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Joel Jorgensen

Joel Jorgensen is a Nebraska native and he has been interested in birds just about as long as he has been breathing. He has been NGPC’s Nongame Bird Program Manager for eight years and he works on a array of monitoring, research, regulatory and conservation issues. Nongame birds are the 400 or so species that are not hunted and include the Whooping Crane, Least Tern, Piping Plover, Bald Eagle, and Peregrine Falcon. When not working, he enjoys birding.

Eagle viewing, gulling heats up at Lake Ogallala

Last week our Communications staff put out this news release stating that now is a good time for eagle viewing.  It is.  A portion of my trek to twitch the Brown Pelican last Saturday included a stop at Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area.  The recent cold snap froze Lake McConaughy and almost all of Lake Ogallala.  However, this can be positive because limited open water will concentrate birds.  Since open water (and very importantly food) is present immediately in the spillway …

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Twitching Sutherland’s Brown Pelican

On Saturday morning, my alarm sounded at 3:45 a.m. and I rose out of bed in order to take the three-hour drive to Sutherland Reservoir to “twitch” a Brown Pelican.  For non-birders, “twitching” is a British birding term meaning to chase after a previously located (usually rare) bird.  Brown Pelicans are typically found in coastal areas but birds occasionally wander inland.  The Brown Pelican I was chasing was found by Stephen J. Dinsmore and Kevin Murphy on 26 December 2014.  Nebraska’s …

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Harlan County CBC Recap

After a thirteen year hiatus and a one day postponement due to weather, the Harlan County Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place 16 December 2014.  The CBC was held annually from 1996 to 2001.  This year, a group of ten birders tallied 77 species, which is above the average number of 73 species recorded 1996-2001.  Below, I touch upon a few highlights from the CBC. New CBC species:  Cackling Goose, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Mountain Bluebird, and Hermit …

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A Nebraska Peregrine Falcon appears in Texas

I received an email yesterday informing me that an adult Peregrine Falcon was sighted at the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation north of Houston in The Woodlands, Texas.  Fortunately the observer, Linda Kuhn, was not only able to see that the bird was banded, but also captured photographs of the bird, including a couple of shots which show the color band.  You can see the band in the photo, below.  So who is this falcon?  Where did it come from?  When and where …

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Here they come – Christmas Bird Counts

It is difficult to believe we are only a few days away from another Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season, which will be from December 14 to January 5 this year (or two years, as it may be).  This year, our state’s CBCs kickoff on Sunday when the North Platte and Branched Oak Lake-Seward CBC take place.   There will be fourteen CBCs in Nebraska this year, from Harrison to Omaha and Scottsbluff to Ponca State Park. This CBC season is exciting for …

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Snowy Owls Moving Into Nebraska?

Nebraska’s second Snowy Owl report of the season occurred today (3 December) east of Kearney.  The first report involved a bird recovered by Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery a couple weeks ago in Saunders County.  Today’s Snowy Owl was first reported by Kent Skaggs on NEbirds.  Late this afternoon, I received  an independent report, apparently of the same bird, that included photos provided by Diana Merryman.  One of her photos is provided, below. Today’s report in Nebraska prompted me to check eBird to …

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Two grouse on a road less traveled

Over this past weekend, I worked deer check in a cold, windy and snowy Ord.  Following my tour of duty, I headed back to Lincoln Monday morning.  Rather than taking highways, I took roads less traveled.  My decision did not involve yellow wood or trails that bent in the undergrowth, I was simply interested in seeing what birds I could find.  My expectations were tempered because Monday morning temperatures were in the single digits and a stiff wind was howling out …

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Hunting the Three-toed Woodpecker in the Pine Ridge

Last weekend, Melissa Panella, a fellow NGPC biologist, and I took the long drive from Lincoln to East Ash Creek Canyon in the Pine Ridge, southeast of Chadron.  We were on a mission to find an American Three-toed Woodpecker.  This species is a major rarity for Nebraska and major rarities are always a source of excitement.  We hiked through the canyon for a mile or two and, as though we had inside information, we found the bird!  We were afforded some great views, …

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Please report Whooping Crane sightings

With four Whooping Cranes already in Texas and four more recently reported along the Platte River, it is time to remind folks to be on the lookout for Whooping Cranes in Nebraska.  Over the next several weeks the rest of the population of Whooping Cranes in the Central Flyway is expected to migrate through Nebraska.  The Nongame Bird Program leads our agency’s efforts to track these birds as they move through the state, but we rely on a great deal of …

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Bald Birds

Northern cardinals are familiar birds found throughout most of Nebraska. But sometimes familiar species can become unfamiliar by exhibiting an odd plumage. Sometimes an explanation for such an aberration is well-known and readily available. Other times an explanation is more elusive. The entirely bald head exhibited by this northern cardinal is unusual, but not unprecedented. Birds similar to this have been observed throughout the species’ range. However, why a cardinal would lose essentially all of its head feathers at one …

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