Brewer's Sparrow**, Sioux
319. **Black-crowned Night Heron**, Sheridan
320. **Blackburnian Warbler**, Adams
321. **Yellow-bellied Flycatcher**, Douglas
322. **Common Tern**, Lancaster


Nebraska Big Year: May Recap


Year birds: +82 (**247**)\
State birds: +2 (**334**)\
Life birds: +2 (**509**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/340906)

---

April was one of the biggest month of the year, both in birds added to the list, and in miles traveled. Searching for birds this month took me literally to all 4 corners of the state. Once again, it had some great chases, some disappointing misses, and of course, some really good birds along the way.

The month started out kinda slow, but the shorebirding started to pick up my mid April, along with an influx of sparrows. I ticked off **Vesper** (166), **Lincoln's** (167), **Chipping** (168), **Swamp** (169), **Eastern Towhee** (173), and **Grasshopper Sparrows** (175) quite early in the month. No luck yet with a spring LeConte's or Henslow's but attempts will be made later for those. I also got nearly all my shorebird targets, still just looking for Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, and Ruddy Turnstone.

### Partridge

The 2 big targets for this month were 2 life birds, Glossy Ibis, and Gray Partridge. On April 11th, Keegan and I took off for Cedar county to try for partridge. After camping the night, we arrived at a traditional partridge spot just before sunrise. I was rolling the window down and noticed 2 game birds pop out of the ditch into the corn stubble. I immediately clocked them as **Gray Partridge** (179) just before they flew off. Unfortunately due to the viewing angle from the passenger seat, Keegan didn't get a look. I'm sure we'll be back up there someday to try again.

Also on that trip we stopped at Lake North/Babcock. There were literally hundreds of shorebirds, perhaps thousands. The only year bird we could pick out of the bunch were **American Golden-Plover** (178). Later in the month, I visited Lake North again to see the **Snowy Plover** (208) that Lynette found! A great bird, and one I wasn't expecting to see 2 years in a row.

[![Snowy Plover](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/634263173/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/634263173)
_Snowy Plover, Platte County_

### Lange WPA

The next lifer target was Glossy Ibis. Paul Dunbar graciously scouted out some locations in Clay county, and the next weekend, we headed out, starting at Lange WPA. It was a gorgeous crisp spring morning day and the small pond at Lange WPA was loaded with shorebirds. There weren't any Ibis visible, but we decided to take a short hike through the meadow to get a better look. Just after we had begun scoping the shorebirds, 3 huge white birds flew in nearly straight at us, a family group of Whooping Cranes! They landed less than 50 feet away from us, completely unbothered by our presence, before moseying along through the meadow to the north. It was an incredible experience with these amazing birds that I don't think will be matched for a long time.

[![Whooping Cranes](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/634054651/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/634054651)
_Whooping Crane, Clay County_

After Lange, we hit a few other spots, until we ended up at Kissinger Basin. After a bit of a hike out to the mudflats, we began scanning through a group of about 30 ibis. And sure enough, with a little effort, we were able to find a **Glossy Ibis** (199)! A lifer for both Keegan and I.

[![Glossy ibis](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/634054733/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/634054733)
_Glossy Ibis, Clay County_

It seems our Whooping Crane discovery earlier at Lange WPA set off a sort of [Patagonia picnic table effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonia_picnic_table_effect). The next day when Dave C headed out there to look for the cranes, he found a **Whimbrel** (205)! Of course, I had to go see that one, so I made another visit for Clay county. And the day after _that_, Joel headed out here and found a White-tailed Kite! I spent some time looking for that one too and was unable to relocate it, but it was still really cool to see a small wetland get such great birds.

### Out West

With most of the eastern targets out of the way before migration truly begins, I decided to take a long weekend out west to see some of the western and shortgrass prairie specialties. A stop at Lake McConaughy yielded **Caspian Tern** (221) and **Clark's Grebe** (222). The weather didn't cooperate with us much for a visit to Crescent Lake, and the shorebirds were quite lacking, but we still found **Burrowing Owl** (224) and **Say's Phoebe** (225).

