Birding in the Sandhills
Great Plains Scenic Travel
The Burrowing owls make their
home in a prairie dog town.
They shyly turn away letting no
one see their twinkling eyes.
This male prairie chicken gives a
good chase. No other male will
entice his females this morning.
He’ll stomp, boom and jump
high, with his bright orange throat
feathers puffed for show.
Mother Nature in the great plains
of central Nebraska has provided
a Bird Watchers Paradise.
Come, study, and marvel at the
beauty of over 400 species of
birds in the central flyway of the
Nebraska Heartland.
Make Great Plains Scenic Travel
your Birding Connection. Lodging
by the Autumn Leaf B&B your
birding headquarters.
This mecca for bird watching
allows over 15,000 approx acres of
State Wildlife Management Areas.
These public areas afford easy
access for the birder.
Journey out each day with a short walk and be in a birders joy. 30 acres
of public land along a river affords great birding opportunities. Look out
the front door of Autumn Leaf B&B, as the birder looks up a Red-
Headed Woodpecker is enjoying his breakfast on the top of a bug filled
light pole.
Spring has sprung. The American robins always arrive early, hopping in
the front yard pecking for food. In the distance you can hear the
Nebraska state bird, the western meadow lark singing, “Polly put the
kettle on.”
As you travel the Loup Rivers Scenic By-way Hwy 11 & Hwy 91, the
stately bald eagle will greet you with their soaring and nest making along
the North Loup river. The eagle being near the edge of extinction, now is
a thrilling sight through the heartland of Nebraska. The glory of their
presence at the Calamus Lake to the Platte river brings gladness to
everyone’s heart that our National bird has triumphed.
The Sandhills abounds in spring with the annual courtship of the prairie
chickens. The males return to their “leks” to do the foot-stomping,
booming calls before sun up to impress the females in this spring.
Courtship starts in early March and can last trough May. Bird watchers
need to arise before dawn and be in position to see the sun rise and the
dance of love begin. Year after year they return to the very same “lek”
or booming grounds.
Fall brings the turkeys into the corn fields following the cattle. Flocks of
geese flying into the fields to feast on corn left after harvesting.
CLICK ON A PHOTO
TO ENLARGE
|
January
February
March
April
May
July
August
September
October
November
December
Year Around
|
- eagles
- waterfowl
- sandhill cranes
- whooping cranes,
prairie chickens
-prairie chickens
grassland songbirds
- bats
- shorebirds
- waterfowl
-sandhill cranes
- hawks
- owls
- hundreds of species
Cliff swallows nests
The cliff swallows in Jones
Canyon live their summers in the
cliffs. Their little dark hole
homes are vacant now, but
spring will bring them back. The
cliffs will be filled with the activity
of the cliff swallows raising a
new family.
© Copyright 2007 Great Plains Scenic Travel © - All Rights Reserved
|
For more information or to make reservations call 308 346 4366
|
