 Elmwood Park Ravine. |
Several east Omaha parks were surveyed during the recent Great Backyard Bird County.
The seven places visited were:
- N.P. Dodge Park, as surveyed by Jerry Toll;
- Carter Lake and Levi Carter Park;
- Fontenelle Park, including a second checklist from Sunday morning;
- Adams Park;
- Memorial Park, which included Happy Hollow Creek and Wood Creek on the west side
- Little Elmwood Park on the 17th; and
- Elmwood Park, including the northern portion of the golf course, along Wood Creek, at Shadow Lake and the ravine along Happy Hollow Boulevard.
Metcalfe Park was visited on the 17th, but there were no birds present within the park space, but a very few were heard nearby.
Park Birdlife
Overall, 46 species were documented, as indicated by a tabular summary of the count results.
| Common Name | N.P. Dodge Park | Carter Lake | Fontenelle Park | Adams Park | Memorial Park | Little Elmwood Park | Elmwood Park |
| Cackling Goose | 4 | 45 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Canada Goose | 99 | 275 | 73 | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Gadwall | - - | 6 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| American Wigeon | - - | 4 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Mallard | - - | 165 | - - | - - | - - | - - | 7 |
| Northern Shoveler | - - | 225 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Northern Pintail | - - | 2 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Canvasback | - - | 80 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Redhead | - - | 70 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Ring-necked Duck | - - | 100 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Lesser Scaup | - - | 145 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Bufflehead | - - | 1 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Common Goldeneye | - - | 40 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Hooded Merganser | - - | 12 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Ruddy Duck | - - | 4 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Pied-billed Grebe | - - | 1 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Bald Eagle | 7 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Cooper's Hawk | - - | - - | - - | 1 | 1 | - - | - - |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 2 | - - | - - | - - | - - | 2 |
| American Kestrel | - - | 1 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| American Coot | - - | 35 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Ring-billed Gull | 6 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Rock Pigeon | - - | - - | 10 | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | - - | - - | 1 | - - | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | - - | 1 | 2 | 3 | - - | 7 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | 2 |
| Northern Flicker | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | 2 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 1 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Blue Jay | 2 | - - | 1 | - - | 2 | - - | 2 |
| American Crow | 2 | - - | - - | 5 | 3 | - - | - - |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 4 | - - | 4 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 15 |
| Tufted Titmouse | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | 1 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 1 | - - | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Brown Creeper | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | 1 | - - |
| American Robin | - - | - - | 6 | 2 | 55 | 2 | - - |
| European Starling | - - | 3 | - - | - - | 6 | 1 | - - |
| American Tree Sparrow | 18 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Song Sparrow | 7 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Swamp Sparrow | 1 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Harris's Sparrow | 1 | 8 | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 12 | - - | 2 | 1 | 7 | - - | 19 |
| Northern Cardinal | 1 | - - | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| House Finch | - - | - - | - - | - - | 8 | 1 | 4 |
| American Goldfinch | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | 4 |
| House Sparrow | - - | - - | - - | 3 | - - | 4 | 6 |
Carter Lake continues as a winter's haven for various species of waterfowl. The number of Canvasback submitted required additional details of confirmation. The same for the Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot.
New arrivals are the Gadwall, American Wigeon and Northern Pintail. An American Kestrel was unexpected. There were few song birds present.
Waterfowl at Carter Lake, including a bunch of Cackling geese.
Many of the regular species present during an Omaha winter were denoted to one extent or another at the parks, especially juncos and cardinals. Chickadees were cherry especially cherry at the Elmwood Park environs.
An exceptional place for Mallards was Shadow Lake at Elmwood Park, where just a few of these ducks occurred, at what is a regular seasonal haven.
N.P. Dodge Park was the place for sparrows, with Swamp Sparrows most notable.
A Pileated Woodpecker was seen, which required additional commentary. This species has been observed at this locale since December 2010.
Missing at Memorial Park and Elmwood Park were any Winter Wrens.
It would have been nice to have gotten to have able to include Hummel Park up north, and to the south, Spring Lake Park and Mandan Park. Perhaps another time. Also lacking from the count effort, was a survey from Lake Manawa, to allow a comparison of waterfowl at the two urban lakes.
Illegal ATV at the northwest woods of Levi Carter Park. This vehicle drove among the woods, despite the signs indicating that doing so was illegal, and despite the many tree trunks blocking the way.
Elsewhere, on the City of Carter Lake side of the lake, two guys had a five-gallon bucket partially filled with golf balls, and were using a bat to hit them into the lake.
These are two examples of the illegal and moronic behavior which occurs at the lake and park.