Newly Opened Saline Wetland Tract Attracts Wildbirds

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.

1. Greater White-fronted Goose
   
2. Canada Goose
   
3. Wood Duck
   
4. American Wigeon
   
5. Mallard
   
6. Blue-winged Teal
   
7. Northern Shoveler
   
8. Northern Pintail
   
9. Green-winged Teal
   
10. Ring-necked Pheasant
    
11. Wild Turkey
    
12. Northern Bobwhite
    
13. Pied-billed Grebe
    
14. Double-crested Cormorant
    
15. American Bittern
    
16. Great Blue Heron
    
17. Great Egret
    
18. Green Heron
    
19. Turkey Vulture
    
20. Bald Eagle
    
21. Northern Harrier
    
22. Sharp-shinned Hawk
    
23. Cooper's Hawk
    
24. Red-tailed Hawk
    
25. Rough-legged Hawk
    
26. American Kestrel
    
27. Merlin
    
28. Virginia Rail
    
29. Sora
    
30. American Coot
    
31. Killdeer
    
32. Spotted Sandpiper
    
33. Lesser Yellowlegs
    
34. Wilson's Snipe
    
35. Franklin's Gull
    
36. Ring-billed Gull
    
37. Herring Gull
    
38. Eurasian Collared-Dove
    
39. Mourning Dove
    
40. Great Horned Owl
    
41. Belted Kingfisher
    
42. Red-headed Woodpecker
    
43. Red-bellied Woodpecker
    
44. Downy Woodpecker
    
45. Hairy Woodpecker
    
46. Northern Flicker
    
47. Blue Jay
    
48. American Crow
    
49. Horned Lark
    

    Aerial view showing property boundary of the wetland area.

50. Barn Swallow
    
51. Black-capped Chickadee
    
52. White-breasted Nuthatch
    
53. House Wren
    
54. Sedge Wren
    
55. Marsh Wren
    
56. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
    
57. Eastern Bluebird
    
58. American Robin
    
59. Gray Catbird
    
60. European Starling
    
61. Orange-crowned Warbler
    
62. Nashville Warbler
    
63. Yellow-rumped Warbler
    
64. Palm Warbler
    
65. Common Yellowthroat
    
66. Spotted Towhee
    
67. American Tree Sparrow
    
68. Chipping Sparrow
    
69. Clay-colored Sparrow
    
70. Field Sparrow
    
71. Vesper Sparrow
    
72. Lark Sparrow
    
73. Savannah Sparrow
    
74. Grasshopper Sparrow
    
75. Henslow's Sparrow
    
76. Le Conte's Sparrow
    
77. Nelson's Sparrow
    
78. Fox Sparrow
    
79. Song Sparrow
    
80. Lincoln's Sparrow
    
81. Swamp Sparrow
    
82. White-throated Sparrow
    
83. Harris's Sparrow
    
84. White-crowned Sparrow
    
85. Dark-eyed Junco
    
86. Dickcissel
    
87. Red-winged Blackbird
    
88. Eastern Meadowlark
    
89. Western Meadowlark
    
90. Yellow-Headed Blackbird
    
91. Common Grackle
    
92. Brown-headed Cowbird
    
93. House Finch
    
94. Pine Siskin
    
95. 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."

Proposed WMA Name an Oxymoron

Having been at the proposed wma acquisition along the Niobrara River south of Nenzel, it is a very familiar place where more than twenty bird surveys have been done during the past decade. It was exciting to hear of its potential acquisition, an effort which can only be appreciated and strongly supported.

There is however, one point of strong disagreement, and that is the proposed name: Chat Canyon WMA.

The name was selected because "there is an unnamed canyon that comes into the valley on the property on the north side," according to a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission staff member, in response to my email inquiry.

Including chat in the name is appropriate because the species occurs there and the site was the locale for chat research.

It is the selection of canyon which is misleading and an oxymoron. Aerial photos and topographic maps indicate the canyon, but only a short section of its southern extent is on the tract. There is much more valley than canyon included among the property parcels.

Also, canyon refers to a land feature where chats would not be expected. Chats prefer the valley, almost to the exclusion of any upland such as the canyon, because these birds prefer deciduous vegetation to coniferous on the upland.

The Niobrara River valley is the most important chat habitat and to the primary extent of the area.

