Missouri River Valley Avifauna - Three November Days

Bird surveys done on three days in late November, 2011, provide a unique opportunity to know of the many different variety present.

Surveys occurred at four different locations from Desoto NWR to near St. Joseph, Missouri:

* Carter Lake district (68 records with the same species sometimes noted more than once, to also provide a sense of distribution and to provide specifics on the state of occurrence; 35 species), including Carter Lake (a oxbow of the Missouri River with a very regulated water level), Levi Carter Park, the Levi Carter Pond, Browne Street Woods (visited only on the 30th), Shoreline Golf Course (as noted from the west side of the lake) and Kiwanis Park; places in Omaha, Nebraska and Carter Lake, Iowa;

* Squaw Creek NWR by a staff biologist as part of their regular, seasonal waterfowl surveys - where Cackling Goose are not counted - and which do not record cormorants, grebes and pelicans, nor any songbirds;

* Desoto NWR (an oxbow of the Missouri River) by staff biologist as part of their regular, seasonal waterfowl surveys and which do not include any songbirds; and

* Lake Contrary (90 records; 54 species), by area birder Larry Lade, and as posted on the Missouri Birds forum and as ebird reports.

There were 71 species recorded overall, with the higher number from the southern region, which would be expected.

Notable musings from these details indicate:

• Squaw Creek NWR - with its 3400 acres of flooded wetlands - is a preeminent haven for waterfowl which prefer marshland and shallow water habitats.
• Numbers of the Canada Goose are on an increase a Carter Lake, a normal winter occurrence.
• Only a lesser number of Cackling Goose were present, but elsewhere in Omaha, there were nearly fifty on 30 November, at Fontenelle Park, along with more than 750 Canada Goose about the intercity lagoon and golf course.
• Wood Ducks - only seen at one locale - were none-the-less, present at two places elsewhere in Omaha during the three-day period.
• Carter Lake - with its clarity of water and extent of aquatic plants - had a greater extent of diving waterfowl, surpassing even what was present at the federal refuges. Especially notable were Canvasback, Redhead, Common Goldeneye and Pied-billed Grebe.
• Pelicans, cormorants and Great Blue Herons showed a marked preference to Desoto lake.
• The extent of American Coot at Carter Lake continues to surpass their presence elsewhere, though numbers were substantially reduced compared to earlier surveys. It is surprising there were none at the oxbow lake at Desoto refuge.
• Bald Eagles show a preference to the two refuge areas, with none at Carter Lake, where recent records indicate it had occurred regularly.
• Many Dark-eyed Junco were prevalent, where noted.
• Only single instances of the the Winter Wren and Ruby-crowned Kinglet were observed. Both would be expected at the refuges.

This variety indicates the importance of each place to different species, and this diversity makes the river valley more conducive to the survival of birds as colder winter weather was descending on the central plains. On the first of December, It was much colder, with scattered snow in the Omaha vicinity.

A similar sort of survey would have greater value if additional locales could be included, especially Blue Lake at Lewis and Clark State Park in Iowa, Lake Manawa south of Council Bluffs, Langdon Bend WMA in southeast Nebraska, as well as Rush Bottoms Conservation Area and Rush Bottom Bend in Missouri. The later three sites might have the shallow water areas attractive to a different mix of wild birds.

The values indicate the number counted.

Common Name	Carter Lake District 28 Nov	Squaw Creek NWR 28 Nov	Lake Contrary 28 Nov	Desoto NWR 29 Nov	Lake Contrary 29 Nov	Carter Lake District 30 Nov
Greater White-fronted Goose	-	1435	-	3500	-	-
Snow Goose	-	227750	3	-	-	-
Cackling Goose	4	??	15	??	-	-
Canada Goose	378	1103	200	9424	60	575
Trumpeter Swan	-	97	-	-	-	-
Tundra Swan	-	2	-	-	-	-
Wood Duck	-	3	-	-	-	-
Gadwall	120	1586	1	26	-	185
American Wigeon	4	21	-	-	-	8
Mallard	223	85396	50	43103	-	213
Northern Shoveler	98	744	25	35	3	22
Northern Pintail	-	7531	10	37	-	-
Green-winged Teal	-	6544	100	383	-	-
Canvasback	11	-	6	-	4	36
Redhead	78	61	-	-	-	42
Ring-necked Duck	2	3508	10	-	20	2
Lesser Scaup	10	10	-	-	20	10
Bufflehead	11	21	-	4	-	7
Common Goldeneye	48	4	-	9	-	44
Hooded Merganser	-	129	-	21	-	-
Common Merganser	-	1	-	25	-	1
Ruddy Duck	38	137	3	6	5	54
Wild Turkey	-	-	-	306	-	-
Pied-billed Grebe	28	-	5	-	5	22
American White Pelican	-	-	-	60	-	-
Double-crested Cormorant	-	-	-	29	-	-
Great Blue Heron	-	-	1	13	-	-
Bald Eagle	-	57	-	9	2	-
Northern Harrier	-	-	-	-	1	-
Red-tailed Hawk	-	-	10	5	12	1
Rough-legged Hawk	-	-	-	-	1	-
American Kestrel	1	-	2	-	1	-
Merlin	-	-	-	-	1	-
American Coot	1670	683	10	-	3	1955
Killdeer	-	-	12	-	1	-
Wilson's Snipe	-	-	1	11	2	-
Ring-billed Gull	-	-	2	-	3	-
Rock Pigeon	-	-	25	-	40	1
Eurasian Collared-Dove	-	-	10	-	5	-
Mourning Dove	-	-	30	-	4	-
Great Horned Owl	1	-	-	-	-	-
Barred Owl	-	-	-	1	-	-
Belted Kingfisher	-	-	1	-	-	-
Red-bellied Woodpecker	-	-	3	-	5	-
Downy Woodpecker	1	-	8	-	9	3
Hairy Woodpecker	-	-	-	-	2	-
Northern Flicker	-	-	1	-	1	1
Blue Jay	-	-	2	-	3	-
American Crow	2	-	30	-	35	3
Horned Lark	-	-	15	-	5	-
Black-capped Chickadee	-	-	3	-	5	4
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	2	-	-	-
White-breasted Nuthatch	-	-	1	-	1	1
Winter Wren	-	-	1	-	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	-	-	-	-	1
Eastern Bluebird	-	-	10	-	5	-
European Starling	12	-	200	-	150	27
Cedar Waxwing	-	-	10	-	10	-
American Tree Sparrow	-	-	30	-	30	6
Song Sparrow	1	-	10	-	10	-
Lincoln's Sparrow	-	-	1	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	5	-	8	-
White-throated Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	3
Harris's Sparrow	-	-	3	-	3	4
Dark-eyed Junco	16	-	25	-	30	22
Northern Cardinal	-	-	30	-	15	4
Red-winged Blackbird	-	-	125	-	40	-
Eastern Meadowlark	-	-	3	-	1	-
Common Grackle	-	-	-	-	20	-
American Goldfinch	6	-	8	-	5	3
House Sparrow	-	-	12	-	5	4
No. of Species:	28	21	47	20	43	40

A very similar variety of waterfowl continued at Carter Lake on December 2nd despite temps in the low teens, leading to more than 90% of the lake frozen. It was a very cold morning to be doing a bird survey using a bicycle to get around! The chill got worse when the breeze from the south got started.