Date: 6/7/26 6:20 pm From: Gordon Warrick via groups.io <prubinus...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] Johnstown BBS
Thanks. I think I ran that one 40 years ago!
On Sunday, June 7, 2026, 10:38:30 AM MDT, Keegan Brown via groups.io <keegqbrown...> wrote:
Nebraska Birders,
On June 6th I completed the Johnstown route for the USGS Breeding Bird Survey. I was lucky to have great weather! It was a pleasant morning with very little wind and a starting temperature of 59 degrees. It gradually warmed up and got a bit windy at the last few stops. It took ~4.5 hours to complete the route, and by the time I finished, it was 82 degrees.
This is my first year running this route, so I do not have any data to compare it against. However, many of the species present were about what I expected.
Notable Items based on nothing other than my own expectations:
- 0 House Finches: I expected to find at least a few.- 0 Yellow-headed Blackbirds: I think the habitat was maybe too dry.
- Very few nuthatches: There seemed to be plenty of habitat, especially near Long Pine SRA. After the survey, I did observe WBNU and RBNU at Long Pine SRA.- A domestic Indian Peafowl at Stop 25: Certainly an escapee from a nearby farm, but its call caught me off guard.
- 1 Wood Duck: Not unexpected, but with the amount of grassland I was in, this bird wasn't exactly top of mind.
Excited to see how/if this changes each year! Trip report on eBird, and the data table summary below.
