Date: 10/16/25 7:16 pm From: Don and Shirley Maas via groups.io <snowbirds2012...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station End of Season Summary
Thanks Violet
Your reports kept me informed of Ne birds here in AZ.
Date: 10/16/25 12:25 pm From: Mary Clausen via groups.io <mkclausen...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station End of Season Summary
Violet,
Thank you and your crew for all your work abd keeping us informed. I was
there and met you September 30th. Enjoyed our conversation and watching you
work.
Mary Clausen
Sarpy County.
On Thu, Oct 16, 2025, 11:49 AM Violet Wu via groups.io <zishiwu33=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> This will be my last post for Wildcat Hills station this 2025 banding
> season.
>
> In the last week and a half of the season (9 banding days), I caught *77
> new birds of 20 species/subspecies*, including *five new species for the
> fall*:
>
> -
>
> Townsend’s Solitaire (1)
> -
>
> Tennessee Warbler (1)
> -
>
> Blue Jay (2)
> -
>
> Vesper Sparrow (1)
> -
>
> Slate-colored Junco (1)
>
>
>
> *Totals for the final 9 days:*
> Chipping Sparrow – 21
> Pine Siskin – 14
> Spotted Towhee – 8
> Red Crossbill – 6
> Audubon’s Warbler – 4
> Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 4
> Oregon Junco – 3
> House Finch – 2
> Blue Jay – 2
> Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
> American Goldfinch – 1
> Tennessee Warbler – 1
> Myrtle’s Warbler – 1
> Vesper Sparrow – 1
> Lesser Goldfinch – 1
> Pygmy Nuthatch – 1
> Townsend’s Solitaire – 1
> Slate-colored Junco – 1
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 1
> Rock Wren – 1
>
>
>
>
>
> Our fall banding season wrapped up on *October 10*, with a *total of 466
> new birds banded* across *37 species/subspecies*.
>
> *Season totals:*
>
> -
>
> Spotted Towhee – 91
> -
>
> American Goldfinch – 64
> -
>
> Pine Siskin – 64
> -
>
> Chipping Sparrow – 52
> -
>
> Red Crossbill – 32
> -
>
> House Finch – 29
> -
>
> Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler – 24
> -
>
> Orange-crowned Warbler – 19
> -
>
> Cedar Waxwing – 11
> -
>
> Myrtle’s Yellow-rumped Warbler – 10
> -
>
> Northern House Wren – 8
> -
>
> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 6
> -
>
> Lesser Goldfinch – 6
> -
>
> Clay-colored Sparrow – 5
> -
>
> Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 5
> -
>
> Oregon Dark-eyed Junco – 5
> -
>
> Black-capped Chickadee – 4
> -
>
> Mourning Dove – 3
> -
>
> Wilson’s Warbler – 3
> -
>
> American Robin – 2
> -
>
> Blue Jay – 2
> -
>
> Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2
> -
>
> Pygmy Nuthatch – 2
> -
>
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 2
> -
>
> Rock Wren – 2
> -
>
> Yellow-breasted Chat – 2
> -
>
> Black-headed Grosbeak – 1
> -
>
> Eastern Bluebird – 1
> -
>
> Field Sparrow – 1
> -
>
> Plumbeous Vireo – 1
> -
>
> Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
> -
>
> Red-naped Sapsucker – 1
> -
>
> Red-shafted Flicker – 1
> -
>
> Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco – 1
> -
>
> Tennessee Warbler – 1
> -
>
> Townsend’s Solitaire – 1
> -
>
> Vesper Sparrow – 1
>
> Thanks for a great fall season, and have a wonderful winter!
>
> Best,
> Violet
>
>
Date: 10/16/25 9:49 am From: Violet Wu via groups.io <zishiwu33...> Subject: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station End of Season Summary
This will be my last post for Wildcat Hills station this 2025 banding season.
In the last week and a half of the season (9 banding days), I caught *77 new birds of 20 species/subspecies* , including *five new species for the fall* :
*
Townsend’s Solitaire (1)
*
Tennessee Warbler (1)
*
Blue Jay (2)
*
Vesper Sparrow (1)
*
Slate-colored Junco (1)
*Totals for the final 9 days:*
Chipping Sparrow – 21
Pine Siskin – 14
Spotted Towhee – 8
Red Crossbill – 6
Audubon’s Warbler – 4
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 4
Oregon Junco – 3
House Finch – 2
Blue Jay – 2
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
American Goldfinch – 1
Tennessee Warbler – 1
Myrtle’s Warbler – 1
Vesper Sparrow – 1
Lesser Goldfinch – 1
Pygmy Nuthatch – 1
Townsend’s Solitaire – 1
Slate-colored Junco – 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 1
Rock Wren – 1
Our fall banding season wrapped up on *October 10* , with a *total of 466 new birds banded* across *37 species/subspecies*.
