Another Owl Species Noted for Spring Lake Park

A sighting of the Great Horned Owl has added an additional species to the tally of wildbirds noted at historic Spring Lake Park, in southeast Omaha.

The big owl was noted on 15 March 2008 during a morning bird survey.

After an evaluation of the overall species tally for this locale, it became apparent this was a record of occurrence for a new species in the park environs. The Great Horned Owl is the 103rd species that has been noted by records dating back to the 1920s.

Most of the bird species have been noted since 2000.

During the most recent walk about, an owl was first flushed from the northern portion of the park woodlands. The bird flew northward, and was then flushed again and flew southward, just above the treetops, instead of going further north, which would have required flying over a major Interstate thoroughfare.

When returning to the portion of the park closer to F Street, an owl was again seen in the distance, and with the help of a spotting scope, was identified as a horned owl.

South of F Street, another owl was seen, and was also identified with the assistance of the scope. It was a Barred Owl, which has been noted at the park on several previous occasions.

The northern section of Spring Lake Park is predominantly woodland.

"Although Spring lake is disturbed in some parts, it still contains many old red and bur oaks, some beautiful shagbark hickory, some beautiful stands of red haw, and many vines, particularly blue bead and moonseed vine," according to Dr. David Sutherland, a botany professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Especially notable are "good stands of herbaceous flora such as Eupatorium purpureum, Helianthus hirsutus, Cacalia atriplicifolia, and Teucrium canadense."

"Springlake is a unique city park because it contains remnants of original forest," Sutherland said. "I have long felt that the park is an under appreciated treasure."

This is a list of the species and the decade observed for the modern-era period at the park. The value given indicates the number of times a species was noted during a particular year.

Common Name	1979	1986	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2008
Snow Goose *	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Canada Goose *	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wood Duck	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wild Turkey	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	1	-
Double-crested Cormorant *	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
American Bittern	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Great Blue Heron	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	-	-	-
Great Egret *	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Turkey Vulture	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	6	-	-	-	-
Bald Eagle *	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Sharp-shinned Hawk	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	6	-	-	-	-
Cooper's Hawk	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Red-tailed Hawk	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	7	3	1	1	1
American Kestrel	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-
Killdeer	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
American Woodcock	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
Franklin's Gull *	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Ring-billed Gull *	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Rock Pigeon	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	8	1	1	-	-
Mourning Dove	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	20	7	3	1	1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Screech-Owl	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Great Horned Owl	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Barred Owl	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	3	1	-	-	1
Common Nighthawk	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	-	-	-
Chimney Swift	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	9	1	-	-	-
Red-headed Woodpecker	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	5	1	-	-	-
Red-bellied Woodpecker	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	21	8	2	2	1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	21	6	1	2	1
Hairy Woodpecker	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	7	3	1	-	-
Northern Flicker	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	22	6	-	-	-
Olive-sided Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Wood-Pewee	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	3	-	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Great Crested Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	4	1	-	-	-
Blue-headed Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Warbling Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Philadelphia Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	2	-	-	-	-
Blue Jay	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	21	6	-	2	-
American Crow	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	17	2	-	-	1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Barn Swallow	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
Black-capped Chickadee	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	22	7	1	2	1
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	13	1	-	-	-
Red-breasted Nuthatch	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
White-breasted Nuthatch	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	22	8	-	2	1
Brown Creeper	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	11	5	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	7	4	1	1	1
House Wren	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	8	-	-	-	-
Winter Wren	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	6	3	1	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	5	-	-	-	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
American Robin	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	21	5	-	1	1
Gray Catbird	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	7	1	-	-	-
Brown Thrasher	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	4	1	-	-	-
European Starling	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	16	6	-	1	-
Cedar Waxwing	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
Tennessee Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nashville Warbler	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
Black-throated Green Warbler	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
American Redstart	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ovenbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilson's Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Scarlet Tanager	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Spotted Towhee	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
American Tree Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
Chipping Sparrow	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	6	1	-	-	-
Field Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Fox Sparrow	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Lincoln's Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	9	2	-	-	-
Harris's Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-
White-crowned Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Dark-eyed Junco	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	11	7	1	1	1
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	-	2	-	2	21	7	1	1	1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Indigo Bunting	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	3	-	-	-	-
Red-winged Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rusty Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Brewer's Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Common Grackle	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	10	1	-	-	-
Brown-headed Cowbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	6	-	-	-	-
Baltimore Oriole	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	-	-	-
Purple Finch	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	8	3	-	-	-
House Finch	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	4	2	-	1	-
Common Redpoll	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
Pine Siskin	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
American Goldfinch	-	-	-	-	3	-	1	19	5	1	2	1
House Sparrow	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	16	4	-	-	-
* Indicates a species typically seen in the air space above the parkland.

This list was prepared using records contributed by a couple of members of the Audubon Society of Omaha, Nebraska.

The first bird note from this locale was the Red-bellied Woodpecker noted in November 1925. Several additional records from the 1930s noted these species: American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red Crossbill, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, and White-breasted Nuthatch.