Dedicated to the Study, Appreciation and Protection of Birds
Newsletter January 2004 Number 1
Dues, Please
All dues were due on January 1. Treasurer
Betty Grenon will be very grateful if you are prompt. See the membership
blank at the end of this newsletter. Membership blank in the last
newsletter had Betty living on Chills Rd. instead of Childs Rd. I
am writing this the last week of January, and the ‘Chills’ part seems very
appropriate!! Apologies for my poor proofreading skills!!!
Upcoming Meetings
2004 Spring Meeting at Ogallala May 14-16, 2004
2004 Fall Meeting at the 4-H Camp at Halsey September 24-26, 2004
The NOU Board of Directors is open to invitations or suggestions for meeting places for the 2005 spring and fall meetings.
Welcome to New Member
Welcome to new Student member, Allison Johnson from Scottsbluff.
Library Donation
The NOU Library has recently received a large
donation of published material--451 titles in all. Many thanks to
Janis Paseka, Linda Brown, Loren and Babs Padelford, and Thomas Labedz
for the approximately 66 hours they spent cataloging these books.
Thanks also to Neal Ratzlaff and Jerry Toll for getting the books to the
Library.
Winter Field Reports
Don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking
forward to spring migration. Meanwhile, the winter reporting period
(December-February) will soon be ending. Don’t forget to send your
winter report to Ross Silcock by March 15. If you have questions
about the report, please contact Ross. His contact information is
on the back page of the Newsletter.
Records Committee
Mark Brogie,
Chairperson of the NOU Records Committee sends the list of ‘Bird
Species That the NOU Records Committee Actively Seeks Documentation’.
This list of accidental and casual species was updated by the Committee
at the end of 2003. Send documentations and comments to Mark A. Brogie,
NOURC Chairperson, 508 Seeley, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729. The
list follows: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Bean Goose, Emperor Goose,
Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, Mottled Duck, Garganey, Tufted Duck, King Eider,
Common Eider, Harlequin Duck, Red-throated Loon, Yellow-billed Loon, Brown
Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Anhinga, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret,
White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Black Vulture,
Swallow-tailed Kite, White-tailed Kite, Harris’s Hawk, Gyrfalcon, Ruffed
Grouse, Greater Sage-Grouse, Yellow Rail, Black Rail, Clapper Rail, King
Rail, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, Common Crane, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper,
Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Red Phalarope, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger,
Long-tailed Jaeger, Laughing Gull, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, Mew
Gull, Iceland Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-legged
Kittiwake, Ross’s Gull, Arctic Tern, Ancient Murrelet, Band-tailed Pigeon,
White-winged Dove, Inca Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Groove-billed Ani, Northern
Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, Boreal Owl, Costa’s Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird,
Acorn Woodpecker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Red-naped Sapsucker, American
Three-toed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher,
Hammond’s Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Vermilion Flycatcher,
Ash-throated Flycatcher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Black-capped
Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo, Gray Jay, Steller’s Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Chihuahuan
Raven, Common Raven, Cave Swallow, Mountain Chickadee, Canyon Wren, Bewick’s
Wren, American Dipper, Varied Thrush, Curve-billed Thrasher, Sprague’s
Pipit, Bohemian Waxwing, Phainopepla, Virginia’s Warbler, Cape May Warbler,
Black-throated Gray Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler,
Worm-eating Warbler, Swainson’s Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Black-throated
Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Baird’s Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Smith’s
Longspur, Painted Bunting, Scott’s Oriole, Brambling, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch,
Black Rosy-Finch, Pine Grosbeak, Hoary Redpoll, Lesser Goldfinch.
HNA HAWKWATCH
Mark Orsag has furnished information about the Hitchcock Nature Area (HNA) Hawkwatch. Although HNA is in Iowa, it is just across the river from Nebraska and a number of Nebraska birders participate. The dates for 2003 were August 15 through December 20. Orsag writes “This was an important year organizationally for the hawkwatch, as we finally reached the promised land of full coverage. This was due to the hard work of the HNA staff (Brett Ford, Chad Graeve, Tina Popson and Carol Young) and the dedication of Jerry Toll who served as our paid hawk counter/educator this season. On the whole, it was a pretty good but somewhat mixed season.”
“September 30 would prove to be the best day (numbers-wise at least) of the entire 2003 season--911 raptors and vultures of 12 species were counted with Swainson’s Hawks (522) and Red-tailed Hawks (206) predominating. The Swainson’s Hawks, perhaps because they were a day or two ahead of what we’ve come to expect, uncharacteristically really took their time--kiting and kettling over Hitchcock’s ridges and mingling with Turkey Vultures and other raptors. At a couple of moments during the afternoon, between two and three hundred raptors and vultures soared together above Hitchcock.”
During the record 113 days of hawkwatching,
there were 19 species and a record 9,772 individuals counted. Species
and numbers were Turkey Vulture 2,812 (record), Mississippi Kite 9, Bald
Eagle 908 (record), Osprey 66, Northern Harrier 218, Sharp-shinned Hawk
948 (record), Cooper’s Hawk 169, Northern Goshawk 9, Red-shouldered Hawk
6, Swainson’s Hawk 1059, Broad-winged Hawk 121, Red-tailed Hawk 3132 (record),
Ferruginous Hawk 2 (record), Rough-legged Hawk 59 (record), Golden Eagle
17, American Kestrel 130, Merlin 25, Peregrine Falcon 25, Prairie Falcon
4, unidentified raptor 53.