A more suitable name would be Chat Valley WMA. This alternative is preferential as it better reflects those features associated with the Yellow-breasted Chat.

The following elevation map indicates the approximate extent of the canyon included within the area proposed for acquisition. It measures about 15-1600 linear feet (indicated by the yellowish line), while the entire canyon is about 6600 feet in length. So, only about 25% of the canyon extent is within the parcel being considered.

This is another reason using canyon as a named features indicates a land feature which is only partially within the confines of the proposed wma, and more associated with the neighbor's property, perhaps leading people to think the canyon is publicly accessible.

Proposed Niobrara Wildlife Area a Unique Bird Haven

A property being considered for a forestry and wildlife management area in Cherry County is a known haven for a great many birds.

This is a list of the twenty-one dates when bird surveys were done on the property, with the owner's permission. Several times, especially early in the summer, she was also present, doing her best to keep the bird feeders full. The setting changed from the first years here with new ownership at the time, ca. 2004, to the contemporary setting. Public funding through a grant was used to fence the area. There is now a trailer, a ready source of water via a developed pump and electricity via a buried powerline. These are modern accoutrements in this area of the Niobrara River valley, especially for what is essentially a nature reserve, with a designed name of Circle J Reserve. The J represents people involved with the place, and a circle to indicate that they came together to make it happen and understand the avifauna of this area of the Niobrara valley, south of Nenzel.

Niobrara River at the Circle J Reserve; May 31, 2010.

My first visit here was in February 2004, based upon an email from a UNL professor of ornithology suggesting a sort of business endeavor to do bird surveys for someone on their newly acquired property. The reality of that situation was soon realized to be not be a bona fide financial proposal.

Since there was a nice variety of birds present, the site was attractive for that particular reason. That first day of boots on the ground, the most exciting thing heard was the song of a Marsh Wren in the terrace wetland nourished by flows from a groundwater spring. Then to add to the excitement, a Wilson's Snipe was also present. Also at the place, were Red Crossbills flying southward from the upland pines and across the running water. During the winter of 2004-2005, a Virginia Rail was a resident. The occurrence here led to further searching and notable discoveries of a similar sort, elsewhere during the winter weeks along the central Niobrara River valley.

Especially because of the wintering species, the place piqued my interest, and so subsequent visits occurred. This is the tally of dates when the place was hiked and the number of bird species noted. Most of the twenty surveys were on the north side of the river.

02/27/2004: 16 03/09/2004: 11 03/17/2004: 20 03/18/2004: 6 04/06/2004: 26 04/20/2004: 30 06/06/2004: 48 species representing breeding season birds 06/15/2004: 54 species representing breeding season birds 10/12/2004: 23 11/16/2004: 10 11/17/2004: 22 12/15/2004: 6 12/16/2004: 21

02/18/2005: 12 10/23/2005: 8 01/11/2006: 8 06/10/2006: 35 06/22/2006: 38 05/31/2010: 37 09/27/2011: 21 species Additional details would further denote the variety of species present in this site's habitats's along the Niobrara River. These sorts of information would further indicate the value of the valley habitats for wild birds in a region where there are few details of the avifauna. Prominently missing is a focus on bird hybridization, in a valley where it is well known to occur, based upon studies in decades past by prominent scientists.

This property of about 460 acres is a great option for a new public wildlife and forestry management area. It has a nice habitat diversity, including that distinctive meadow on the north side of the river, and a tangly swamp on the south side.

What will happen with the recreational trailer and its wooden shelter, the recently rebuilt garage across the county road, isn't known? The owner of the property was not disclosed by the newspaper report in later June. Apparently there was also a public hearing in Valentine, but its date and time are unknown as details could not be found online.

Based upon a few hundred records of distinction, this is a list of species observed at this area.

