Print Story | e-mail Story | Visit Forums

Featured Advertiser

Alan Bartels With the aid of his binoculars, world bird authority John Murphy of Kearney searches Lake Ogalalla for birds. Alan Bartels Kent Skaggs, a.k.a. The Birder King, intensely studies gulls, geese and ducks at Sutherland Reservoir during a birding trip of Lake McConaughy and the Platte Valley. Click Thumbnails to View

I met Kent's brother Randy at his rural Cairo home at 6:45 a.m. and promptly got stuck in the snow, I figured the day could only get better.

We then carpooled to Kearney where we picked up Ken a.k.a. Birder King and then world renowned birder John Murphy. John packs for a day of birding like most people pack for a week's vacation.

After we loaded John's binoculars, spotting scope, bag of snacks and other luggage into Randy's Rav4 we took Interstate 80 west, birding along the way at 75 miles per hour. Hawks and eagles were easy to identify even at that speed as were the many mallards, Canada geese and ice fishermen on sandpit lakes flanking the roadway.

We took the Roscoe exit intent on checking out Lake Ogallala first. As we drove along the canal beneath the dam John heard the call of a Townsend's solitaire. We stopped and soon there were a dozen within view. I had already been making a list of our finds and I added #11 to the day's list. Flickers, a crow and a hairy woodpecker were also sighted there.

Of course bird feeders are good places to check out so we drove into Keystone to see what we could see. There were about a dozen skittish goldfinches at one feeder.

We must have looked like dubious characters as we parked along the street with binoculars protruding from each window. John spotted a pine siskin from among the other tiny birds.

Our next stop was the eagle viewing area at Lake McConaughy. The water moving through the dam prevents ice from forming which in turn provides fishing opportunities for mergansers, goldeneyes, herons, gulls and bald eagles.

Standing on the ice around the open water were eagles feeding on fish. I counted 27 eagles in one area.

John, Kent and Randy were excited about the red breasted merganser that was there and Gabe Wilson, who was staffing the facility at the time, assisted us as we searched through every bird field guide known to man to positively identify a California gull.

John heard a report of some tundra swans near Lemoyne. Since it was nearby we went there to have a look. Another kind of bird watcher, goose hunters had beaten us to the spot so if there were any swans there that morning they had since sought refuge elsewhere. With grumbling stomachs and 30 species on the list we headed for Ogallala for lunch.

After a great meal we decided to make our way to Sutherland Reservoir, another Nebraska lake that I had not been to.

It was mostly ice covered as one would expect during winter. There was an open spot in the middle crowded with ducks, geese and gulls. We saw mallards, pintails and even green winged teal. There were a few geese and several eagles surveyed the waterfowl from nearby cottonwoods.

In thought I saw a snow goose but closer inspection revealed that it was a very large gull. I wasn't too excited but Kent immediately knew it was something he hadn't seen before.

John, Kent and Randy keep a life list of birds that they've seen.

Using a field guide Kent identified the bird as a glacious gull. It was a life bird for all of us, meaning that none of us had ever seen one before.

Towards evening I saw two birds in the twilight. Randy backed up and we got the best look at a short eared owl that we had ever seen.

It was a good way to end the day-a day of exploration spent with friends in the outdoors and it doesn't get better than that.