Date: 2/16/26 9:30 am From: Paul Roisen via groups.io <roisenp1950...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Big Day without a Blue Jay
Really great to hear about your wonderful day. I have not been out birding
in Nebraska since the Chase of the Mexican duck (hybrid) and Crested
Caracara. Fired me up to get out there but swamped with things I need to
get done so...... hope to be out there soon,
Congrats on a great day and country birding.
God Bless.
*Paul O. Roisen*
*Sioux City, IA 51106 **Woodbury County, IA*
*Mobile 712-301-2817 **<roisenp1950...> <roisenp1950...>*
On Mon, Feb 16, 2026 at 11:24 AM pastorpaultdunbar via groups.io
<pastorpaultdunbar...> wrote:
> Super cool, Tobin. Great list for February!
>
> On Monday, February 16, 2026 at 09:58:29 AM CST, Shirley Maas via
> groups.io <dtmsem2006...> wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for the report
>
> Don Maas
> Mesa, Az
> Maricopa County
>
>
> “If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government then you
> are doomed to live under the rules of fools.
> Plato
> “You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences of
> reality.”
>
> Don & Shirley Maas
> The Maas’s have migrated to the Valley of the Sun in Mesa, AZ from
> Choctaw, Ok for the winter.
>
> On Monday, February 16, 2026, 7:48 AM, Tobin Brown via groups.io
> <tobinjbrown...> wrote:
>
> Nebraska Birders,
>
> On Saturday night, I headed west to Lake Ogallala with the plan of looking
> for gulls on Sunday. I camped overnight, where it got down to about 30
> degrees, and got up before dawn to look for gulls. On my way to the
> Kingsley Dam Outlet, I heard my first bird of the day, Great Horned Owl.
>
> The gulls were absolutely swarming, even before sunrise! In fact, most
> activity was before or just after sunrise. I lucked out and got a brief
> view of the continuing Short-billed Gull, but the star of the show was a
> first cycle Glaucous Gull <https://media.ebird.org/asset/651025604>. It
> was fun to observe it being the "bully" of the flock, chasing every nearby
> gull that got ahold of a fish. I continued picking through the flock, and
> after adding Lesser Black-backed, California, and Iceland Gull, I had a
> list of 7 gull species!
>
> I then drove around to the other side of the lake to scan through the
> flocks of waterfowl. Along the canal I added some passerines, including
> multiple Townsend's Solitaires. After picking through the ducks, which
> included a pair of Greater Scaup, my day list was nearing 50, and it was
> only 10am!
>
> At this point, I started thinking maybe I should turn it into a big day. I
> pulled up the latest issue of the Burrowing Owl, and saw that the record
> was 79 species. A difficult number, but perhaps doable with the good start
> that I had. I texted Boni and Eugene who were both out birding, and
> graciously started scouting out some areas on my route back east.
>
> At Sutherland Reservoir I added Cormorants, White-crowned, and Harris's
> Sparrows, and White-breasted Nuthatch. On my way to North Platte, I added
> Sandhill Cranes as a group of 58 kettled overhead. Boni sent me to a spot
> in North Platte where I was able to coax out a Marsh Wren and hear a
> Virginia Rail, 2 very good additions to the day list! Then in North Platte
> itself, I picked up Northern Shoveler, Great-tailed Grackle, and my last
> expected goose, Greater White-fronted. I checked a spot that typically has
> good blackbird flocks, but didn't find even a starling.
>
> Then I headed towards Elm Creek to meet up with Eugene in Dawson
> county. We got incredibly lucky in that area, finding a Ferruginous Hawk,
> Prairie Falcon, and 8 Greater Prairie Chickens! On our way to Ravenna,
> Eugene spotted a Northern Shrike far away on a power line which was a great
> pickup for the day.
>
> In Ravenna, the wind had picked up, but we hiked the hike/bike trail
> looking for a Spotted Towhee that had been seen previously. We struck out
> with the Towhee, but added a few species to the day list: Brown Creeper,
> Black-capped Chickadee, Cedar Waxwing, and Red-headed Woodpecker.
>
> On the drive back to Rowe Sanctuary, we kept our eyes peeled for a Merlin,
> one of the last raptors I needed, but no luck. At Rowe we were treated to a
> spectacle of Northern Harriers, we counted 12 harriers in one field near
> sunset! The record-tying bird for the day was the Short-eared Owl
> <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/651047406>. A group of 3 came out to
> play about 10 minutes before sunset in the meadows. It was so cool to see
> these birds 2 nights in a row.
>
> As the sun set on the day, I had just a couple more birds to try for. With
> Eugene's guidance, we were able to hear a pair of Eastern Screech-Owls near
> Kearney, and then I headed back east. In Lincoln, I tried one of my typical
> spots for one last bird, Barred Owl, but they were unfortunately silent, so
> the day list stopped at 80.
>
> February is typically one of the most underbirded months it seems, so I
> really enjoyed getting out to see some new places, especially in the
> unseasonably warm weather we had. And I would encourage others to do the
> same. Setting silly goals also forced me to look for common birds like
> Chickadees and Blue Jays (I had no idea how difficult they were to find in
> Central Nebraska). I'm sure I'll do a proper May Big Day eventually, but
> this was fun too!
>
> Over the course of the day, I added 15 county birds to my lists, for the
> following totals.
> Keith: 194 (1)
> Lincoln: 145 (3)
> Dawson: 51 (2)
> Buffalo: 115 (6)
> Kearney: 31 (3)
>
> The full list can be found on my trip report
> https://ebird.org/tripreport/476976 >
>
> Happy birding!
>
> Tobin Brown
> Lancaster County
> https://ebird.org/profile/NDA1ODIzNg/US-NE >
>
>
>
