Some mysteries of natural residents of the land can continue to be lesser known even after multiple years of natural history studies and published knowledge at particular places. This situation was very evident on Thanksgiving at Valentine for two notable occurrences of nature in the morning and initial hours of the night time.
During the first hours of this day’s light on a languidly nice morning of spacious blue skies with sparse winds, some blackbirds with their regular small size were seen foraging outside the big north window of my tiny, but obviously relatively larger residence. They were walking around looking for seeds on the ground in the horse pen. With a focused look through a spotting scope and with a bird-wise perspective, there was a realization that some few Rusty Blackbird were present for the first time at my local bird space. After a couple more close-up views through a spotting scope, checking bird guide details in the interim, and watching some more, the initial identity was confirmed. The blackbirds were among the many morning beauties including some Red-winged Blackbirds, numerous Dark-eyed Junco and a few Harris’s Sparrow with a distinctive plumage of such subtle beauty. An American Tree Sparrow was also at the scene eating weed seeds.
The unusual blackbirds were first seen on November 22nd and still notably present through the first several days of December. It was the 25th when they found the local seed bird buffet and took advantage of it when the big turkeys eventually decided to move elsewhere, rather than being the big birds on the block of concrete.
These few Rusty Blackbirds became one more record of rare occurrence for the Valentine vicinity and even throughout the Sand Hills. A last historic record for the area was made by the avian aficionado Marvin Vanderploeg, once a distinctive birder at his son’s property at the edge of the Niobrara Valley in late October 2017. He saw a flock outside his southward-facing bird watching window at a place now off-limits to local birders.
On another date also during the first days of November, during the same year, only one was seen at Valentine NWR by a traveling bird watcher.
Prior to the two 2017 dates, the most recent record readily available was one at rural Mud Meadow in central Cherry county, November 1996. Two records of historic importance were in late October of 1928 and then for 1919 at Fort Niobrara NWR based upon a specimen collected by Fred Dille and now kept in the University of Nebraska State Museum collection.
There has been a humongous lapse in sightings because there are so few indicative bird watchers. The available dates none-the-less do indicate times when the species found the county a suitable place to linger.
The few Rusty Blackbirds continued their presence at least through the first few days of December. They would forage for a time in the horse pen. They would perch together in a suitable bunch of trees just west of the shack. Their companions were some Red-winged Blackbirds.
Some short few hours after the day was waning on Thanksgiving, while just getting deep into the dark hours, land-based animals became phantoms in the early night just before 9 p.m. as they walked around looking for some suitable repast.
Ample moon-shine illuminated the moving-along critters initially seen as moving shadows on the ground of a grubbed horse pen. Upon looking closer, it seemed they were dogs walking about, but it was quickly realized there were some roaming coyotes; more than one. The leader of the pack quickly became obvious. At first, there were three seen. Then four together as an animal group. The groups’ leader walked about a bit and then went southward on an obvious route upon looking out the front window. It was beneath the moon’s seasonal light while going a short distance south across a horse pen, quickly through an open and soon reaching a fence barrier along the city street known as Lake Shore Drive. There was an immediate reversal in direction back northward. The other four coyotes lingered and smelled around while seemingly looking for some tasty tidbit.
The coyotes obviously were a group, being led by what must have been a mom. She seemingly decided where and when to move along through the pens, keeping the group going on their continuation of a night’s travel. This group activity had to be certainly a pattern of previous times because such an organized group movement does not occur due to one behavior.
When these furry phantoms beneath a moon-lit sky moved together through the observed open space, “mom” was in front and the youngsters were arranged behind in a suitably-spaced rectangular box of four corners with squarely-placed prominent corners, an arrangement that would seem to work well to locate small yet suitable food sources across more space.
At one or another fenced-narrowed place along their route, there was no hesitation to quickly traverse the path, one after another in line, going in the same direction.
The whole event was an obvious expression of a naturally organized group cognizant of a natural landscape terrain of pine-clad hills and growth of grasslands upon wild land terrains north of town where they have not yet been shot by some quick-trigger shootist.
Four resident horses were indifferent and didn’t move at all but kept laying around as the coyotes moved through their pasture.
If there had been a turkey or two that disappeared from the landscape – since there are plenty present at this Minnechaduza valley locality – it might have been strewn somewhere on a nearby hillside, that could have meant a holiday meal for the native carnivores. Maybe they would have expressed a post-feeding appreciation by yelping evocatively in the night as they sat together as is their way as a family and perhaps could have had a particular occurrence on some distant hill?
This might not be a cause of some change in the family activity of the roaming turkey flock, repeatedly on the scene, and so often because there is seed upon which they can feed, especially the black sunflower seeds they selectively peck away. The local rabbit is also still present and spending some time outside its shelter haven half-filled with hay bales, so it survived the visit of the carnivorous clan that kept moving as they have to find ample sustenance every day.
Thus Thanksgiving was a time at a place to appreciate and personally enjoy the Minnechaduza Creek valley of the Niobrara River watershed. Every day can provide an opportunity to look and learn about birds, wild animals, flora and natural features amidst wonder-filled lands at and around Valentine. The recent holiday was a prime example.