Date: 6/16/25 9:09 am
From: Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown...>
Subject: [NEBirds] Crescent Lake Breeding Bird Survey
Nebraska Birders,

Inspired by Jason Thiele's reports, I figured I'd share my experience as
well!

On Friday I conducted my first breeding bird survey at Crescent Lake.
Having never done a survey before, I was a little worried about the rushed
nature of a 3 minute count, but I think I did pretty well! I counted just
over 1000 individuals of 57 species (plus a non-count Sora and domestic
Peafowl)! 20 species were only found at a single stop. The weather was
clear and cool, with very little wind, I don't think I could have asked for
better. Here are some of the overall highlights of the day.

- *Dawn Song.* The Dawn song at the marsh was overwhelming (see the
stilt recording below). Probably hundreds of birds, I did my best to parse
out what I was hearing, but I suspect I underestimated Marsh Wrens,
blackbirds, and calling coots/ducks by quite a bit. (I think I may have
missed a Least bittern there too)
- *Black-necked Stilt:* I had 2 Black-necked Stilts at my first stop at
the northwest corner of Goose Lake. They were very vocal
<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637624955> (probably scolding
me). I'm not sure when the last time this route was run, but this may be a
new species for the route.
- *Cinnamon Teal:* I came across one single drake Cinnamon Teal at stop
18. It was in a pond with some Blue-winged teals. I did not note a hen, but
I think it's likely one was hiding in the marsh.
- *Meadowlarks!* Meadowlarks dominated my count, noted at 46 stops (and
probably missed at the others). Almost all were Western, but I did hear one
singing Eastern Meadowlark.
- *American Bittern*: I was hoping to hear a displaying Bittern on my
route, and I did on stop 10! I stopped briefly after my 3 minute count to
take a recording <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637625220>.
- *Prairie Chickens:* I thought I was well into Sharp-tailed Grouse
territory, but I heard a few late Prairie Chickens still booming at stops
5-7
- *Weasel!* The non-bird highlight of my route was a Long-tailed Weasel
<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/637629575> at stop 30.

Trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/384758

It was a long day, but I'm looking forward to running it again next year to
see what changes.

Species 1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 Total ind. Total Stops
Blue-winged Teal 25 2 0 0 0 27 4
Northern Shoveler 2 0 0 0 0 2 1
Gadwall 2 0 0 0 0 2 1
Mallard 7 1 0 0 0 8 3
Canvasback 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Redhead 16 0 0 0 0 16 2
Ring-necked Pheasant 9 14 9 1 3 36 28
Pied-billed Grebe 2 1 0 0 0 3 3
Eared Grebe 2 0 0 0 0 2 1
Mourning Dove 9 7 21 19 38 94 37
Common Nighthawk 5 0 2 0 1 8 7
American Coot 8 0 0 0 0 8 4
American Avocet 1 25 0 0 0 26 2
Killdeer 4 5 3 0 0 12 11
Upland Sandpiper 2 1 3 5 0 11 8
Long-billed Curlew 0 4 0 5 3 12 7
Wilson's Snipe 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Willet 5 7 1 0 0 13 7
Wilson's Phalarope 1 3 0 0 0 4 3
Black Tern 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
Forster's Tern 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
Double-crested Cormorant 6 5 0 0 0 11 2
American Bittern 2 1 0 0 0 3 2
Great Blue Heron 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
White-faced Ibis 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0 1 2 3 3
Western Kingbird 4 0 6 1 2 13 8
Eastern Kingbird 1 1 1 1 1 5 5
Horned Lark 0 2 1 16 13 32 14
Bank Swallow 0 0 0 3 1 4 2
Barn Swallow 26 4 2 1 1 34 7
Cliff Swallow 0 0 2 0 0 2 2
Marsh Wren 23 2 0 0 0 25 4
Brown Thrasher 2 0 0 0 2 4 4
Grasshopper Sparrow 4 7 3 10 15 39 26
Lark Sparrow 2 1 14 14 3 34 18
Lark Bunting 0 0 1 2 22 25 11
Yellow-headed Blackbird 28 4 4 13 0 49 10
Bobolink 0 5 0 0 0 5 2
Eastern Meadowlark 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Western Meadowlark 14 46 35 25 29 149 46
Orchard Oriole 1 0 5 1 3 10 7
Bullock's Oriole 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Red-winged Blackbird 44 40 29 44 13 170 26
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 3 10 4 10 28 15
Common Grackle 0 0 0 0 3 3 2
Common Yellowthroat 12 2 1 0 0 15 9
Blue Grosbeak 2 2 2 2 3 11 10
Dickcissel 0 8 4 3 8 23 13
*Cinnamon Teal* 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
*Greater Prairie-Chicken* 4 0 0 0 0 4 1
*Black-necked Stilt* 2 0 0 0 0 2 1
*Northern Harrier* 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
*American Crow* 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
*Eastern Bluebird* 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
*American Goldfinch* 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
*Yellow Warbler* 1 0 1 0 0 2 2
*Total Species : 57* *Total ind. : 1002*

Tobin Brown
Lancaster County
402-213-4014
https://ebird.org/profile/NDA1ODIzNg/US-NE


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