After that we headed further west to find a **Mountain Plover** (228) in Kimball county, as well as **Thick-billed Longspur** (227) and **Chestnut-collared Longspur**. A jaunt up to Sowbelly canyon gave us an incredible **Black-bellied Plover** (230) flyover of all things, and the first **Violet-green Swallows** (229) of the year. We also saw the rare **Common Raven** on Henry road, and got much better looks than I had in February.

Having gotten most of the western targets by Sunday, we decided to drive back and try for a Western Sandpiper in Hastings, and a White-eyed Vireo the next day at Fontenelle forst. Unfortuantely both birds didn't show.

### Migration!

After the trip west, I spent Monday in Sarpy county and racked up another 11 year birds, including a returning **Prothonotary Warbler** (238). A few more birds back in Lancaster, and now I'm ready to chase all the migrants!

### An attempt was made

There were a few birds that I attempted to find, but did not this month (most were expected misses, but I had to try). Yellow Rail at Jack Sinn WMA, Fish Crow in Richardson county, White-tailed Kite in Clay county, White-eyed Vireo at Fontenelle Forest, and Western Sandpiper in Hastings were a few of the (longshot) misses this month.

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/340906)

166. **Vesper Sparrow**, Lancaster
167. **Lincoln's Sparrow**, Lancaster
168. **Chipping Sparrow**, Lancaster
169. **Swamp Sparrow**, Sarpy
170. **Great Egret**, Douglas
171. **Hudsonian Godwit**, Lancaster
172. **Semipalmated Sandpiper**, Lancaster
173. **Eastern Towhee**, Lancaster
174. **Northern Rough-winged Swallow**, Lancaster
175. **Grasshopper Sparrow**, Lancaster
176. **Least Sandpiper**, Lancaster
177. **Dunlin**, Lancaster
178. **American Golden-Plover**, Platte
179. **Gray Partridge**, Cedar
180. **Yellow-throated Warbler**, Sarpy
181. **Northern Parula**, Sarpy
182. **Osprey**, Cass
183. **Louisiana Waterthrush**, Cass
184. **Northern House Wren**, Lancaster
185. **Black-necked Stilt**, Lancaster
186. **Western Cattle-Egret**, Lancaster
187. **White-faced Ibis**, Lancaster
188. **White-winged Dove**, Lancaster
189. **Forster's Tern**, Lancaster
190. **Cliff Swallow**, Saunders
191. **Long-billed Curlew**, Lancaster
192. **Semipalmated Plover**, Lancaster
193. **Cinnamon Teal**, Lancaster
194. **Broad-winged Hawk**, Lancaster
195. **Lark Sparrow**, Richardson
196. **Blue-gray Gnatcatcher**, Richardson
197. **Swainson's Hawk**, Nemaha
198. **Wilson's Phalarope**, Clay
199. **Glossy Ibis**, Clay
200. **Hooded Warbler**, Douglas
201. **Orange-crowned Warbler**, Douglas
202. **Ruby-crowned Kinglet**, Douglas
203. **Northern Mockingbird**, Lancaster
204. **Spotted Sandpiper**, Lancaster
205. **Whimbrel**, Clay
206. **Snowy Egret**, Platte
207. **Willet**, Platte
208. **Snowy Plover**, Platte
209. **Piping Plover**, Clay
210. **Common Yellowthroat**, Lancaster
211. **Bank Swallow**, Lancaster
212. **Warbling Vireo**, Lancaster
213. **Gray Catbird**, Lancaster
214. **Eastern Kingbird**, Lancaster
215. **Stilt Sandpiper**, Lancaster
216. **Rose-breasted Grosbeak**, Lancaster
217. **Yellow Warbler**, Lancaster
218. **Green Heron**, Lancaster
219. **Solitary Sandpiper**, Lancaster
220. **Sora**, Lancaster
221. **Caspian Tern**, Keith
222. **Clark's Grebe**, Keith
223. **Clay-colored Sparrow**, Keith
224. **Burrowing Owl**, Garden
225. **Say's Phoebe**, Garden
226. **Marsh Wren**, Garden
227. **Thick-billed Longspur**, Kimball
228. **Mountain Plover**, Kimball
229. **Violet-green Swallow**, Sioux
230. **Black-bellied Plover**, Sioux
231. **Chestnut-collared Longspur**, Sioux
232. **White-rumped Sandpiper**, Adams
233. **Summer Tanager**, Sarpy
234. **Wood Thrush**, Sarpy
235. **Swainson's Thrush**, Sarpy
236. **Great Crested Flycatcher**, Sarpy
237. **Chimney Swift**, Sarpy
238. **Prothonotary Warbler**, Sarpy
239. **Baltimore Oriole**, Sarpy
240. **Palm Warbler**, Sarpy
241. **Northern Waterthrush**, Sarpy
242. **Black-and-white Warbler**, Sarpy
243. **Least Flycatcher**, Sarpy
244. **Indigo Bunting**, Lancaster
245. **Tennessee Warbler**, Lancaster
246. **Red-eyed Vireo**, Lancaster
247. **Western Kingbird**, Lancaster


