|
Backyard Sightings
On the 12th of March I heard the loud
noise of a starling and looked out the kitchen window, a
Sharp-shinned Hawk had caught his lunch. I had my camera handy
and got these pictures. After the last picture he flew off with
his lunch into the trees.



 |
September 20th, 6 or more Lesser Goldfinches
seen along CR W
in three different locations.
A mallard or mallard type duck with a very green bill
was seen at Chilibaba, see pictures at right, click to
enlarge. The bill was very green as you can see |


 |
|
August 28th, Eastern Phoebe
seen in yard south of Gering
August 11th, Broad-tailed,
Calliope and Rufous Hummingbirds in the yard, also
Brown Thrashers, Yellow Warbler and many Bullocks and
Bullock/Baltimore Oriole crosses. (all orioles left
August 23 or 24)
June 26th,
Broad-tailed Hummingbird at our feeder. This is very
early for them to be coming back. One was reported in
the Wildcat Hills June 22nd, another near there on June
20th and one in Sioux County June 3rd. |
|
May 25th, 2
Cattle Egrets east of Scottsbluff and a Caspian
Tern at Chilibaba
(Click the picture of the tern to enlarge) |
 |
| May 24th,
Common Nighthawk at Winter's Creek Lake, and one
flying over our yard. 24 Red-necked Phalaropes at
Kiowa WMA (see picture at right, click to enlarge) |
 |
May 17th
(NOU) Red-necked Phalarope at Kiowa WMA,
Caspian Terns at Winter's Creek Lake and Chilibaba,
Wimbrel at Chilibaba. Black-poll Warblers
at several locations. Black-necked Stilt Clark's
Grebe, Great-crested Flycatcher near YMCA Camp, ,
, Cordilleran Flycatcher north of Chilibaba.
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at several locations.
Black-headed Grosbeak and Lazuli Bunting in our
yard. Many Bullock's Orioles in many locations.
|
|
May 14th a
pair of Osprey are building a nest near Winter's Creek
Lake
|
|
May 5th,
Bullock's, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and several
hybrids have shown up in the yard
May 3rd, Western and Eastern Kingbirds have shown
up
|
|
April 29thA
list of what we saw on a drive around Winter's Creek
Lake, Lake Minatare and Chilibaba
all the usual puddle ducks
Redhead
Ring-necked Ducks
Greater and Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Ducks
Common Loon (first time I have seen one here in
breeding colors)
Pied-billed, Eared (LM & WCL), Horned, Western
and Clark's Grebes
White-faced Ibis
Swainson's Hawks
14 Sandhill Cranes (was surprised to see them
this late)
Semipalmated Plover (LM)
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpipers
Willets (LM & WCL)
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwits (LM & WCL)
Semipalmated Sandpipers
Least Sandpipers
Baird's Sandpipers
Long-billed Dowitchers
Wilson's Phalarope (LM & WCL)
Franklin's, Bonaparte's (LM) and Ring-billed Gulls ( &
some I couldn't id)
Forster's Terns (LM)
Violet Green, Cliff, Northern Rough-wing and Barn
Swallows
plus all the regulars
|
|
April 26-27-28
Franklin Gull, 111 White Pelicans, 4 Willet,
2 pair Ring-neck Ducks, 4 Wilson Snipe, 7
Short-billed Dowitchers, 300+ Yellow-headed Blackbirds
at Chilibaba
3 Burrowing Owl north of Scottsbluff Landfill
3 Marbled Godwit at Schmidt Implement Pond
Black-necked Stilt, Cinnamon Teal and Blue-winged
Cinnamon Teal cross at Morrill Sandpits
Red Crossbill, Lesser Goldfinch, Harris' Sparrow,
Lincoln Sparrow in our yard
other Red Crossbills reported in the area in the past
week or so |

Lesser Goldfinch |
March 15th
100 Sandhill Crane and 23 Mountain Bluebirds near
Winter's Creek Lake
Greater White-fronted Geese still at Chilibaba
50+ Cackling Geese on Berggren Rd in sandpit pond
March 13th
29 Bald Eagles reported at Lake Minatare
Prairie Falcon in Scottsbluff near where I work,
strange to see it in town
|
|
February 23-24
A few Snow Geese and White-fronted Geese in the
area.
Bufflehead at Chilibaba
Red-tailed Hawks working on nests in 3 places north of
Scottsbluff/Minatare
Northern Shrike, Great Horned Owl at Winter's Creek Lake
|
|
February
20-22-23
a few large flocks of Snow Geese Flying over , White
Fronted Geese andHooded Merganser pair at Chilibaba. 12
Bald Eagles at Scottsbluff Sewer Lagoons
Lesser Goldfinch seen at Scottsbluff feeder |
|
February 15-18
Great Backyard Bird Count interesting sightings
Redwing Blackbirds near Kiowa, males and females
Great Horned Owl on nest south of Mitchell/Morrill
(still there April 26)
Prairie Falcon just west of Scottsbluff
Ferruginous Hawk near Mitchell
Mountain Chickadee at the Nature Center
|
|
| January 12-13
Bob and I went to Belle Fourche South Dakota to look
for Snowy Owls and Gyrfalcons. We found 3 snowys but no
gyrs. We did see a lot of raptors in the area,
Ferruginous Hawks, Red-tails, Bald & Golden Eagles,
Prairie Falcons, Kestrels, Rough-legged Hawks.
January 10th
Great Horned Owls are beginning to call, we
saw 3 on the 20th in Scotts Bluff County
January 1st
Common Redpoll in our yard, it is a new yard bird bring
our total up to 117
Rough-legged Hawks are beginning to show up.
|
|
|
|
|