McCook Fall Field Days, Sept. 20–22, 2024

Authors

Gary Roberts, Nebraska Ornithologists' Union

Date of this Version

12-2024

Document Type

Article

Citation

Nebraska Bird Review, volume 92, number 4, December 2024, pp. 168–173.

Comments

Published by the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union, Inc.

Abstract

The 2024 NOU Fall Field Days were held in McCook on September 20–22, with approximately fifty-one people in attendance. The programs were held at McCook Community College Student Union. A special thanks to Boni Edwards and Jan Johnson for planning the meeting.

Field trips were led by Bill Flack—Medicine Creek Reservoir and Cambridge Park, Robin Harding—Red Willow Reservoir and Culbertson Trail, Joel Jorgenson—Swanson Reservoir and Hitchcock County, and T.J. Walker—Rock Creek Recreation Area and Dundy County. Counties included were Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Lincoln, Perkins, and Red Willow.

A total of 139 species were observed with notable sightings including Pine Warbler and Western Tanager at Rock Creek and Sabine’s Gull (6 of them) and Common Tern at Swanson Reservoir. Other birds of interest were Snowy Egret, Great Egret, and Lesser Black-Backed Gull. Participants on the Red Willow field trip witnessed a battle between a Peregrine Falcon and a Turkey Vulture at the face of the dam.

Avian biologist Stephen Brenner was our Friday evening speaker. He discussed the use of modern technology to collect tracking data along the 3,000-mile migratory bird route. He highlighted the use of GPS devices and the introduction of a newer radio telemetry tracking system called Motus (Latin for “movement”), which is especially valuable for tracking small migratory species that are too small to carry GPS devices, like sparrows, thrushes, and warblers. Data is collected when a tracking device comes within range of a receiver.

Saturday’s speaker was Dr. Jacob Cooper, Assistant Professor, UNK. Specializing in bird research, he outlined a variety of methods used including field observation, bird banding, acoustic analysis of bird songs, genetic analysis, and spatial modeling to study bird populations, behavior, distribution, and migration patterns. Dr. Cooper also noted the relationship between the increasing abundance of trees in Western Nebraska and the corresponding increase in bird populations as they follow their habitat.

Congratulations to our NOU Scholarship recipient, Omaha high-school senior, Eli Weber. He and his mother Andi participated in the weekend activities.