Nebraska Big Year: April Recap


Year birds: +34 (**165**)\
State birds: +3 (**332**)\
Life birds: +2 (**507**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/337360)

---

March was a great month of birding. I'm ending the first quarter of the year with 165 species, exactly 25 species ahead of Paul's 2013 pace. A portion of the birds I'm "ahead" with are more common ones that will come easier later in the year (and he had 16 I've yet to find), but I did pick up a couple really good ones this month!

### Out West

The month started out west. Keegan and I were camping at Lake Ogallala looking for gulls the last few days of February, and not finding much on the third day, we decided to go to Sutherland Reservoir to see if we could find one of the legendary massive flocks of Snow Geese. On the way in, by the cooling ponds, we saw a loon. Naturally, I snapped some photos, and we both wrote it off as a Common Loon, but something was still odd about it. It took until 2 hours later when we got back to camp for me to study the photos and realize that it was actually a **Pacific Loon** (132)! A really great bird to pick up early in the year, and a state bird for both of us. Later Boni E, Dave C, and others were able to relocate the bird and add it to their state lists!

[![Pacific Loon](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/631530734/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/631530734)
_Pacific Loon, Lincoln County_

Also at Sutherland we did manage to find a massive flock of geese. Atempting to estimate the size was difficult, but with a little studying of the maps we were able to estimate a [flock size of 560,000](https://ebird.org/checklist/S216074079)!

### Gull-a-palooza!

As new year birds were coming in a bit slowly in mid March, I decided to go bird at Marsh Wren, just to see if any early shorebirds decided to stop there. Instead of shorebirds, I ran into a [MASSIVE flock of gulls](https://ebird.org/checklist/S218281421)!

Among the flock, I found a Glaucous Gull, multiple Lesser-black-backed Gulls, "Thayer's" and "Kumlien's" Iceland Gulls, 2 California Gulls (very rare for Lancaster county), and a [hybrid Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull](https://ebird.org/checklist/S218690750)! The flock seemed to be resting there after foraging at the dump and showed up regularly for over a week! It was very cool to see many people come out and get life, state, and county birds from such a diverse and cooperative flock! Just goes to show that birding some spots in the "wrong" time of year can pay off!

[![California Gull](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/632158431/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/632158431)
_California Gull, Lancaster County_

### Cranes, Cranes, Cranes

March is Crane season in Nebraska, and I made 4 trips out to see them! The first trip was a blind tour at Crane Trust. The tour was amazing as always (even though Snow Geese tried to steal the show), but didn't produce any Whooping Cranes, so Keegan and I came out the next week to find a **Whooping Crane** (142) to add to our year lists.

The month of March also resulted in 2 other trips specifically to search for the Common Cranes. The first search was fruitless, but an extended second trip resulted in success! You can read more about the **Common Crane** (159) in it's own [blog post](/blog/2025/03/nebraska-big-year-common-crane-quest).