*Season totals:*
*
Spotted Towhee – 91
*
American Goldfinch – 64
*
Pine Siskin – 64
*
Chipping Sparrow – 52
*
Red Crossbill – 32
*
House Finch – 29
*
Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler – 24
*
Orange-crowned Warbler – 19
*
Cedar Waxwing – 11
*
Myrtle’s Yellow-rumped Warbler – 10
*
Northern House Wren – 8
*
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 6
*
Lesser Goldfinch – 6
*
Clay-colored Sparrow – 5
*
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 5
*
Oregon Dark-eyed Junco – 5
*
Black-capped Chickadee – 4
*
Mourning Dove – 3
*
Wilson’s Warbler – 3
*
American Robin – 2
*
Blue Jay – 2
*
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2
*
Pygmy Nuthatch – 2
*
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 2
*
Rock Wren – 2
*
Yellow-breasted Chat – 2
*
Black-headed Grosbeak – 1
*
Eastern Bluebird – 1
*
Field Sparrow – 1
*
Plumbeous Vireo – 1
*
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
*
Red-naped Sapsucker – 1
*
Red-shafted Flicker – 1
*
Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco – 1
*
Tennessee Warbler – 1
*
Townsend’s Solitaire – 1
*
Vesper Sparrow – 1
Thanks for a great fall season, and have a wonderful winter!
Date: 10/16/25 7:40 am From: Jacob C. Cooper via groups.io <cooperj2...> Subject: [NEBirds] Hummingbird in Kearney
Hi all,
Barbara Brown, Mike Roffman and I had a hummingbird at Ted Baldwin Park today. We only saw it for a few seconds as it was foraging along the edge of the vegetation by the lakeshore before it booked it across the lake into the private neighborhood on the west side of the lake. We left it as an unidentified hummingbird, since we didnt get good enough looks to figure out what it was and it didnt look quite right for a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
If anyone knows someone in that neighborhood, ask them to keep an eye out for a hummingbird! There are lots of planted flowers in the neighborhood, so it could stick around for a bit.
Date: 10/14/25 9:55 am From: Ross Silcock via groups.io <silcock...> Subject: [NEBirds] Bushtit near Nebraska
Luke Pheneger post to COBIRDS. 30-40 miles from southwestern Nebraska.
This comes on the heels of us coming across a Bushtit in Yuma County on September 27th which represented a first eBird record for the entirety of North East Colorado. Bushtits have been documented (irrupting?) in large numbers in SW Kansas in the past albeit sparsely, however, it will be intriguing to see if they infiltrate our eastern plains as they have our front range.
Date: 10/11/25 8:20 pm From: Loren Padelford via groups.io <padelfordl...> Subject: [NEBirds] Franklin's Gulls at Lake Manawa, Pottawattamie County
Birders,
This evening, between 6 and 7 PM, we witnessed the largest concentration of Franklin’s Gulls that we have ever seen. There was no way to estimate the numbers but it was spectacular. We left at 7 PM because it was getting too dark to see the birds but they were still coming in from the north and swirling in great clouds over the lake.
Loren and Babs Padelford
Bellevue, NE
<padelfordl...>
Date: 10/10/25 2:49 pm From: Alan Moss via groups.io <alanmoss1616...> Subject: [NEBirds] Chadron State Park Banding Week 7 (10/6-10/10) #CSPBanding
Hi Nebraska Birders,
I have just finished up my final day of banding, and it was representative of much of the season: feast or famine. On Monday, I opened late after the showers passed and didn't catch a single bird. This was followed by Tuesday, which was my busiest day of the season with 32 new birds banded. It was too windy to band on Wednesday, and today and yesterday were slowish. The big push on Tuesday was mostly Orange-crowned Warblers as usual, but I also had three first-of-season birds that day: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, and American Goldfinch. The goldfinches have been around all season, of course, but don't normally approach the net area. The other two are later migrants that show that we are entering the homestretch of migration. My final bird of the season was a Field Sparrow, only the 9th ever caught at CSP.
