Date: 3/24/26 4:36 am From: Kathleen J Crawford-Rose via groups.io <katcr...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Richardson County birding
Loved your post, Ruthie. Good luck to you AND THE HUSKER BOYS!
On Monday, March 23, 2026 at 09:44:35 PM CDT, Shirley Maas via groups.io <dtmsem2006...> wrote:
Love your report. We need more of the experiences not just dry numbers.
“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 MaasThe Maas’s have migrated to the Valley of the Sun in Mesa, AZ from Choctaw, Ok for the winter.
On Monday, March 23, 2026, 6:09 PM, Ruth Stearns via groups.io <ruthstearns...> wrote:
My Richardson county list has been at 118 since 2020, and only earlier this month did I start trying to improve on that number, checking area lakes for waterfowl and finding none until I got to a cornstubble field close to the road with Snow Geese and #119 Ross's Geese.
With eBird needling me with its needs alerts emails (which I did ask for), I realized I needed to get back to the county to pick up some waterfowl and other birds I didn't have yet. So no lounging over coffee this morning, get going and on the road!
I'd call today's effort inspired by the Nebraska Mens Basketball team, who keep playing til the game is over. No quitting early!
So, I needed six more birds, and my last emails from eBird promised that many and then some. Could I find any?
First headed to Kirkman's Cove, and in the cold winds, on the western side, picked up the Lesser Scaup # 120 , but none of the others on the list. Did hear Barred Owls, that was cool! And also FOY Pied-Billed Grebes. At the south side found Blue-winged Teal #121, (also FOY's) and some Gadwall, but nothing else. How can this big lake have so few waterfowl? Hmm.
Wandering around north of Humboldt did have FOY Turkey Vultures.
Then headed to Verdon Lake with many promising new Richardson County birds. But it was a bust. nothing but the Canada Geese and four Snow Geese that were all there three weeks ago. Did have a pretty FOY Eastern Phoebe tho.
So off to my last planned stop...Indian Cave. Can I find the Purple Finches on Trail #9? YES! The lowest spot on that trail, right near the entrance, seemed the birdiest, and the purple finches were zipping around at a distance, chittering and making that Tick tick call! Fun to see Red-headed Woodpeckers and Tufted Titmice galore. Hiked up to the meadow, and on the way back, near where I had the PUFI's, were some Golden-crowned Kinglets, who alerted me with their high pitched little squeaky noises. When I got the list in eBird, the Purple Finches were #122 and the Kinglets #123.
Dang...all my spots for the day taken, and I was two short, and I needed to get home and fix supper. I could make it just fine but....I kept thinking about those two lakes. They had all these waterfowl on them yesterday, who were nearly all gone by today. It'd been a few hours since I was there, maybe something else came in? Should I go 15 miles out of my way to go home that way? So what would the Huskers do? They'd keep trying! So I headed back down to Verdon Lake. While it was warmer than this morning, still no waterfowl, unless you want to count the FOY Double-crested Cormorants. Also picked up an FOY Great Blue Heron (really? took me that long to get those two birds this year?) And probably an early Chipping Sparrow, eBird had it down as Rare, but it was definitely another FOY.
But my Richardson county list was still at #123. Off to Kirkman's Cove. Pulled in to one of the spots I'd liked from this morning, and there were no rafts of ducks, nothing, but there was one somethingorother just off the shore. Was it a loon? Good heavens it was, an FOY Common Loon, and #124 for Richardson County https://ebird.org/checklist/S312513091 photos attached to this list.
Can I find ONE more bird on this lake? Hmm.. off in the distance was a small duck, or grebe, too far away to ID. Where can I get closer...ok, one more detour needed, but it was on my way back, headed back in to the western entrance of the lake....and right in front of me was the duck...the bins suggested it was a ruddy, and eventually I pulled it into my scope, as it liked to be below the waterline vs above most of the time. When I entered it in eBird, it was number #125!!!!!
So I guess it pays to play like the Husker basketball team...Don't stop playing til the game is over. And yes, I guess waterfowl comes and goes into lakes quite often, so don't rule out going back at the end of the day to look again!
So six new county birds and 9 FOY's for the day. 39 species total. A fun day!
Ruthie StearnsLincoln, NE