[![Common Crane](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/632650420/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/632650420)
_Common Crane, Keith County_

### Prairie Birds

If I had a state nemesis bird going into the month, it would probably be Smith's Longspur. I went out to Spring Creek Prairie 5 times last fall searching and listening for the elusive prairie bird with no luck. So when Paul D texted me and gave me a few spots to checkout in the southeast portion of the state, I couldn't help but give it a shot.

I started at Pawnee Prairie WMA where I racked up over 20 Pawnee county birds. I _did_ have some Longspurs there, but I wasn't confident enough in the call notes to turn them into Smith's. I later visited Burchard WMA, but the strong winds made listening for the rattle calls nearly impossible. So finally I headed to Berg Tallgrass Prairie near Talmage, and not 5 minutes after stepping out of the car, a dozen **Smith's Longspurs** (157) flew over my head, rattling all the way and landed in the shortgrass. I was even able to snag a few photos before they flew off again and disappeared to the west.

[![Smith's Longspur](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/632498819/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/632498819)
_Smith's Longspur, Nemaha County_

### Shorebirds

Shorebird season is starting up again, and I'm off to a pretty good start! A couple of last year's go-to spots like Pawnee Lake and Branched Oak Lake seem to have much higher water this year, leaving little to no mudflats to work with, so I'm needing to branch out a bit more. I've scouted out a few places in the southwest side of Lancaster county that should be good for this year, especially Yankee Hill WMA, where I snagged my last 3 year birds of the month: **Lesser Yellowlegs** (163), **Marbled Godwit** (164), and **American Avocet** (165). Migration will begin in earnest soon and I'm ready for the challenge of finding everything that comes through!

Thank you so much to Caroline, Keegan, Paul, Dan, Colleen, and everyone else I birded with this month for all their help and encouragement!

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/337360)

132. **Pacific Loon**, Lincoln
133. **American Pipit**, Lincoln
134. **Western Grebe**, Lincoln
135. **Common Grackle**, Lancaster
136. **Killdeer**, Lancaster
137. **Eastern Phoebe**, Hall
138. **Yellow-headed Blackbird**, Hall
139. **Eastern Meadowlark**, Seward
140. **American Woodcock**, Lancaster
141. **Spotted Towhee**, Lancaster
142. **Whooping Crane**, Hall
143. **Wood Duck**, Hall
144. **Savannah Sparrow**, Lancaster
145. **Blue-winged Teal**, Lancaster
146. **Horned Grebe**, Lancaster
147. **Loggerhead Shrike**, Lancaster
148. **Turkey Vulture**, Lancaster
149. **Franklin's Gull**, Lancaster
150. **Common Loon**, Lancaster
151. **Red-necked Grebe**, Lancaster
152. **Baird's Sandpiper**, Lancaster
153. **Field Sparrow**, Pawnee
154. **Brown Thrasher**, Pawnee
155. **Tree Swallow**, Pawnee
156. **Greater Yellowlegs**, Pawnee
157. **Smith's Longspur**, Nemaha
158. **Long-billed Dowitcher**, Lancaster
159. **Common Crane**, Keith
160. **Pectoral Sandpiper**, Lancaster
161. **Barn Swallow**, Lancaster
162. **Purple Martin**, Lancaster
163. **Lesser Yellowlegs**, Lancaster
164. **Marbled Godwit**, Lancaster
165. **American Avocet**, Lancaster


Nebraska Big Year: March Recap


March is crane season in Nebraska, the Platte River is covered with nearly a million Sandhill Cranes, and we often get handfuls of Whooping Cranes. But the most sought after crane in the state (besides the ultra-mega Hooded) might just be the Common Crane. The Common Crane is a eurasian species that breeds in northern Euraisa, all the way from Northern Europe to Siberia. Sandhill Cranes also breed in far eastern Russia, and sometimes post-breeding dispersal can result in a student exchange program of sorts, leading Sandhill cranes to end up in Europe and Common Cranes to end up here in Nebraska.