Here are the totals for this week:
Black-capped Chickadee: 3 repeat, 1 return from a previous season Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 5 new Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1 new Northern House Wren: 1 new Hermit Thrush: 1 new American Goldfinch: 7 new Spotted Towhee: 4 new Dark-eyed Junco: 2 new (1 slate-colored, 1 oregon) Field Sparrow: 1 new Orange-crowned Warbler: 22 new
For the whole season, I caught a total of *228 new birds*, the 2nd most for a season at Chadron since 2018 (the 2023 season was only slightly higher at 237). This does not include the 36 times that I captured a bird that was already banded, but these largely consisted of catching many of the same chickadees over and over again. I did catch a couple of chickadees that were banded back in 2020: quite old for a small bird! But many were hatch-year birds that I banded for the first time early in the season.
I caught birds of a total of *33 different species*, including the hybrid Baltimore X Bullock's Oriole. Far and away, the most common species was Orange-crowned Warbler. They represented about 39% of the new birds I captured! This was the most of this species caught in a single season at Chadron since 2015. Below are the total numbers for each species captured from most to least.
Date: 10/7/25 5:31 am From: Alan Moss via groups.io <alanmoss1616...> Subject: [NEBirds] Chadron State Park Banding Week 6 (9/30-10/04) #CSPBanding
Hi Nebraska Birders,
Last week was relatively uneventful, though overall better than I expected given the poor weather conditions: unseasonably hot with south winds are not good migration conditions! It seems like I was mostly catching birds that probably migrated in before the weather turned and were fattening up as they waited around for better weather to continue migration. Not much in the way of exciting species but I did catch three first-of-season species, all sparrows: Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, and Chipping Sparrow.
The numbers were still dominated by Orange-crowned Warblers. Hopefully, this week will bring in some more sparrows behind this front.
Black-capped Chickadee: 3 repeat Northern House Wren: 1 new American Robin: 6 new Spotted Towhee: 1 new, 1 repeat Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon): 1 new Chipping Sparrow: 1 new White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's): 1 new Orange-crowned Warbler: 15 new, 1 repeat Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle): 6 new
Date: 10/1/25 7:26 pm From: Violet Wu via groups.io <zishiwu33...> Subject: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station Week 5
The juncos have arrived! This week I banded a total of *91 birds of 14 species/subspecies.* Pine Siskins took the top spot, replacing Spotted Towhees for the first time as the most frequently banded bird. It looks like a good year for siskins, possibly even a small irruption year?
Because Tuesday was rainy, I switched banding to today (9/29)—which also happens to be my birthday. And I was surprised with the best birthday gift— *the busiest banding day of the season so far, with 58 birds caught in the nets!* At one net run, there were more than 10 Siskins and “Butter-butts” that I had to release a few unbanded to avoid holding birds for too long. I still managed to band 50 of them! One of the Audubon‘s Warbler looks to be leucistic, its nape area has white feathers instead of the normal brown color, while other body parts are normal (Photos attached).
Besides that, I added two new species for the season today: a juvenile male *Eastern Bluebird* and a stunning adult male *Red-naped Sapsucker* (6th for station). I’ve attached photos of both below.
*Totals for the week:*
*
Pine Siskin — 28
*
American Goldfinch — 10
*
Spotted Towhee — 10
*
Orange-crowned Warbler — 9
*
Chipping Sparrow — 8
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) — 8
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) — 7
*
Red Crossbill — 3
*
House Finch — 2
*
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) — 2
*
White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel’s) — 1
*
Black-capped Chickadee — 1
*
Red-naped Sapsucker — 1
*
Eastern Bluebird — 1
Come visit us! Our station is located behind the Nature Center in Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area. I’ll be running the banding station five days a week, every Tuesday–Saturday morning (Weather permitting) through *October 10th.*
— Violet Wu Bander,
Wildcat Hills Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Date: 10/1/25 7:26 pm From: Keegan Brown via groups.io <keegqbrown...> Subject: [NEBirds] Nebraska Birding Discord Information
Nebraska Birders,
As many of you have probably heard, Tobin and I have started a Discord server to facilitate communication between birders. We introduced the server to those who attended the Fall NOU Meeting and I wanted to make sure that information goes out to this group as well!
For those of you not familiar with Discord, it is an online messaging platform that has some great features for communities. Overall, it is very customizable which has allowed us to create channels for birding discussions, photo/audio sharing, rare bird alerts, and more! If you would like to join, please see the information below.
*Getting Discord Setup*
Discord is available on mobile or desktop.
Once you have it downloaded, be sure to create an account. This will require a phone number or email address.
