Date: 6/14/26 1:47 pm From: Steve Schmitt via groups.io <sschmitt1...> Subject: [NEBirds] Seward BBS results
Nebraska Birders,
On June 6th the Seward BBS route was completed for the USGS Breeding Bird Survey. The weather was very good (quite a bit cooler overall) however, rain overnight between June 5th and 6th did cause one of the 50 stops to be unavailable due to an unpassable road (no gravel on this particular stretch.) There was still a little drizzle at the start, with heavy thunder and lightning to the west of the route starting point that ended up going south, so not impacting the count, other than it was a bit darker on the first several stops than usual. The attached picture shows the sun beginning to rise to the east of the route starting point. The route was completed in 5.5 hours and ending temperature was only 78 degrees. We had at least one bird at ever stop, which often doesn't happen due to high temperatures at the end of the route in most cases.
This was my 25th year running this route. Notable Items based on previous runs:
- 0 Chimney Swifts - first time not finding them at stop in Staplehurst
- 0 Upland Sandpipers - 50/50 chance on the route, but had them the past couple of years previous to this run
- 3 Meadowlarks - at the first couple of stops only, expected more as the day got warmer but didn't find more
- Higher than normal numbers of Bobwhites (22) and Ring-necks (16) and Red-headed Woodpeckers (7) on this year's run
- This year is the 60th anniversary of the BBS. A note from the BBS team with the packet noted Red-winged Blackbirds represents the most abundant species in the BBS dataset, with over 7.5 million individuals. Red-wings were once again the most numerous on this count, 68 individuals