When setting out for a Big Year, the rarities are what matters. You can't get a very large number of birds with just the breeding birds, you need to go for the crazy rarities. So at the beginning of the year, Common Crane was in the back of my mind. Studying ebird data, I noticed that nearly every year there was a Common Crane spotted, sometimes near Grand Island, and sometimes near Lewellen way out by Lake Mac. I told myself if there was a Common Crane report, I would go for it.

### March 17, 2025

On March 17th, one of those reports came in. I was out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, washing my mountain bike in preparation for a ride when I got a call from Keegan. "Did you see what I sent you?!?! Common Crane. Merrick County. Now." Sure enough, there it was. I couldn't bail on the bike ride with my friends, but Keegan and I quickly made plans and took the time off from work to head out the next day in search of the crane.

### March 18, 2025

We started near Phillips, searching through endless flocks of cranes. We branched out to nearby areas, searching the roads south where it had been in 2022. Paul Dunbar and others were out looking as well, but after 4 hours of searching we had nothing. We regrouped with lunch at Runza and decided to put in one last effort. With 2 more hours of fruitless searching, we decided it was time to give up. 100 disappointed miles back home. The haystack won today.

### March 23, 2025

CRANE ALERT, CRANE ALERT! Late Sunday afternoon, another report came in, this time closer to Kearney. Once again, Keegan and I hatched plans to set out the next day, this time bringing along long-time Nebraska birder and mentor, Dan.

### March 24, 2025

Once again, we started searching the area where it was previously reported. The heat haze was awful at midday, and I estimate we were only really searching 1/3 of all the cranes in the area. After 2 hours of searching we were beginning to lose hope, until I recieve a text from Boni with a photo taken just an hour earlier: "Common Crane in Clear Creek". Clear Creek? 3 hours away on the west end of Lake McConaughy? It was a decision point. We had spent 2 fruitless hours searching here, and someone was _currently looking at a Common Crane_ under 3 hours away. We had to take advantage of it, so we immediately set off.

2 hours and 34 minutes later when we arrived, Julie from game and parks was standing on a picnic table photographing the bird. We quickly joined, got onto it and let out a sigh of relief. It so nice, after dedicating many hours to searching and driving for one bird to _finally_ get it. It was a life bird for both Keegan and I, and it gave us great looks, showing off it's contrasting neck pattern against the nearby Sandhill Cranes!

Clear Creek WMA is a wonderful spot, with a few newly built ponds and wetland areas, so we spent some time birding in the area while also enjoying the crane. The cranes were roosting SO CLOSE, I don't think I'd ever been so close to a crane not in a car or blind, but the tall grasses between the path and the roost provided some cover and the cranes seemed not to mind. After about an hour (and with a 4 hour drive ahead of us), we decided to head back, having completed our quest. 650 miles. 1 life and year bird.

159. **Common Crane**, Keith

![Common Crane](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/632650417/1200)

Special thanks to Matt (for finding the bird), Paul and Colleen (for searching with us), Boni (for texting me about the bird), Julie (for being on it when we got there), and Dan (for coming along for the ride).


Nebraska Big Year: Common Crane Quest


Year birds: +13 (**131**)\
State birds: +1 (**329**)\
Life birds: +1 (**499**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/330554)

---

Overall February was a bit of a slower month, but I still ran into some great birds!

In early February I headed to Lake Ogallala specifically targeting Gulls. I spent the first night of the trip camping in North Platte, where Boni gave me some tips that led to a few years birds including **Short-eared Owl**. At Lake O, the trip continued to produce, netting me 11 year birds, including 2 very good gull targets: **Glaucous Gull** and **Short-billed Gull**. The biggest target I had that I _missed_ was Great Black-backed Gull, but I'll have another shot at that one this fall.

[![Glaucous Gull](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/630537712/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/630537712)
_Glaucous Gull, Keith County_

Back home in Lancaster County, I tried a few different places for **Long-eared Owl** and finally tracked down my first (and only) lifer of February.