New Caps and Hats at Spring Meeting!
NOU baseball-style caps will be available for
purchase at the Spring Meeting in Ogallala. The caps are adjustable
for any head size and will be available in two different color combinations.
Pricing will be about $14. Some members have expressed a preference
for bucket style hats. Those will have to be ordered specially so
I will need to know how many want one and what size (S, M, L, XL).
If you would like a bucket hat please let Loren Padelford know by March
15th. You may contact him by e-mail at lpdlfrd(at)juno.c o m, by
mail at 1405 Little John Rd., Bellevue, NE, 68005, or by phone at 402-292-5556.
Member News
We extend our sympathies to NOU secretary Mitzi
Fox on the death of her husband, Jim, who died from a heart attack on January
29.
Crane Activities
There are quite a number of conferences, festivals, and celebrations along the Central Platte during Sandhill Crane migration. To mention a couple of them--The Audubon Rivers and Wildlife Conference will be held March 19-21. For information contact the Audubon Nebraska office at 402-466-1220, or check the website at www.audubon.org.
Another festival is the ‘Discover Cranefest
at the Archway’ which will be held March 1 through April 15. For
further information, call 1-877-511-ARCH, 308-237-1000, or check the website
at www.archway.org.
‘Birding Nebraska’
Janis Paseka has this too say about the January-February issue of NEBRASKAland Magazine. “This 178-page Birding Nebraska issue is nothing less than spectacular. It’s more a book than a magazine and a bargain at $12.95 if you don’t already subscribe to the magazine. It begins with a history of birding in Nebraska (and of the NOU) and proceeds to cover the state, region by region, with information on what birds are likely to be found there, what the local hotspots are and what the history of the area is. There are sidebars on Snow vs Ross’s Geese, the bone structure of birds, migration corridors, colloquial bird names, and many other topics. It concludes with an annotated checklist of the birds of Nebraska. And it is, above all else, simply beautiful. The photography is outstanding, world class. Jon Farrar is to be commended on a job exceedingly well done. Thank you to Jon, to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and to all the birders in the state who contributed.
NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION
Please enter my membership in the category checked below:
____One Active Member.................$15.00
____Family Active.....................$20.00
____One Sustaining Member.............$25.00
____Family Sustaining.................$30.00
____Student Member....................$10.00
____Life Member......................$250.00
Name____________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________
City____________________________State_______Zip_________________
Telephone____________________E-Mail_____________________________
Make checks payable to the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union and return with this form to:
Betty Grenon, Treasurer
1409 Childs Road East
Bellevue, NE 68005
President and Newsletter Editor:
Alice Kenitz, 190648 Co. Rd. 22, Gering, NE 69341
Phone: 308-436-2959
E-mail Address: akenitz(at)prairieweb. c o m
Vice-President:
Dave Heidt, 1703 Hilltop Drive, Norfolk, NE 68701-2031
Phone: 402-371-3412
daveh(at)northeastcollege. c o m
Secretary:
Mitzi Fox, 2560 Fairgrounds Road, Albion, NE 68620-5200
402-395-2395
mitzi(at)megavision. n e t
Treasurer:
Betty Grenon, 1409 Childs Road East, Bellevue, NE 68005
402-731-2383
grenon925(at)aol. c o m
Editor, Nebraska Bird Review:
Bill Clemente, Department of English, Peru State College, Peru, NE
68421
402-872-2233 (work)
bclemente(at)oakmail.peru. e d u
Librarian:
Mary Lou Pritchard, 6325 O St., Lincoln, NE 68510
402-486-2428
Past Presidents:
Janis Paseka, 1585 Co. Rd. 14 Blvd, Ames, NE 68621
402-727-9229
paseka(at)tvsonline. n e t
Clem Klaphake, 707 Garden Ave., Bellevue, NE 68005
402-292-2276
ckavian(at)aol. c o m
Directors:
Jan Uttecht, Box 823, Stanton, NE 68779 (2004)
402-439-2114
Loren Padelford, 1405 Little John Road, Bellevue, NE 68005 (2005)
402-292-5556
lpdlfrd(at)juno. c o m
Steve Lamphere, 3101 Washington St., Apt. 98, Bellevue, NE 68005 (2006)
402-291-9149
Records Committee:
Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729
402-358-5675
mbrogie(at)esu1. o r g
Breeding Bird Atlas and Nest Records Committee:
Wayne Mollhoff, 1817 Boyd St., Ashland, NE 68003
402-944-2243
wmollhoff(at)netscape. n e t
Occurrence Reports:
Ross Silcock, P. 0. Box 57, Tabor, IA 51653
712-629-5865
silcock(at)rosssilcock. c o m
Nebraka Birdline:
Josef Kren
402-721-5487 ext. 6490
800-642-8382 ext. 6490
nebraskabirds@yahoo.com
NOU Website: http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/
NOU Online Store: http://www.withoutbricks.com/NOUStore
Nebraska Ornithologists' Union
3745 Garfield
Lincoln, NE 68506