Nebraska Lakes (1 Viewer)

[Tero]

There are 4 lakes I can easily get to, one is 3 miles away. The lakes have just melted so there is quite a lot of activity. Migrating birds land for a day or two. I went to Branched Oak Lake, a man made fishing camping lake. It's the blue dot on the phone map. It has 254 birds in eBird. Not because it has more birds, because it is an easy drive to Lincoln and Omaha. Omaha has its own lakes an the Missouri river.

The cheap bresser scope worked fine at 30x but the rubber off the eye cup fell off. Second day of use! Went back to pentax scope that I had in the car.

 

[Tero]

Spent about 2.5 hours going through about 500 common mergansers. Found 10 hooded and no red breasted. Pintail duck was a state lifer. On the way home stopped at the state capitol. For about 10 seconds two peregrines appeared. One of the smaller "turrets" has had their nest for a few years. They did not stay for a picture, one went to the nest. Also a state lifer so I am now eBirder 69 (shared slot with one other) for the state.

Gulls did not produce much. They sit on the remaining ice the way the geese did in the upper post. The geese (2 weeks back) had a lot of Cackling geese that migrate to the far north. The mixed flocks may have both and the small geese fly as fast as the large. Lesser Canada is about the same size, so just because you see a small goose in a flock does not mean you saw a Cackler.

 

[Tero]

View from Branched Oak Lake at the levee/dam. Most of our lakes are fishing and recreation (water ski and water scooter, sailing ) in summer. No power dam.

 

[Tero]

Branched Oak marina, white pelicans yesterday.

 

[wilko]

There are 4 lakes I can easily get to, one is 3 miles away. The lakes have just melted so there is quite a lot of activity. Migrating birds land for a day or two. I went to Branched Oak Lake, a man made fishing camping lake. It's the blue dot on the phone map. It has 254 birds in eBird. Not because it has more birds, because it is an easy drive to Lincoln and Omaha. Omaha has its own lakes an the Missouri river.

The cheap bresser scope worked fine at 30x but the rubber off the eye cup fell off. Second day of use! Went back to pentax scope that I had in the car.

Seems you had a great day, what kind of bird is the one in the fourth image you have posted?

 

[Tero]

American White Pelican. We have hundreds in many lakes for a short while. They nest on temporary wetlands in the North, Dakotas.