Perhaps more importantly for the overall effort, February was a HUGE planning month. I refined my spreadsheet and spent hours and hours studying [Bird of Nebraska Online](https://birds.outdoornebraska.gov/) and ebird data, noting the rarity, locations, and estimated arrival dates of all the spring migrants in my big year spreadsheet.

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/330554)

119. **Mountain Bluebird**, Lincoln
120. **Brown-headed Cowbird**, Lincoln
121. **Greater Prairie-Chicken**, Lincoln
122. **Short-eared Owl**, Lincoln
123. **Glaucous Gull**, Keith
124. **Red-breasted Merganser**, Keith
125. **American White Pelican**, Lincoln
126. **Double-crested Cormorant**, Lincoln
127. **Wilson's Snipe**, Lincoln
128. **Virginia Rail**, Lincoln
129. **Short-billed Gull**, Keith
130. **Long-eared Owl**, Lancaster
131. **Rusty Blackbird**, Lancaster


Nebraska Big Year: February Recap


As some of you may know, I'm giving a Nebraska state Big Year a crack this year. What does this mean you ask? It means I'm committing to driving thousands of miles, spending hundreds of hours, doing my absolute best to see as many species of birds in the state of Nebraska in one calendar year. It will be a long and tiring year, punctuated by exciting chases and bitter disappointements, but I am committed and ready to give it all I have. The current Big Year record is 347, set in 2013 by Paul Dunbar. This record is incredible, absolutely blowing the previous record of 331 out of the water. Nebraska on average gets about 370 species of birds either breeding or passing through each year, and in 2025 I'm setting out with a goal to see 350 of them. I'll be blogging as best I can on here, and at least doing monthly updates.

---

Year birds: +118 (**118**)\
State birds: +3 (**328**)\
Life birds: +3 (**497**)\
[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/325880)

---

### January 1

It was a cold winter morning in North Platte, and I woke up early at 5am to get my first bird of the year. I hopped in the car, and drove from my hotel to some canyons 30 miles to the southeast. Shortly after arriving at the spot (which I had scoped out on Dec 31st), I heard my target bird, a **Northern Saw-whet Owl**! Right after hearing it, it buzzed right over my head, and I got just a glimpse of it as it passed through my car headlights and deep into the woods. A pretty good bird to start off the year!

From there, I hit the road, aiming to be at Lake Ogallala by sunrise where a buffet of waterfowl was awaiting me. Shortly after arriving I found 4 of my key targets, all continuing birds: **Long-tailed Duck**, **White-winged Scoter**, **Black Scoter**, and **Surf Scoter**. All 4 of those birds are huge to get so early in the year, especially all at the same location, and will save me hours and hours of searching in the fall. After that, I settled in to find the big target. Boni and Colleen arrived shortly after and we began scoping. The rafts of waterfowl were huge, at least a few thousand, but after 15 minutes or so, we got onto it, my first lifer of the year: **Eurasian Wigeon**!

Crazy enough as it seems, from there I headed BACK to North Platte for 2 more rarities because Big Years are all about getting the rarest birds first. The bird I had just gotten as a lifer a few weeks prior showed off it's brilliant yellow to me again in the new year: **Couch's Kingbird**, a continuing first state record! HUGE thanks to the Nelsons for being such gracious hosts. One last big target was waiting for me at the North Platte WTP, and moments after spotting the **Barrow's Goldeneye**, I headed west.

I finished January 1st with 78 species, and 8 rare targets, and 1 lifer! I was off to the races.

[![Couch's Kingbird](https://cdn.download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v2/asset/628571041/1200)](https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/628571041)
_Couch's Kingbird, Lincoln County_

### January 2

I woke up again before dawn to drive from Gering to Harrison to participate in a Christmas Bird Count. I was in charge of Pants Butte and Sowbelly Roads, 2 excellent birding areas. Early in the morning, at the intersection of Pants Butte and Sowbelly, I had my 2nd life bird of the year: **Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch**! GCRF was one of my main targets, and I got pretty good views of a relatively large flock before they disappeared into the hills.

