Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
Wow, what a month of birding! February may have been slow, but March had LOTS of birds to offer! The month started off with watching Sandhill Cranes make their way to the river for roosting at night, then watching them feed in the fields the next day. We were treated with a beautiful sunset and some other new Big Year species! In mid-March we headed to St. Simons Island on the coast of Georgia, which did not disappoint! Georgia had a plethora of new birds for my Big Year, along with some lifers! This had been the third Spring I’ve been able to experience the Great Sandhill Crane Migration in Nebraska! Kearney, Nebraska is known as the Sandhill Crane Capital of the world. Each year during their Spring migration hundreds of thousands of birds stopover in Central Nebraska to rest and refuel during their long migration. During the day they eat in the fields, then head over to the Platte River in the evenings to roost in the shallow waters for protection from predators. Their movement to and from the river is a spectacle to see as huge flocks of noisy birds come and go at the same time. Read more about this AMAZING wildlife experience and see some pictures and a video on a blog post I wrote last year. We’ve had our trip to the Georgia coast tentatively planned since summer, but hadn’t made any solid plans until closer since we weren’t sure how things would be with the pandemic. Luckily, everything worked out and we were able to explore the Georgia coast and the many activities (and creatures) it has to offer! Being from Minnesota and currently living in Nebraska, Georgia had a variety of different birds that I am not used to seeing. It was so much fun to see new species and to add so many new birds to my Big Year count. I couldn’t believe how fast my list was growing over the first few days, it seemed like every bird we saw was a new one! While planning the trip we looked for activities that were nature centered and for many of them that included seeing birds. I also was lucky enough to go on this trip with others who were just as excited about the birds! It was a lot of fun to have a group of excited birders and have other people to bounce thing off to help with some of those tricky birds to ID. Going to Georgia really boosted my Big Year list!
Here are a few excerpts from my Big Year Birding Journal this month: When in Nebraska during the spring you have to see the cranes! This is the third spring I’ve had the chance to watch them as they head to their nighttime roosting sights, it is an amazing thing to see! Sunday, March 7, 2021 Mom and Dad are visiting us in NE so we went out near Rowe Sanctuary to watch the Sandhill Cranes come in to roost for the night on the Platte River. No matter how many times you see this beautiful scene of thousands and thousands of cranes coming into the river during sunset you can’t help but be amazed! Not only is it amazing to watch but the sound is incredible! We stood on a viewing deck near the river to watch. We even got to see some deer enjoying the river, too! Right when we arrived the spring call of a Red-winged Blackbird greeted us. There were HUGE flocks of Snow Geese mixed with cranes flying overhead. Later in the evening a Killdeer was running by the shallow water and was heard calling. Each day in Georgia was an awesome day! We had great weather, fun activities, and lots of birding opportunities. The second day there was my best day of birding which really boosted my Big Year list! It was so fun to see birds that are so different than the ones I am used to seeing in the Midwest. Thursday, March 11, 2021 Today was an AWESOME day for birding! Started off the morning by seeing a Carolina Wren out on the patio. Then on the walk to the beach we heard and saw a Carolina Chickadee. We walked the Gould’s Inlet beach with binos and the spotting scope. We added lots to the list this morning! Vesper Sparrow, Boat-tailed Grackle, Great Egret, Forster’s Tern, Willet, Ring-billed Gull, Laughing Gull, Semipalmated Plover, Black Skimmer, Sanderling, Marbled Godwit. It was so much fun to walk the beach and spot birds flying, running by the waves, and out on the sandbars. It was low tide, so the birds were finding things in the sand to pick at. Then at noon we went on a 2-hour kayaking tour where we saw a Snowy Egret, Tri-colored Heron – which I was able to kayak near and get a great look with the binos! Greater Yellowlegs, White Ibis, White Pelicans which were feeding, and Osprey that soared perfectly overhead, Marsh Wrens flitting about in the reeds and chattering lots, Tree Swallows, Cattle Egrets, Rusty Blackbirds, and a Mockingbird. We also saw some other shore/water birds that we had seen before. It was a great way to see birds and diamond terrapin turtles. As the high tide was receding right at sunset we walked the beach and saw Wilson’s Plover and Piping Plovers on Gouldn’s Inlet! The plovers are so cute and so fast as they run along the beach! At the end of the day I had 26 new birds for the year including some new birds for my Life List! The next day was also a great day for birding! We spent it at the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge where we started off the day on a boat tour in the swamp. Right off the bat we had a great view of an American Bittern who was walking on a dock. We were tickled with this awesome viewing and didn’t think we would see any more, boy were we wrong! We saw about 10 different Bitterns through the tour! They have such amazing camouflage, so it was amazing to see them so close and see that camouflage put to work. Closing in on the end of the month, I took advantage of the nice spring weather and spent a majority of the day birding around the Kearney area. It paid off, as I reached my 100th bird of the year! Sunday, March 28, 2021 I spent most of this beautiful day out and about birding and it sure paid off! I started the morning by Bufflehead WMA on the hike and bike trail where I spotted a Ring-necked Duck and Bufflehead from a viewing blind. There were lots of other birds around, too. Then I went to Bassway WMA and saw Northern Shovelers, American Robins, and Dark-eyed Juncos. An Eagle also flew right over the car very low! Next I quick stopped at the Fort Kearney Rec Area to get a good view of the Sandhill Cranes. Then I took the backroads and saw TONS of Sandhill Cranes on my way to Kea WMA. I saw Blue-winged Teal, Common Grackles, American Coots along with other birds already on my list. The birds were singing away! On the way home I drove by the lake behind Cunningham’s and spotted a Pied-billed Grebe! After lunch I was on the lookout for the Common Crane that has been seen I the area with the Sandhill Cranes. This is a European Species of Crane. I looked where it has been seen the past week according to eBird but had no luck. Before heading home, I stopped at a Birding Hotspot – Rowe Sanctuary Viewing Pond and saw my 100th bird! A Ruddy Duck! Which is my favorite duck species! There also was a Blue Phase Snow Goose and a Scaup that I couldn’t ID as to if it was a Greater or Lesser. Some other waterfowl were on the pond too, but I already had them. All in all, it was a busy but successful day of birding! Seven locations were birded, and I completed 2 eBird lists. Although February was slow, March sure made up for it! March Birds: (The first number represents the number of species for the year, the number in parenthesis represents the number of species for the month) March 5 – Downtown Kearney, NE 40. (1) House Finch March 7 – Gibbon, NE 41. (2) Red-winged Black Bird 42. (3) Snow Goose 43. (4) Killdeer March 10 – St. Simons Island, GA 44. (5) Wood Stork* 45. (6) Northern Harrier* 46. (7) Mourning Dove 47. (8) Palm Warbler 48. (9) Yellow-rumped Warbler 49. (10) Double-crested Cormorant 50. (11) Brown Pelican* 51. (12) Eastern Bluebird March 11 52. (13) Carolina Wren* – St. Simon’s Island 53. (14) Carolina Chickadee* – St. Simon’s Island Gould’s Inlet 54. (15) Vesper Sparrow* 55. (16) Boat-tailed Grackle* 56. (17) Great Egret 57. (18) Forster’s Tern* 58. (19) Willet* 59. (20) Ring-billed Gull 60. (21) Laughing Gull* 61. (22) Semipalmated Plover* 62. (23) Black Skimmer* 63. (24) Sanderling 64. (25) Marbled Godwit* Kayaking tour near Brunswick 65. (26) Snowy Egret* 66. (27) Tri-colored Heron* 67. (28) Greater Yellow Legs* 68. (29) White Ibis* 69. (30) While Pelican 70. (31) Osprey 71. (32) Marsh Wren* 72. (33) Tree Swallow 73. (34) Cattle Egret 74. (35) Rusty Blackbird* 75. (36) Mockingbird Gould’s Inlet 76. (37) Wilson’s Plover* 77. (38) Piping Plover* March 12 – Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge 78. (39) Black Vulture* 79. (40) Turkey Vulture 80. (41) American Bittern* 81. (42) Anhinga* 82. (43) Red-shouldered Hawk* 83. (44) Little Blue Heron* 84. (45) Blue-grey gnatcatcher* 85. (46) Gray Catbird 86. (47) Great Blue Heron March 13 – Jekyll Island, GA 87. (48) Fish Crow* 88. (49) Herring Gull 89. (50) Cackling Goose* March 14 – Ocean Drive, St. Simons Island, GA 90. (51) Savannah Sparrow 91. (52) Sora* 92. (53) Swamp Sparrow* March 15 – St. Simon’s Island, GA 93. (54) Tufted Titmouse March 28 94. (55) Ring-necked Duck – Path between Archway and I-80, Kearney, NE 95. (56) Bufflehead – Path between Archway and I-80, Kearney, NE 96. (57) Blue-winged Teal – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 97. (58) Common Grackle – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 98. (59) American Coot – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 99. (60) Pied-billed Grebe – Cunningham’s Journal Lake, Kearney, NE 100. (61) Ruddy Duck* – Rowe Sanctuary Viewing Pond, Gibbon, NE Bird Species this Year: 100 Species for March: 61 Days Birded this Year: 30 Days Birded in March: 11 Lifers in March: 32 (Lifers are marked with an *) (I’m counting “days birded” as days I saw a new bird or went out specifically for birding, not every day birded resulted in a new species for the year). Read my other Big Year related posts by clicking the button below.
2 Comments
Lonnie Hebl
4/3/2021 02:40:10 pm
Meg, You better kick it into high gear, Clarissa is 6 ahead of you! Good blog. Lon
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Megan Betcher
4/3/2021 03:26:50 pm
Now that April has begun, I've added more birds to my list while birding in MN!
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