Warm temperatures have brought the arrival of new birds to local places, so a select few local parks were visited to determine their situation and get details derived from an accurate survey.
Five parklands were visited during March 16-19. Not even a fume of gasoline was burned in the effort, as a bicycle was the primary mode of transportation, or else some shoe leather was worn away while walking a way among midtown, sometimes in a slight rain.
Park places given a birdly scrutiny were shown in ascending order, and grouped according to districts as one particular area may include several distinctive places, in order to improve the tally:
- Fontenelle Park, which also provided an opportunity to observe the first steps of the parks transition, including tree removal
- Levi Carter Park, which includes Carter Lake and Kiwanis Park
- Adams Park, with its forlorn pond
- Elmwood Park and all of its distinct localities, with one species added while talking about an erosion situation with an official of Omaha Public Works and the contractor; and
- Memorial Park, which also has different places which some birds appreciate; and becuase of riding in a light rain, the song of the Harris's Sparrow was oart of the orchestra of birds experienced at the start of the first week of true spring.
There were 44 distinctive species indicated by the data details for these few days afield in an urban setting when the weather was mostly suitable to being under the changing skies of the eastern plains. This is the tally with particulars ...
|
Common Name |
Fontenelle Park District |
Carter Lake District |
Adams Park District |
Memorial Park District |
Elmwood District |
|
Canada Goose |
41 |
37 |
- - |
- - |
4 |
|
Wood Duck |
29 |
40 |
- - |
2 |
13 |
|
Gadwall |
- - |
18 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
American Wigeon |
- - |
1 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Mallard |
8 |
88 |
2 |
- - |
5 |
|
Blue-winged Teal |
- - |
19 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Northern Shoveler |
1 |
14 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Green-winged Teal |
- - |
19 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Redhead |
- - |
19 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Ring-necked Duck |
- - |
44 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Bufflehead |
- - |
14 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Pied-billed Grebe |
1 |
6 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Turkey Vulture |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
27 |
|
Cooper's Hawk |
1 |
- - |
1 |
- - |
1 |
|
Red-tailed Hawk |
- - |
- - |
- - |
1 |
- - |
|
American Kestrel |
- - |
1 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
American Coot |
- - |
625 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Killdeer |
1 |
6 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Herring Gull |
- - |
1 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Rock Pigeon |
4 |
4 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Mourning Dove |
1 |
9 |
- - |
- - |
2 |
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
- - |
1 |
- - |
- - |
2 |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
Northern Flicker |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Eastern Phoebe |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
3 |
|
Blue Jay |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
2 |
|
American Crow |
1 |
- - |
- - |
1 |
- - |
|
Black-capped Chickadee |
- - |
2 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
|
White-breasted Nuthatch |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Brown Creeper |
1 |
- - |
- - |
1 |
- - |
|
American Robin |
20 |
108 |
24 |
76 |
71 |
|
European Starling |
2 |
100 |
26 |
1 |
18 |
|
Cedar Waxwing |
2 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Fox Sparrow |
- - |
2 |
- - |
- - |
12 |
|
Song Sparrow |
- - |
2 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
|
Harris's Sparrow |
- - |
2 |
- - |
2 |
- - |
|
Dark-eyed Junco |
9 |
13 |
- - |
4 |
20 |
|
Northern Cardinal |
3 |
4 |
- - |
4 |
9 |
Red-winged Blackbird |
6 |
14 |
6 |
- - |
- - |
Common Grackle |
11 |
123 |
2 |
12 |
37 |
Brown-headed Cowbird |
1 |
- - |
- - |
1 |
- - |
|
House Finch |
1 |
- - |
- - |
3 |
3 |
American Goldfinch |
- - |
- - |
2 |
- - |
- - |
House Sparrow |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
2 |
At each place, there were the following number of species, based upon multitudional observations and pencil notations on one sheet of paper:
- Fontenelle Park: 23 species; new additions to the park bird list were a Northern Shoveler with transitional plumage, a Pied-billed Grebe, a flyby Cooper's Hawk, Cedar Waxwing and a Brown-headed Cowbird; the additions indicate the value of lingering in a green space.
- Carter Lake district: 32 species, with nothing unique associated with the Iowa side of this oxbow lake, as riprap transforms it into an industrial lake
- Adams Park: 11 species; a pair of Mallards at the Gabrielle Union Pond provided a new species for this place, which always has few species present
- Elmwood Park: 21 species
- Memorial Park: 16 species, with 26 species represented among these two adjacent parkland parcels
The overall variety of waterfowl has transitioned at Carter Lake. A fine variety does still continue, with diminutive teal are the newest arrivals. The grand bunch of Canvasback have gone elsewhere, with their former occurrence fondly remembered, though indicated only by numbers for dates of the calendar.
Especially notable were the number of Fox Sparrow at Elmwood Park. The numbers surpass a tally from the renowned Fontenelle Forest, during the same weekend. This is one of the largest counts for this species among the chronicles of Nebraska ornithology. The various reports indicates they are somewhat pervasive in suitable environs of the Missouri River valley.
Turkey Vultures have returned to their place within Omaha City, and on Monday before any sun light had broached the eastern horizon, the buzzards were floating on the winds, moving southward. They did not roost on the UNO communications tower, which has been their usual routine. They started the week, early in the season's visit, as if they just wanted to get going to elsewhere. This is a significant count for so early in their season about the city.
If there is any personal interest in seeing a robin, step outside. The relative "hoard" of this songbird, as well as grackles and starlings meant giving a lot of attention to bird presence which might have been ignored in deference to others of lesser occurrence.
Flickers are being especially vocal in the neighborhood.
There is a wonderful bunch of birds about, now at the spring equinox, and on the three previous days. The sweat and toil of riding a bicycle on too-warm days of pre-spring were worth the results of discovery.
It can only be a grand time to watch the boisterous Canada Goose males defending their place. Watching the behavior of the exquisitely colored Fox Sparrow reps was a sublime experience, best viewed from a suitable distance.
It is a nice time now to get out beneath the sky, among the bits of green land, and look about at the grandeur expressed by an endless variety of wild birds about their business.