A few more excellent pickups for the day were **Common Raven**, **Sharp-tailed Grouse**, **Black-billed Magpie**, and **Golden Eagle**, all western specialties that I was very pleased to get so early. After meeting up around lunch to tally our CBC results, I took the scenic route down Henry Road, checking again for rosy-finches, but not coming up with much except **Rough-legged Hawks**.

### January 3

This was the day I planned to see Pinyon Jays, but it didn't start out as planned. A thin blanket of snow covered the ground in Gering as I set out for the day, but after a couple hundred yards of driving, I realized I had a flat tire (probably from driving 40 miles of gravel the day before). I attempted to put the spare on, but my tiny wimpy car jack wouldn't do. Thanks to the Gering police department I was finally able to get the spare on and hit the road again. (Yes, I did buy a new jack immediately after getting home)

60 miles later on a spare tire, I pulled up to the traditional Pinyon Jay feeders, and for nearly 90 minutes all I saw were the usual species. I was beginning to lose hope, when finally I noticed the undulating flight pattern of a group of birds coming in from the west. After inspecting the feeders for a minute or so, my year's first **Pinyon Jays** overwhelmed the feeders! 3 days in and 3 life birds.

I spent the next 2 hours killing time in a coffee shop while my tire was repaired in Bridgeport. Not the best way to spend prime birding time during a time-crunched Big Year, but I had already driven 30 miles more than I should have on the spare.

I was able to salvage the rest of the day at Lake Minitaire, Buffalo Creek WMA and Wildcat Hills, notching another 3 western specialty year birds: **Rock Wren** (early or overwintering), **Townsend's Solitaire**, and **Pygmy Nuthatch**.

![Buffalo Creek WMA](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54249191699_21a566b628_z.jpg)
_Buffalo Creek WMA_

### January 4

Like the evening before, I camped out at the feeders at Wildcat Hills, hoping to glimpse a Cassin's Finch. After 90 minutes, and with the weather projected to get worse, I decided to call it and begin the long drive home.

I stopped off in Kearney to look for the Brant that was seen a few days before, but had no luck. I continued home in the freezing rain with a repsectable 93 species in 4 days.

![Wildcat Hills](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54249372910_5680027928_z.jpg)
_Wildcat Hills_

### January 5-31

The rest of the month I spent in the east, knocking out a few more key targets. **Snow Bunting** in Platte, **Tundra Swan** in Douglas, and **Purple Finch** and **Hermit Thrush** in Lancaster were the most notable birds.

---

[eBird Trip Report](https://ebird.org/tripreport/325880)