*Joining the Nebraska Birding Discord Server*
The following link will allow you to join the server: https://discord.gg/HZYfv7fRu6 This link will open the application, and display the invite for the server (example below). After a quick questionnaire and agreeing to the rules, you'll have access to the server! We ask that you use at least a first name so everyone knows who you are. If you would like to add you home county/counties, that can be helpful as well. For example, my display name is "Keegan | Douglas/Sarpy".
*Customizing Your Roles
* Once you are in the server, you can change your roles at any time by following the steps shown below. Most of these roles are just informational, but the rare bird related roles do grant access to specific rare bird alert channels.
*Customizing Notifications*
You can also customize notifications by channel to decide which notifications you want to receive. For example, you might want notifications for #rba-nebraska, but not #bird-media. This can be done by following the steps shown below.
*Discord Help*
Once you are in the Discord Server, there is also a #discord-help channel with some tips and tricks for those new to the platform. Additionally, feel free to reach out to Tobin or me with any questions! I am not sure how the screenshots will look embedded in the email so I will also attach our presentation slides from the NOU meeting. Hope to see you all on Discord soon!
Date: 10/1/25 10:51 am From: Paul Roisen via groups.io <roisenp1950...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Nebraska Big Year - September Recap
Congratulations, Tobin! New record for Big Year accomplished by the end
of September (448 species)!!! Three months to go..... so who knows how
high you will go.
I particularly appreciate the OUTSTANDING details you have included with
mileage, bird totals, blog, photos, and so many interesting finds. Having
done two Big Year's in Iowa back in 2012 and 2025 I can only imagine the
number of hours driving, the number of hours walking, scoping, and hours
spent making certain that the ID was correct for some of the incredibly
similar species (gray,dusky, least ... flycatchers). Yes, despite the
amount of birding related traveling I still do...BIG years are over for me.
I wish you even greater success the rest of the year.
God Bless. Be Safe, Stay Safe, and ENJOY yourself.
*Paul O. Roisen*
*Sioux City, IA 51106 **Woodbury County, IA*
*Mobile 712-301-2817 **<roisenp1950...> <roisenp1950...>*
On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 12:31 PM Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Nebraska birders,
>
> In September I added 9 species to my year list, to set the new big year
> record at *350*! It was really a grind and I'm thankful for everyone's
> support. This month I traveled over 5200 miles (300 more than May), had 2
> oil changes, spent 5 nights in hotels, 6 nights camping, and spent just
> *1* weekend night at home, all while seeing 223 species of birds in 31
> different counties!
>
> Blog: https://brobin.me/blog/2025/10/nebraska-big-year-september-recap > Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/407849 >
> Tobin Brown
> Lancaster County
> https://ebird.org/profile/NDA1ODIzNg/US-NE >
>
>
>
Date: 10/1/25 10:32 am From: Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown...> Subject: [NEBirds] Nebraska Big Year - September Recap
Nebraska birders,
In September I added 9 species to my year list, to set the new big year record at *350*! It was really a grind and I'm thankful for everyone's support. This month I traveled over 5200 miles (300 more than May), had 2 oil changes, spent 5 nights in hotels, 6 nights camping, and spent just *1* weekend night at home, all while seeing 223 species of birds in 31 different counties!
Date: 9/29/25 2:58 pm From: Violet Wu via groups.io <zishiwu33...> Subject: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station Week 5
The juncos have arrived! This week I banded a total of *91 birds of 14 species/subspecies.* Pine Siskins took the top spot, replacing Spotted Towhees for the first time as the most frequently banded bird. It looks like a good year for siskins, possibly even a small irruption year?
Because Tuesday was rainy, I switched banding to today (9/29)—which also happens to be my birthday. And I was surprised with the best birthday gift— *the busiest banding day of the season so far, with 58 birds caught in the nets!* At one net run, there were more than 10 Siskins and “Butter-butts” that I had to release a few unbanded to avoid holding birds for too long. I still managed to band 50 of them! One of the Audubon‘s Warbler looks to be leucistic, its nape area has white feathers instead of the normal brown color, while other body parts are normal (Photos attached).
Besides that, I added two new species for the season today: a juvenile male *Eastern Bluebird* and a stunning adult male *Red-naped Sapsucker* (6th for station). I’ve attached photos of both below.
