A recently opened tract of saline wetlands north of Lincoln has been an exciting place to visit for area birders.
Marsh Wren Community Wetlands "just opened in July and most birders weren't aware of it until September when I told Esa Jarvi about it and that's when he started promoting it on NEBirds," said Shari Schwartz, of Lincoln who has visited the area a few times.
"A mixture of available habitat is a factor that explains the extended list of species," Schwartz said. "A walk along the path leads past saline habitats with narrow-leaf cattails that host good marsh sparrows, wooded edges that attract accipiters and sparrows that utilize brush, seedy prairie patches for grassland sparrows, and a pond for ducks that has shallow edges bordered with cattails that houses rails and bitterns. There's even a bald eagle nest that hopefully will be active this spring."
"It's fun to explore a place that is somewhat yet undiscovered," said Schwartz. "The unit was so new and untrammeled, there wasn't a single scrap of litter in the new gravel parking lot. That was a memorable moment in my life!"
"It's really awesome it was protected because you can see housing has already gone in on the east border of the property," said Schwartz. "One concern I noticed was the source of the emergent springs is at the base of a hill where there's a private corn field that you can guarantee is depositing all kinds of pesticide and fertilizer into the ground water there. The Lower Platte South NRD (LPSNRD) co-manages it so you'd think they'd care about that but there's likely nothing they can do about that adjacent private property."
Management goals for the area include, said Tom Malmstrom, saline wetlands coordinator for the NRD:
- Restore a source of saline ground water to the historical basins.
- Manipulate the surface water hydrology providing multiple benefits for migratory avian species, halophytes, fresh water and saline water dependent non migratory species.
- Utilize the restored wetlands for the benefits of threatened and endangered species.
Site work included fence construction, sediment removal, drainage channel stabilization structures and sediment traps, designation of vegetation management zones, embankment repair, placement of water control structures, and installation of a wetland enhancement berm.
Site restoration work was recently completed, with funding for the site work and engineering provided by the LPSNRD and a 2012 Nebraska Environmental Trust grant to the City of Lincoln, and funds from the eastern saline wetlands project, said Malmstrom. Other support was provided through the Saline Wetlands Conservation Partnership, which consist of the City of Lincoln, LPSNRD, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and Pheasants Forever.
The eastern portion of the tract comprising 80 acres was purchased in 2009, said Mamlstrom. An addition of 50 acres on the western extent of the property was purchased in 2012. The Lower Platte South NRD is the area owner. The eastern extent of the area was used for years as a hunting club.
Particularly notable features of the site includes: saline wetland habitat, freshwater pond, two spring seeps, the confluence of Little Salt Creek and Salt Creek which forms the southern boundary, a small woodland area where bald eagle nests occur. In addition to a foot path and overlook, there is a roadway that can be hiked. The area parking lot is on Alvo Road, eastward from Northwest 40th Street.
This is a tally of the species that have been observed at the area from near the end of September through the first week of November, 2017. More than 35 checklists have been submitted to ebirds, enough to make the site a birding hotspot. The number of species seen during a particular visit have ranged from eight to 53, as well as 46 and 47. The ebird "species list was initially compiled during a time frame for the peak intersection of breeding marsh birds and migrating sparrows making for a hefty total right out of the gate," said Schwartz.
 Figure showing management work done at the wetland area. |
- Greater White-fronted Goose
- Canada Goose
- Wood Duck
- American Wigeon
- Mallard
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Pintail
- Green-winged Teal
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- Wild Turkey
- Northern Bobwhite
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Double-crested Cormorant
- American Bittern
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Green Heron
- Turkey Vulture
- Bald Eagle
- Northern Harrier
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Cooper's Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Rough-legged Hawk
- American Kestrel
- Merlin
- Virginia Rail
- Sora
- American Coot
- Killdeer
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Wilson's Snipe
- Franklin's Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Great Horned Owl
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Horned Lark
Aerial view showing property boundary of the wetland area.
- Barn Swallow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- House Wren
- Sedge Wren
- Marsh Wren
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Eastern Bluebird
- American Robin
- Gray Catbird
- European Starling
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Spotted Towhee
- American Tree Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Clay-colored Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Lark Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Henslow's Sparrow
- Le Conte's Sparrow
- Nelson's Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- Harris's Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Dickcissel
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Western Meadowlark
- Yellow-Headed Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- House Finch
- Pine Siskin
- American Goldfinch
There will certainly be more species observed as birders continue their visits. Especially valuable will be details on species present during the breeding season.
This area is an addition to other saline wetlands protected and which occur mostly northward of Lincoln.
"There are approximately 4,309 acres of Nebraska’s eastern saline wetlands remaining," Malmstrom said. "To date, approximately 1,590 acres of these wetlands are protected through conservation partner ownership and are open to the public."