Halsey Fall Field Days

    Our 2002 Fall Field Days will be held at the 4-H Camp in the National Forest at Halsey on September 6, 7 and 8.  The camp consists of a lodge with sheltered decks and lovely views, an administration building with motel-like accommodations, and numerous cabins situated among the trees.   Diverse habitats, including park pine lands, Sandhills, the nearby Middle Loup River, lake country and the Valentine Refuge to the north provide ample opportunities for a great weekend of birding.

    There were 62 NOU members and friends who attended the Fall Field Days in 2001.  We tallied 120 species last year, including Broad-winged Hawk, Mississippi Kite, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon, Common Poorwill, Mountain Bluebird, Black-throated Green Warbler, Indigo Bunting and Rusty Blackbird.

    Excellent meals are available at the 4-H Camp, and the prices for meals and lodging are the same as last year.  Bunkhouse type cabins,  with shared bathroom facilities, are available for $11.50 per person per night.  We can usually accommodate couples privately and singles in men's and women's 'dorm' cabins.   Linens are available for $10 per person.

    There are six rooms (each accommodating two persons) available in the administration building for $20 per person per night.  These will be assigned in the order the reservations are received.  They have private baths, and linens are provided.

    While we encourage all registrants to stay at the 4-H Camp, there are motels available if you prefer.  The Keeney Motel (308-533-2240) in Halsey is 2 miles away .  Motels are also available in Thedford, which is 15 miles to the west.  (Rodeway Inn: 308-645-2284 and Arrow Motel:  308-645-2246.)  For those of you wishing to camp, there is a very good nearby campground in the National Forest.

    For complete information, see the Registration Form in this issue.  The registration deadline is August 30.  Check-in will begin at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, the 6th, with dinner to follow at 6:00.  Please be on time if you register for this meal.

    Programs for the weekend include a photographic extravaganza by Loren "Bub" Blake.  Bub‚s photos are often featured in NEBRASKAland Magazine, and his skill and patience in obtaining spectacular photos are evident in his slide shows.

    Bruce Eichhorst, a.k.a. "the Grebe Guy", is an Assistant Professor of biology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, specializing in wetland birds, grebes in particular.  His presentation will be a detailed overview of his research on incubation patterns in grebes.

    Branching out from birds to other winged creatures, as we did last year with our program on bats, Loren and Babs Padelford will present an introduction to Nebraska's approximately 100 species of dragonflies and damselflies, also known as odonates.  Loren and Babs, Nebraska's foremost experts on odonates, are members of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas and have been studying and photographing these colorful insects for many years.

    Field trips of varying lengths to the Valentine Refuge, Long Lake and Willow Lake, and around the National Forest will leave early Saturday and Sunday morning.  You will have a chance to explore on your own or to participate in guided trips.  Maps will be available.

    We will be having the usual drawing for door prizes, so if you have some treasure gathering dust in your house, please bring it along.  You never know what will show up as a door prize!
 
 

National Forest Centennial

    The Bessey Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey celebrated 100 years of existence on June 15 of this year with speakers, demonstrations, presentations, forest and nursery tours and live music by the 'Fiddlin' Foresters'.

    The Forest was created in the middle of the Sandhills of central Nebraska because a century ago a University of Nebraska professor named Charles Bessey instigated a plan to hand-plant thousands of Ponderosa Pine seedlings in the middle of the grasslands, in the hope of providing a source of lumber for settlers.  The forest grew, but the timber industry never took off. What remains is something of an open air laboratory for growing trees in sand, complete with a sizable tree nursery that nurtures young seedlings.

    The District encompasses 90,444 acres of gently rolling sandhills interspersed with 20,000 acres of man-planted tress.  Ponderosa Pine, Eastern Redcedar, and Jack Pine are the three major tree species.  Some natural reproduction is occurring.  Cattle graze throughout the Forest, generally from June 1 through November 1.  The entire area is open to recreation.

    The Nebraska Ornithologists' Union has had a long relationship with the National Forest at Halsey,  dating back to bird surveys done by members in 1905, 1907, 1911, 1912, but primarily in 1912.  In the early 1980's the NOU worked with the Forest Service to fund, build and dedicate the bird bath fountain near the campground entrance.  The NOU has held its Fall Field Days at the 4-H Camp in the Forest for many years.

Welcome to the Following
New Members!

Wolfgang Oesterreich     Ames, IA
Chris Thody                     Martell, NE

Future Meeting Dates

    The Spring Annual Meeting will be held at the new Rowe Sanctuary Visitors' Center which is currently under construction and scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.  The Sanctuary is southeast of Kearney, and our meeting will be held on May 16, 17 & 18, 2003.
 
 

Occurrence Reports Due

    Please send your summer occurrence data to Ross Silcock now for inclusion in the Nebraska Bird Review.  Ross‚ address is P.O. Box 57, Tabor, IA  51653-0057 or silcock@rosssilcock.com.   The seasonal report periods and due dates are as follows:

Season Reporting Period Report Deadline
 

Fall	August - November	Dec. 15
Winter	December - February	March 15
Spring	March -  May	June 15
Summer	June - July	August 15

 

NOU Scholarships Available

     It isn't too late to invite a  junior high or high school age student to apply for an NOU Scholarship to attend the Fall Field Days with a parent or guardian free of charge.   The NOU Youth Scholarship Fund will cover  board and room plus a one-year membership in the NOU for Scholarship recipients.  Travel funds are not included.