*Totals for the week:*
*
Pine Siskin — 28
*
American Goldfinch — 10
*
Spotted Towhee — 10
*
Orange-crowned Warbler — 9
*
Chipping Sparrow — 8
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) — 8
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) — 7
*
Red Crossbill — 3
*
House Finch — 2
*
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) — 2
*
White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel’s) — 1
*
Black-capped Chickadee — 1
*
Red-naped Sapsucker — 1
*
Eastern Bluebird — 1
Come visit us! Our station is located behind the Nature Center in Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area. I’ll be running the banding station five days a week, every Tuesday–Saturday morning (Weather permitting) through *October 10th.*
— Violet Wu Bander,
Wildcat Hills Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Date: 9/29/25 2:04 pm From: Violet Wu via groups.io <zishiwu33...> Subject: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station Week 5
The juncos have arrived! This week I banded a total of *91 birds of 14 species/subspecies.* Pine Siskins took the top spot, replacing Spotted Towhees for the first time as the most frequently banded bird. It looks like a good year for siskins, possibly even a small irruption year?
Because Tuesday was rainy, I switched banding to today (9/29)—which also happens to be my birthday. And I was surprised with the best birthday gift— *the busiest banding day of the season so far, with 58 birds caught in the nets!* At one net run, there were more than 10 Siskins and “Butter-butts” that I had to release a few unbanded to avoid holding birds for too long. I still managed to band 50 of them! One of the Audubon‘s Warbler looks to be leucistic, its nape area has white feathers instead of the normal brown color, while other body parts are normal (Photos attached).
Besides that, I added two new species for the season today: a juvenile male *Eastern Bluebird* and a stunning adult male *Red-naped Sapsucker* (6th for station). I’ve attached photos of both below.
*Totals for the week:*
*
Pine Siskin — 28
*
American Goldfinch — 10
*
Spotted Towhee — 10
*
Orange-crowned Warbler — 9
*
Chipping Sparrow — 8
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) — 8
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) — 7
*
Red Crossbill — 3
*
House Finch — 2
*
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) — 2
*
White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel’s) — 1
*
Black-capped Chickadee — 1
*
Red-naped Sapsucker — 1
*
Eastern Bluebird — 1
Come visit us! Our station is located behind the Nature Center in Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area. I’ll be running the banding station five days a week, every Tuesday–Saturday morning (Weather permitting) through *October 10th.*
— Violet Wu Bander,
Wildcat Hills Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Date: 9/27/25 1:10 pm From: Linda Sullivan via groups.io <linda.sullivan831...> Subject: [NEBirds] Possible Sprague's pipit at spring creek
Bird flushed from the top of hill area by the cattle feeder, showing white outer tail feathers. It flew straight up and away toward SW then started heading back (still very high) but landed west and down the hill from the feeder. No audio or photo, but it wasn't a meadowlark.
I walked down to the small, dry pond and back up to the feeder and across the ridge to Wachiska woods, but didn't see it again. It was probably about 10:45am when I saw it.
I have SPPI photos from Oct 1, 2024, so it's about time for them.
Date: 9/27/25 12:37 pm From: Alan Moss via groups.io <alanmoss1616...> Subject: [NEBirds] Chadron State Park Banding Week 5 (9/22-9/27) #CSPBanding
Hi Nebraska Birders,
It is still feast or famine up at Chadron. I began the week on Monday in order to avoid possible rain on Tuesday. I only caught two birds that day, but quality was better than quantity. One of those birds was a Veery, only the second ever caught at the station! After taking off Tuesday, I was treated to the second busiest day of the season on Wednesday, with a total of 28 new birds captured. This was mostly due to one big net run of 15 birds on the second check. Among those birds was a Red-eyed Vireo, only the eighth ever caught at Chadron. Even as far west as we are, Red-eyed Vireos are still quite common in the park, but they tend to stay in the deciduous areas on the west side near the entrance station. This exceptionally busy Wednesday was followed by the slowest day of the season on Thursday with only a single Spotted Towhee caught on the very last check! The next two days were average with seven and four new birds caught respectively.
The bulk of captures are still Orange-crowned Warblers with a strong supporting role being played by Spotted Towhees.
Red-eyed Vireo: 1 new Red-breasted Nuthatch: 0 new, 1 repeat Black-capped Chickadee: 3 new, 2 repeats Northern House Wren: 0 new, 1 repeat American Robin: 3 new Veery: 1 new Spotted Towhee: 8 new Orange-crowned Warbler: 25 new, 1 repeat Wilson's Warbler: 1
Date: 9/27/25 12:21 pm From: Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown...> Subject: [NEBirds] Nebraska Birding Discord Intro
Nebraska Birders,
Keegan and I have started a Discord server to facilitate communication between birders, and this week we welcomed our 100th member!