1. **Northern Saw-whet Owl**, Lincoln
2. **Northern Cardinal**, Keith
3. **Song Sparrow**, Keith
4. **Dark-eyed Junco**, Keith
5. **Cedar Waxwing**, Keith
6. **American Robin**, Keith
7. **European Starling**, Keith
8. **Winter Wren**, Keith
9. **White-breasted Nuthatch**, Keith
10. **American Crow**, Keith
11. **Blue Jay**, Keith
12. **Northern Flicker**, Keith
13. **Hairy Woodpecker**, Keith
14. **Red-bellied Woodpecker**, Keith
15. **Eastern Screech-Owl**, Keith
16. **Red-tailed Hawk**, Keith
17. **Bald Eagle**, Keith
18. **Great Blue Heron**, Keith
19. **Eared Grebe**, Keith
20. **Pied-billed Grebe**, Keith
21. **Iceland Gull**, Keith
22. **Lesser Black-backed Gull**, Keith
23. **American Herring Gull**, Keith
24. **Ring-billed Gull**, Keith
25. **Bonaparte's Gull**, Keith
26. **American Coot**, Keith
27. **Eurasian Collared-Dove**, Keith
28. **Ruddy Duck**, Keith
29. **Common Merganser**, Keith
30. **Common Goldeneye**, Keith
31. **Bufflehead**, Keith
32. **Long-tailed Duck**, Keith
33. **Black Scoter**, Keith
34. **White-winged Scoter**, Keith
35. **Surf Scoter**, Keith
36. **Lesser Scaup**, Keith
37. **Greater Scaup**, Keith
38. **Redhead**, Keith
39. **Canvasback**, Keith
40. **Green-winged Teal**, Keith
41. **Mallard**, Keith
42. **American Wigeon**, Keith
43. **Eurasian Wigeon**, Keith
44. **Gadwall**, Keith
45. **Canada Goose**, Keith
46. **Cackling Goose**, Keith
47. **American Goldfinch**, Keith
48. **American Kestrel**, Keith
49. **California Gull**, Keith
50. **House Sparrow**, Keith
51. **Ross's Goose**, Keith
52. **Snow Goose**, Keith
53. **Rock Pigeon**, Keith
54. **Western Meadowlark**, Keith
55. **Northern Harrier**, Keith
56. **American Tree Sparrow**, Lincoln
57. **House Finch**, Lincoln
58. **Red-breasted Nuthatch**, Lincoln
59. **Couch's Kingbird**, Lincoln
60. **Downy Woodpecker**, Lincoln
61. **Great-tailed Grackle**, Lincoln
62. **Barrow's Goldeneye**, Lincoln
63. **Ring-necked Duck**, Lincoln
64. **Northern Pintail**, Lincoln
65. **Northern Shoveler**, Lincoln
66. **Greater White-fronted Goose**, Lincoln
67. **Horned Lark**, Keith
68. **Wild Turkey**, Garden
69. **Red-winged Blackbird**, Garden
70. **Ferruginous Hawk**, Garden
71. **Sharp-shinned Hawk**, Garden
72. **Northern Shrike**, Morrill
73. **Prairie Falcon**, Scotts Bluff
74. **Ring-necked Pheasant**, Scotts Bluff
75. **Cooper's Hawk**, Scotts Bluff
76. **White-crowned Sparrow**, Scotts Bluff
77. **Black-capped Chickadee**, Scotts Bluff
78. **Great Horned Owl**, Scotts Bluff
79. **Red Crossbill**, Sioux
80. **Black-billed Magpie**, Sioux
81. **Belted Kingfisher**, Sioux
82. **Golden Eagle**, Sioux
83. **Rough-legged Hawk**, Sioux
84. **Merlin**, Sioux
85. **Common Raven**, Sioux
86. **Sharp-tailed Grouse**, Sioux
87. **Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch**, Sioux
88. **Lapland Longspur**, Sioux
89. **Pine Siskin**, Morrill
90. **Pinyon Jay**, Morrill
91. **Rock Wren**, Scotts Bluff
92. **Townsend's Solitaire**, Scotts Bluff
93. **Pygmy Nuthatch**, Scotts Bluff
94. **Snow Bunting**, Platte
95. **White-throated Sparrow**, Lancaster
96. **Carolina Wren**, Lancaster
97. **Brown Creeper**, Lancaster
98. **Golden-crowned Kinglet**, Lancaster
99. **Barred Owl**, Lancaster
100. **Mourning Dove**, Lancaster
101. **Yellow-rumped Warbler**, Lancaster
102. **Eastern Bluebird**, Lancaster
103. **Peregrine Falcon**, Lancaster
104. **Trumpeter Swan**, Sarpy
105. **Harris's Sparrow**, Cass
106. **Tufted Titmouse**, Cass
107. **Fox Sparrow**, Sarpy
108. **Tundra Swan**, Douglas
109. **Purple Finch**, Lancaster
110. **Hermit Thrush**, Lancaster
111. **Red-shouldered Hawk**, Seward
112. **Red-headed Woodpecker**, Sarpy
113. **Pileated Woodpecker**, Sarpy
114. **Yellow-bellied Sapsucker**, Lancaster
115. **Northern Bobwhite**, Lancaster
116. **Hooded Merganser**, Cass
117. **Sandhill Crane**, Lancaster
118. **Brewer's Blackbird**, Lancaster


Big Year