Date: 6/18/25 6:34 pm From: Donna and Bruce Walgren via groups.io <Piranga...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Crescent Lake Breeding Bird Survey
Nebraska Birders,
Donna and I used to do this survey. That first stop is crazy – never could feel comfortable with the numbers of birds calling there! We never had Black-necked Stilts or Prairie Chickens – so those two are great additions!
Thanks for sharing!
Bruce & Donna
From: <NEBirds...> [mailto:<NEBirds...>] On Behalf Of Tobin Brown via groups.io
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2025 10:09 AM
To: <NEbirds...>
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.
