Date: 3/28/25 7:26 pm From: Robin Harding via groups.io <pine2siskin4...> Subject: [NEBirds] Sandhills adventure
Nebraska birders,
I enjoy county listing because it motivates me to go birding in new and
different places. I’d been looking at my lists and noticing that I was
woefully deficient of waterfowl species in McPherson and Hooker Counties.
That was almost enough to get me inspired to go but the clincher was Bill
Flack’s offer to show me the bodies of water that he was familiar with.
I took a little time off from work so that we could bird in Grant and
Arthur Counties as well. Maybe even Thomas County on the way home. I
always love birding in the Sandhills. It’s beautiful countryside. There
is so much to see and those one lane blacktop roads are a real adventure.
After seeing nobody for several miles, you almost hope to bump into someone
to talk with.
Bill and I started in McPherson County on March 20. We drove west from
Tryon on highway 92 and found a small roadside pond with a few ducks. We
continued to Schick Lake and found it covered with at least a dozen
different species of waterfowl. Next was Diamond Bar Lake, where there was
another impressive group of waterfowl. We were unable to identify many of
the waterfowl because of distance and poor lighting. Then we went to Dry
Lake and Sand Beach Lake. I didn’t even have Canada Goose in McPherson
county until this day. Bill had already seen 140 species in the county.
New county birds for me also included Green-winged Teal, Canvasback,
Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, American White Pelican, Northern
Pintail, Ring-billed Gull, and Common Goldeneye.
In Hooker County, that first evening, we found some Greater
Prairie-Chickens, which was a new county bird for me. As the sun set, we
arrived at a North Fork Dismal River crossing. We heard some clucking
sounds and found some Wild Turkeys roosting up in the trees (another new
county bird). When it was almost dark, we were standing on the bridge
enjoying the calm, comfortable weather when we heard the whinny of an
Eastern Screech Owl. It was a new county bird for both of us. The next
morning, we started at the Mullen sewage lagoon then drove west along
highway 2. We stopped at a couple ponds near mile markers 168 and 169.
Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Bufflehead and
Canvasback were new Hooker County birds for me.
We continued into Grant County, stopping in the parking lot of a church
with a nice view of Doc lake. There, we saw two Sharp-tailed Grouse on the
lawn, which was rather odd. They were new county birds for me. There was
a fair number of ducks out on the lake. Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Duck
were new county birds. We drove to Carr Lake which is bisected by the
Grant/Hooker County line. On the Hooker side, I added American Coot and
Green-winged Teal to my county list. Back in Grant County at Avocet WMA,
we saw more waterfowl including a Common Merganser which was a new county
bird. There were waterfowl everywhere including Frye Lake and Long Lake in
Grant County. Hooded Merganser was a new county bird for both of us.
Bill’s new total is 149 and mine is 103.
We drove south into Arthur County and then back to the north on Whitman
Road. We found even more waterfowl at Box Lake and Swan Lake. Again, we
were unable to identify many of the waterfowl because of distance and poor
lighting. I was able to add many to my county list including Bufflehead,
Canvasback, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon,
Ring-necked Pheasant and Bald Eagle. My Arthur County list is up to 73.
From Swan Lake, we crossed back into northwestern McPherson County and saw
Cackling Geese which was a new county bird for both of us. We also saw
Trumpeter Swans, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and American Wigeon which were new
county birds for me. Bill’s new total is 141 and mine is 97.
We drove back up into Hooker County to find East Cody Lake. Trumpeter Swan
and Common Merganser were new county birds for me. A little to the west,
we found a Lesser Yellowlegs which was new for both of us. Then we drove
back into Grant County, stopping at the headwaters of the North Fork Dismal
River. Greater Prairie-Chicken was a new county bird for me at that
location.
The morning of March 22, we found ourselves in Hyannis. I stepped outside
early in the morning and heard a Great Horned Owl. It was a new Grant
County bird. Bill has seen or heard the owl in all 93 counties. Just
makes you sick, doesn’t it? He has seen more than sixty species in all 93
counties. We walked around town a bit and found a bird feeder with a
Dark-eyed Junco. It was another new county bird for me. We drove back to
Frye Lake and saw many ducks and a Bald Eagle. The eagle and Common
Goldeneye were new county birds for me. We visited the cemetery in Hyannis
and then back out to Avocet WMA and Doc Lake. There were still many
waterfowl to be seen including a beautiful Hooded Merganser. We walked in
the town of Whitman and saw five Sharp-tailed Grouse.
We drove back into Hooker County and visited the Mullen sewage lagoon
again. My new total for Hooker County is 81 and Bill’s is 150. Then we
moved on to Thomas County and birded the Seneca area. There are ponds just
east of town where we saw many ducks. I added eight species to my county
list and Bill got none. That’s too bad. His total remains at 135. Mine
is 141. We also stopped in Thedford and found a few Greater
Prairie-Chickens booming between the golf course and the river. We also
walked around the campground in the National Forest near Halsey. We saw a
few chickadees and a bunch of Cedar Waxwings.
Everything has been entered onto ebird.
You’re probably tired of reading by now but it was quite an adventure. It
reminded me of years ago when the NOU held fall meetings at the 4-H camp in
the Forest.