    Contact Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729 (or mbrogie@mother.esu1.k12.ne.us  or 402-358-5675) for more information.  Applications must be submitted by August 24.

Not all those that wander are lost.
- J.R.R.Tolkien, novelist and philologist
(1892-1973)

                 FALL FIELD DAYS REGISTRATION

 September 6,7,8                Halsey 4-H Camp              Registration Deadline:  Aug. 30
 

LODGING * (see note below)	Price and Number of Persons	Cost
Friday Night
Cabin	$11.50 X ______	$______
Administration Building	$20.00 X ______	$______
Saturday Night
Cabin	$11.50 X ______	$______
Administration Building	$20.00 X ______	$______
LINENS ** (see note below)
Cabins: single charge of $10	$10.00 X ______	$______
Admin. Bldg.       - included in Room Fee
MEALS
Friday Dinner	$7.50 X ______	$______
Saturday Breakfast	$4.50 X ______	$______
Saturday Sack Lunch	$5.50 X ______	$______
Saturday Dinner	$7.50 X ______	$______
Sunday Breakfast	$4.50 X ______	$______
Sunday Lunch	$5.50 X ______	$______
Optional Tip for the Cooks		$______
Registration Fee	$8.50 X ______	$______
Total Enclosed with this Form:		$______

  Please list special dietary needs here:______________________________________

 PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE THE REGISTRATION FEE!!

  Name(s)  ______________________________________________
  Address  ______________________________________________
  City, State, Zip  ______________________________________________
  Phone number  ______________________________________________

Make checks payable to NOU and mail with this form to:
Betty Grenon, Treasurer
1409 Childs Road East
 Bellevue, NE  68005

 * Administration Building Rooms assigned first come, first served.
 ** Administration Building linens are furnished.  Linens are not furnished in the Cabins.  They are available for a fixed fee of $10.00 total for the meeeting.
Linens include towel, wash cloth, 2 sheets, pillow, pillow case and two blankets.  There is no charge if you bring your own.

 Note to Parents:  Nebraska 4-H Camp policy allows children 5 years of age or younger to attend free. All persons older than 5 years are required to pay full fees for meals and lodging.

President and Newsletter Editor:
Janis Paseka, 1585 Co. Rd. 14 Blvd., Ames,  NE  68621,  Phone:  402-727-9229
E-mail Address:  paseka(at)tvsonline.n e t

Vice-President:
Alice Kenitz, 190648 Co. Rd. 22,  Gering,  NE  69341,    Phone:  308-436-2959
E-mail Address:  akenitz@prairieweb.com

Secretary:
Mitzi Fox, Rt. 2, Box 36, Albion,  NE  68620,    Phone:   402-395-2395
E-mail Address:  mitzi@albion.net

Treasurer:
Betty Grenon, 1409 Childs Road East, Bellevue,  NE  68005,    Phone:   402-731-2383
E-mail Address:  grenon925@aol.com

Editor, Bird Review:
William Clemente, Box 10, Peru State College, Peru,  NE  68421    Phone:   402-872-2233  Work
402-872-3073 Home,    E-mail Address:  clemente@bobcat.peru.edu

Librarian:
Mary Lou Pritchard, 6325 O St., Lincoln,  NE  68510    Phone:  402-540-9157 State Museum
402-486-2428   Home

Past Presidents:
Clem Klaphake, 707 Garden Ave., Bellevue,  NE  68005    Phone:  402-292-2276
E-mail Address:  cnk@scholars.bellevue.edu

Betty Allen, 9628 Emmet St., Omaha,  NE  68134    Phone:   402-571-9755
E-mail Address:  lizprints@webtv.net

Directors:
Loren Padelford, 1405 Little John Road, Bellevue,  NE  68005,  Phone:  402-292-5556 Home,    E-mail Address: lpdlfrd@juno.com

Steve Lamphere, 3101 Washington St., Apt. 98, Bellevue, NE  68005   Phone:  402-291-9149

Jan Uttecht, Box 823, Stanton, NE  68779   Phone: 402-439-2114

Records Committee:
Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton,  NE  68729    Phone:  402-358-5675
E-mail Address:  mbrogie@mother.esu1.k12.ne.us

Breeding Bird Atlas Project and Nest Records Committee:
Wayne Mollhoff, 1817 Boyd St., Ashland, NE  68003,  Phone:  402-944-2243
E-mail Address:  wmollhoff@netscape.net

Occurrence Reports:
Ross Silcock, P.O. Box 57, Tabor , IA  51653,  Phone:   712-629-5865
E-mail Address:  silcock@rosssilcock.com

Nebraska Birdline:
Loren and Babs Padelford, 1405 Little John Road, Bellevue,  NE  68005,  Phone:  402-292-5325 Birdline
402-292-5556 Home,    E-mail Address: lpdlfrd@juno.com

NOU Website:          http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/