WASFieldTrips

Visitors are welcome on our field trips, no experience needed. There is no charge for any of the field trips, we encourage beginner birders to come and learn with us

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org

“The GBBC is a perfect first step toward the sort of intensive monitoring needed to discover how birds are responding to environmental change,” said Janis Dickinson, director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab. “Winter is such a vulnerable period for birds, so winter bird distributions are likely to be very sensitive to change. There is only one way—citizen science—to gather data on private lands where people live and doing this across the continent over many years. GBBC has enormous potential both as an early warning system and in capturing and engaging people in more intensive sampling of birds across the landscape.”

On the website, participants can explore realtime maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. For more information about the GBBC, visit the website at www.birdcount.org.

March 18-21
Audubon’s Rivers and Wildlife Celebration
The 40^th annual Rivers and Wildlife Celebration will be held March 18-21, 2010, in Kearney, Nebraska. Organized by Audubon Nebraska and the Nebraska Bird Partnership, the conference gathers together nature enthusiasts from across the county to witness the migration of over half a million sandhill cranes and millions of waterfowl and other birds through central Nebraska. Events include guided field trips, workshops, a family fun room, and daily visits to river blinds operated by Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary for up-close views of cranes roosting on the Platte River.

Local and national speakers will present information on a variety of wildlife and conservation topics. Main speakers are Scott Weidensaul, author of more than two dozen natural history books, including Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds, a Pulitzer Prize finalist; Mike Forsberg, nature photographer and author of Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild; Ron Klataske, executive director of Audubon of Kansas; and Chris Wood, eBird Project Leader, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. More than twenty local environmental organizations will have information booths and hands-on activities on Saturday. The celebration is open to the general public. Registration materials can be found at www.nebraska.audubon.org.
Or contact Audubon Nebraska to be put on the mailing list:
Nebraska@audubon.org; 402/797-2301. Rowe Sanctuary has information about viewing the Sandhill Crane migration, 308/468-5282; www.rowesanctuary.org.

March 27th
Waterfowl Field Trip, meet at Arby’s at 8:00am. We will check out the local lakes and ponds for migrating waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes. We should be back around 1:00

April 29th—May 2nd
Eastern Nebraska Field Trip
This trip is still in the planning stages but we are planning to bird at Spring Creek Prairie, www.springcreekprairie.org/ Fontenelle Forest, www.fontenelleforest.org/ and maybe some other eastern birding destinations as time allows. Please let us know if you are interested in going on this trip so you can be included in the planning meeting. Contact Alice Kenitz, akenitz at prairieweb.com 308-436-2959 or Kathy DeLara, renosmom at charter.net for more information or to sign up for the trip.

May 14th-16th
Nebraska Ornithologists Spring Meeting will be held at Camp Norwesca adjacent to Chadron State Park south of Chadron NE. There will be fieldtrips to great birding areas such as Sowbelly Canyon, Gilbert-Baker WMA and others.
Evening programs and meals will be at the lodge at the camp. You do not have to be a member to attend the events. More information will be available later.

May 22nd
Scottsbluff County Spring Bird Count
Meet at the RCI parking lot on 27th St and Ave I at 6:00am. We will be conducting our annual spring bird count and should be back in town about 1:00

June 5th, State Line Island #S408
This block is located in the north-west corner of Scottsbluff Co. and was a new block in 2009 Meet at the RCI parking lot (27th St & Ave I) at 6:00 am

June 12th, Wright’s Gap # B104 and Wildcat Hills #B103
Meet at the old Gering SunMart parking lot at 6:00 am

June 19th, Morrill County # M103
This block is along the river in eastern Morrill Co., we might also do the adjacent block in Garden County if we have time. Meet at the old Gering SunMart parking lot at 6:00 am. Bring a sack lunch

June 26th, Wildcat Hills # S401
Meet at the old Gering SunMart parking lot at 6:00 am

August 15th
Annual Picnic will be held at Dave & Ann Duey’s, Scottsbluff at 5:00 pm. Bring a covered dish and table service, drinks will be provided.

September 11th
Breakfast at Wind Springs Ranch
David and Helen Hughson will be our hosts for breakfast and birding at the ranch. Meet at the RCI parking lot (27th St & Ave I) at 7:00 am to join the carpool.

September 18th or 25th
Scotts Bluff County Fall Bird Count
Meet at Arby’s at 7:00 am

October 23rd
Fall Waterfowl Field Trip
Meet at Arby’s at 7:00 am. We will be birding the local lakes and ponds for waterfowl and other birds. We should be back by 1:00

For a list of birds counted in 2007 for the atlas project, on the field trips or by individuals Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas Counts

Field Trip Contacts

Alice Kenitz 308-436-2959 email
Kathy De Lara 308-632-3047 email
Phyllis or Dean Drawbaugh 308-632-4869
Helen Hughson 308-632-4765 email