Date: 5/7/26 9:09 pm From: Keegan Brown via groups.io <keegqbrown...> Subject: [NEBirds] Operation Antrostomus: Southeast County Listing
Hi all,
Last weekend I had the pleasure of birding Southeast Nebraska with Jacob Cooper, Paul Pearson, Tobin Brown, Eli Weber, Brody Biberdorf, and Addie Teet. By the end of a busy Sunday, our group had 45 checklists in 7 counties and recorded 138 species!
The day started at 4am as Paul, Jacob, and I rolled out of Omaha well before dawn. With a heavy push of migrating birds forecasted, we headed to Indian Cave SP in search of nightjars and warblers. There we met up with Tobin, Eli, Brody, and Addie and got our first target of the day: Eastern Whip-poor-will. We continued around the park birding St. Deroin, Trail 9, and Trail 6. Highlights included a Yellow-throated Warbler, a handful of Kentucky Warblers, an extremely cooperative Gray-cheeked Thrush, endless Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and a few Broad-winged Hawks.
After Indian Cave, we began making our way toward Table Rock to try for Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Along the way, we stopped at Kirkmans Cove RA in Richardson County where we found the 1st county record of Piping Plover! Other notable birds included a distant Peregrine Falcon, a large and noisy group of Forster's Terns, and two early Dickcissels. At Klapka-Mendenhall Grassland in Pawnee County, we spotted a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in their usual spot on the radio tower.
Next, we were off to Fairbiry to see the Fish Crows! On the way, we stopped at Big Indian RA and Diamond Lake WMA (both in Gage County). Nothing out of the ordinary here other than Diamond Lake having only 3 individual birds and 2 species. We didn't stay there long. In Fairbury we saw 2 Fish Crows. One was on the nest and the other was calling nearby. At this point, the group split up a bit, but Jacob, Paul, and I continued birding. We visited Crystal Springs Park in Jefferson County where we had a large group of Long-billed Dowitchers, a Marbled Godwit, and the 1st county record of Hudsonian Whimbrel!
With the adrenaline provided by a Whimbrel sighting, we decided we might as well check out Conestoga Lake SRA in Lancaster on the way home. Here we observed a variety of shorebirds including 3 Sanderlings, 2 White-rumped Sandpipers, and the continuing Snowy Plover. With that, we headed back toward Omaha.
All in all it was an epic day of birding and I was up for ~21 hours straight. A big thank you to everyone involved, to Jacob for being our checklist/trip report keeper, and to that Whimbrel for making my day!