If you are out at the NOU meeting, Keegan will be giving a short introduction for anyone unfamiliar with the platform. If you are interested in following along at the meeting tonight, please go ahead and download Discord from the App Store or Google Play store. If you are not in attendance tonight, we will send out a link to Keegan's presentation later.
Date: 9/26/25 9:01 am From: Paul L. Pearson via groups.io <Propearson...> Subject: [NEBirds] NOU Meeting Update-Amar
I hope everyone is excited, packed and on the way (safely) to Ogallala.
It is with great disappointment and heartfelt sadness that we unfortunately have to report that Amar Ayyash will be unable to attend and present at the NOU meeting this weekend.
On Thursday AM he let us know that his father passed away unexpectedly during surgery that morning. To respect his family's privacy, I didnt want to blast this on social media, but I did want to let everyone know before they arrived if possible and I'll be sending out a similar email to registrants that provided an email address. I passed along our condolences to him.
We still have a great program and great birds to be found. Greater Black-backed gull, Sabines Gull and Neotropic Cormorant were all seen yesterday at Lake Mac or Lake Ogallala. Cody McGregor will now be presenting his recent masters thesis defense at UNK as Friday's Plenary Lecture. Despite several last-minute attempts, we were unable to secure a new Saturday night keynote speaker, but Jacob Cooper will give us a lesson on the warbling vireo split as planned. Gulling sessions will be up to the other field trip leaders to initiate. If anyone wants to volunteer to lead another field trip in the area, please see me at registration tonight and we'll announce it at dinner.
see you soon!
Paul L. Pearson, PhD
President, NOU
--
Paul L. Pearson, PhD
President-Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union
Omaha, NE
Date: 9/22/25 1:28 pm From: Violet Wu via groups.io <zishiwu33...> Subject: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station Week 4 #WCHbanding
This week I caught *88 new birds of 17 species*. The weather was unpredictable—I had to close nets early on some days and even rearranged my day off to work around the rain.
*Spotted Towhees* remained the top species with 25 new captures. The second place was *Pine Siskins* : I just got the first of the season early in the week, and suddenly they were everywhere—small flocks of mostly juveniles hitting the nets and filling all the pines above. These little finches look plain at first glance, but their streaky brown plumage hides flashes of bright yellow in the wings and tail.
Other highlights:
*
*First White-crowned Sparrow* of the season (Gambel’s).
*
A *Field Sparrow* , only the *7th record* for the station.
*
A stunning adult *Rock Wren* —just the *2nd record* here (the first one was in 2012). Typically they stick to cliffs and rocky habitats, so I was surprised and delighted to find one in dense pines and brush!
Species totals:
*
Spotted Towhee — 25
*
Pine Siskin — 21
*
House Finch — 9
*
American Goldfinch — 7
*
Orange-crowned Warbler — 5
*
Chipping Sparrow — 5
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) — 3
*
Wilson’s Warbler — 2
*
Lesser Goldfinch — 2
*
Red Crossbill — 2
*
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) — 1
*
Lincoln’s Sparrow — 1
*
Field Sparrow — 1
*
Clay-colored Sparrow — 1
*
Northern House Wren — 1
*
Rock Wren — 1
*
White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel’s) — 1
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This banding station will be operating Tuesday through Saturday until October 11th, weather and trail conditions permitting.
Date: 9/22/25 12:45 pm From: Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Chadron State Park Banding Week 4 (9/15-9/20) #CSPBanding
Wow, Palm Warbler is a good bird for Dawes!
I think I saw you at the Gering Cemetery yesterday but I didn't stay long,
had to make it back home to Lincoln. Been a weird migration, it seems. Nice
Veery today though!
- Tobin
On Mon, Sep 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM Alan Moss via groups.io <alanmoss1616=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Hi Nebraska Birders,
>
> I had a very up-and-down week last week, with the inclement weather
> limiting my total banding time. I actually started work on Monday to go
> ahead and get in a day of banding before the bad weather started. I then
> had to take off Tuesday, and only worked partial days on Wednesday and
> Thursday with low capture rates in subpar conditions.
>
> However, the week ended with a bang. Saturday seemed like it was going to
> be a normal, slow day. After getting 5 Orange-crowned Warblers on the first
> few net checks, it slowed down and I didn't catch anything for several
> hours. This is pretty typical, and I thought the day was pretty much over.
> Then when I went out for the 9:50 check I was stunned to find a total of 20
> birds in the nets! It seems that I had a migratory mixed-species hit the
> nets all at once. The vast majority of these were Orange-crowned Warblers,
> but I also had Black-capped Chickadees, my first Yellow-rumped Warblers of
> the season (both of the Myrtle subspecies group), and a Red-breasted
> Nuthatch. But the real prize was a Palm Warbler mixed in with all of the
> Orange-crowneds, only the second every caught at CSP. I actually caught 17%
> of my total newly banded birds for the season to that point in a single net
> run!
>
> While I hope I keep continuing to get more migrants, I do hope that they
> are more evenly distributed in the future! But as it is, this one day made
> last week the most productive of the season by far. Other notable birds
> were a Cassin's Vireo and Lincoln's Sparrow last Monday and a Swainson's
> Thrush on Friday, all of which were firsts for this season.
>
> Cassin's Vireo: 1
> Black-capped Chickadee: 4 (plus 3 repeats)
> Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1
> Northern House Wren: 1
> Brown Thrasher: 0 new (just 1 repeat)
> Swainson's Thrush: 1
> American Robin: 2
> Lincoln's Sparrow: 1
> Spotted Towhee: 3
> Orange-crowned Warbler: 24
> Wilson's Warbler: 2
> Palm Warbler: 1
> Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle): 2
>
>
> Alan
>
>
>
>
Date: 9/22/25 11:29 am From: Alan Moss via groups.io <alanmoss1616...> Subject: [NEBirds] Chadron State Park Banding Week 4 (9/15-9/20) #CSPBanding
Hi Nebraska Birders,
I had a very up-and-down week last week, with the inclement weather limiting my total banding time. I actually started work on Monday to go ahead and get in a day of banding before the bad weather started. I then had to take off Tuesday, and only worked partial days on Wednesday and Thursday with low capture rates in subpar conditions.
However, the week ended with a bang. Saturday seemed like it was going to be a normal, slow day. After getting 5 Orange-crowned Warblers on the first few net checks, it slowed down and I didn't catch anything for several hours. This is pretty typical, and I thought the day was pretty much over. Then when I went out for the 9:50 check I was stunned to find a total of 20 birds in the nets! It seems that I had a migratory mixed-species hit the nets all at once. The vast majority of these were Orange-crowned Warblers, but I also had Black-capped Chickadees, my first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the season (both of the Myrtle subspecies group), and a Red-breasted Nuthatch. But the real prize was a Palm Warbler mixed in with all of the Orange-crowneds, only the second every caught at CSP. I actually caught 17% of my total newly banded birds for the season to that point in a single net run!
While I hope I keep continuing to get more migrants, I do hope that they are more evenly distributed in the future! But as it is, this one day made last week the most productive of the season by far. Other notable birds were a Cassin's Vireo and Lincoln's Sparrow last Monday and a Swainson's Thrush on Friday, all of which were firsts for this season.
Date: 9/22/25 6:22 am From: Moni via groups.io <musasz...> Subject: [NEBirds] Hummingbirds and blue-headed vireos
We had at least one blue-headed vireo in our trees on Saturday, 9/20.
We put the hummingbird feeder out mid August. Immediately we started seeing hummingbirds. No more than one at a time.
Here it seems like the adult males come through first and then the females and young ones. It’s just been females and young ones for two or three weeks.
The weekend of the 13th and 14th, we had at least four fighting over the feeders. Since then we’re down to one bird at a time, seen on and off throughout the day.
Moni Usasz
Lincoln
> On Sep 21, 2025, at 7:16 PM, Paul Hubert via groups.io <paulhubert123...> wrote:
>
> This evening (Sunday, September 21) my hummingbird feeder has about as much nectar as it did this morning. This is the first time in several weeks it hasn't been drained in a day. I gather the local hummingbirds have decided to adopt a new locality to call local.
> The typical pattern at my house is to get several visitors early in the season, then it tappers off during the dog days of Summer, then a flurry of activity in the late Summer, early Fall.
> Just eight days ago there was a straight-up brawl involving 5 hummingbirds at one of my feeders, lasting at least thirty minutes (my lunch break).
> I will leave my feeders up for a few more weeks in case any stragglers wander through.
> Chip Hubert
> Omaha NE.
>
Date: 9/21/25 5:16 pm From: Paul Hubert via groups.io <paulhubert123...> Subject: [NEBirds] Hasta la Vista hummers
This evening (Sunday, September 21) my hummingbird feeder has about as much nectar as it did this morning. This is the first time in several weeks it hasn't been drained in a day. I gather the local hummingbirds have decided to adopt a new locality to call local. The typical pattern at my house is to get several visitors early in the season, then it tappers off during the dog days of Summer, then a flurry of activity in the late Summer, early Fall. Just eight days ago there was a straight-up brawl involving 5 hummingbirds at one of my feeders, lasting at least thirty minutes (my lunch break). I will leave my feeders up for a few more weeks in case any stragglers wander through. Chip Hubert Omaha NE.
Date: 9/21/25 3:18 pm From: Robin Harding via groups.io <pine2siskin4...> Subject: [NEBirds] Sherman Co. Res.
Nebraska birders,
It had been too long since the last time that my old friend Steve Morris
and I had birded together. We remedied that on Sunday, September 21. We
met a new friend, Rita Cunha from Ord, at the Sherman County Reservoir.
We had hopes of relocating the Sabine’s Gull and Common Terns. At the dam,
the weather was calm, cloudy and cool. We saw several Franklin’s and
Ring-billed Gulls but we could not find the target species. It began to
sprinkle but it looked like it would pass soon. In the Thunder Bay area,
we found a cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler and a Black-capped Chickadee.
By the time we arrived at the Ash Canyon (Trail 3) area, the sprinkle had
stopped. But then, of course, the wind picked up. We found a beautiful
Say’s Phoebe along Trail 3. I didn’t realize at that time but it was a new
Sherman County bird for me.
We continued birding the trails on the west side of the lake, being
cautious of muddy roads. We were able to drive most of the trails and we
also walked a bit. We saw a Bald Eagle fly over. We were very pleased to
watch a flock of about seventy Franklin’s Gulls do their aeronautical
acrobatics.
Our last stop was at Oak Creek (Trail 11) area. As we scanned the far
shore, we spotted a Great Egret. I assumed that I had already seen the
species in this county but I was wrong. I may have just forgotten to write
it down at some time in the past but today, it is officially a new county
bird. My new total for Sherman County is 182.
Date: 9/19/25 10:28 pm From: Paul L. Pearson via groups.io <Propearson...> Subject: [NEBirds] NOU Fall Meeting 2025 Agenda, Listing Protocols, Scientific Session Abstracts
The NOU Fall Meeting in Ogallala NE is one week away!!
We are nearing 80 registered attendees, which is a Fall Meeting record (as far as we know). Thank you to those who have registered, donated money, and/or donated items for the silent (and live) auction to benefit NOU!!!
If you haven't registered, you may still do so, but meals are no longer available. Rooms at the Quality Inn & Suites are still available-book through the hotel website. (block of rooms is no longer available, but prices are about the same)
Please find attached the Agenda, Listing Protocol and Scientific Session Abstracts
**DISCLAIMER: everything is subject to the whims of birds and those who watch them-dates, times, field trips.
See you in Ogallala!!!!!
--
Paul L. Pearson, PhD
President-Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union
Omaha, NE
Date: 9/18/25 3:29 pm From: Paul L. Pearson via groups.io <Propearson...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Silent Auction NOU at Ogallala
The items don't have to be bird-related! Restaurants, gift cards, night at a B&B, free night of camping, oil change...anything would be welcome. If you have/know of a small (or large) business or an individual that might be interested in contributing, please ask!We appreciate all the donations received thus far and there is still time for more to be added.Paul PSent from my T-Mobile 5G Device
Date: 9/18/25 12:36 pm From: Boni Edwards via groups.io <boniedwards...> Subject: [NEBirds] Silent Auction NOU at Ogallala
At the upcoming NOU meeting September 26-28 at Ogallala we are having a silent auction. We have a lot of great items! Some of the items include a Morning with the Cranes with Crane Trust tour guide and whooper watcher Colleen Childers, a Loess Bluffs NWR Driving Tour for 3 people with Thane Dinsdale, a guided tour for 6 at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center with Jason St. Sauver, many books, collector plates, puzzles, prints, cards, towels, and figurines. Along with the great speakers and field trips that are scheduled, be assured it will be an amazing weekend! The pictures below are just a few of the items that have been donated. If you have something you would like included please let me know.
Date: 9/16/25 7:50 am From: Cathy Prettyman via groups.io <cprettyman21...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Wildcat Hills Banding Station Week 3 #WCHbanding
Thank you for that educational information on the skull measurements! And your reports, pictures are great too!
Cathy Prettyman
Ne Master Naturalist
Blair Ne
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This banding station will be operating Tuesday through Saturday until October 11th, weather and trail conditions permitting.