Canada Goose Wood Duck Mallard Common Merganser Ring-necked Pheasant Sharp-tailed Grouse Wild Turkey American White Pelican Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Virginia Rail Sandhill Crane; aerial migrant Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Upland Sandpiper Long-billed Curlew; on the nearby upland Wilson's Snipe Mourning Dove Black-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Cuckoo Great Horned Owl Long-eared Owl Common Nighthawk Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Western Wood-Pewee Alder Flycatcher Willow Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Western Kingbird Eastern Kingbird Loggerhead Shrike Bell's Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Horned Lark Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren; among the aquatic habitats provided by springwater seeps Marsh Wren; an iconic winter occurrence Golden-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Mountain Bluebird Townsend's Solitaire American Robin Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Common Yellowthroat Yellow-breasted Chat Spotted Towhee American Tree Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Lark Sparrow Lark Bunting Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal; a far-western occurrence Rose-breasted Grosbeak Black-headed Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Dickcissel Bobolink Red-winged Blackbird Western Meadowlark Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole House Finch Red Crossbill American Goldfinch

There are additional subtle details of significance for the birds, the particulars expressed by the actual records, though the specifics are not publicly available. Also pertinent to the history of this place, the owner did research on the Yellow-breasted Chat, and received a PhD degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

What the future would involve under public ownership, is unknown. There are some advantages, and some uncertainties. At least the site would always be accessible. The addition of hunting would be an unwelcome seasonal intrusion. The property will be subject to greater disturbance, possibly more trash. Someone may decide a camp and want to have a campfire, which will mean cut trees and a mess left behind.

It is very unlikely that the current place name will be continued. Two public meetings in July - The Nebraska Environmental Trust and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - are scheduled when decisions will be made regarding the acquisition of this site.

Parcels of the proposed wildlife area in Cherry County, along the Niobrara River.

Considering a Decade of Nebraska's Effort to Acquire Habitat

Several land acquisitions in the central and northern region of Nebraska are prominent accomplishments of the recently ended ten-year habitat plan of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The goal of the "Habitat Acquisition and Conservation Plan" was "To provide for the long-term protection, management and restoration of a diverse, balanced and high quality assemblage of fish, wildlife and plant resources within the state of Nebraska for the benefit of the people and the natural resources."

During the period since 2000, there have been several property acquisitions from willing sellers, and through property trades.

The first property acquisition within the region in the new millennium was the Myrtle E. Hall WMA. The land - a farm run by Myrtle Hall, along with her brothers Merritt and Ward - was bequeathed to the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation in February 2000 and transferred to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in July 2000. The 1960 acre area overlooks the Loup River valley, and is upland hills and flats south of Almeria, Loup County, though some of the site extends into Custer county. The area is the divide between the North Loup and the Middle Loup watersheds.

Other land buys or trades occurred during subsequent years, include:

Red Wing WMA, 320 acres along the Elkhorn River northwest of Neligh, Antelope County

Hackberry Creek WMA, 243.79 acres along the Elkhorn River, a mile east of Clearwater, Antelope County

O. John Emerson WMA, 160 acres in northeast Holt County, which includes a section of creek, and a bit of upland wet meadow, originally visited in 2005 and 2006, and which is known to have at least 22 bird species.

Holt Creek WMA, 160 acres in Keya Paha County; acquired from the Fish and Wildlife Service as a trade for the Willow Lake WMA associated with Valentine NWR. The area is north and east of Springview, and includes a mile of Holt Creek, with deciduous woods adjacent, and is northward of the sandhills region.

Twin Lakes, Rock-County WMA, in Rock County; an additional 540 acres was added to the original 160 acres, as a trade for what had been the Almeria Meadows WMA. The addition included portions of the southern Twin Lake, plus upland grasslands and a grove of cottonwood trees.

Pressey WMA, Custer County; about 11 acres of native prairie were acquired from the Nebraska Department of Roads. Additional property has also been added to this site.

Further west, two wetland areas within the sand hills were purchased.

DeFair Lake WMA is along the highway south of Hyannis, Grant County, was acquired in April 2000, with the purchase of 125.2 acres for $49,406.42. This tract is included

Avocet WMA is along Highway 2 just east of Hyannis, was acquired in November 2003, with the purchase of 125.8 acres for $63,277.40 and 62.4 acres for $22,900.80. The wetland is well known for the Trumpeter Swans which occur during the summer breeding season.

The habitat acquisition plan had suggested that within the Sandhills region, two miles of riparian habitat (ca. 2500 acres) and wetlands comprised of lakes (2500 acres) and marsh (1920 acres) should be purchased to provide public land management areas.

The Hackberry Creek and Red WMA's comprise riparian habitat which include about two miles Elkhorn River frontage, or the extent indicated by the acquisition plan. The two areas comprise about 564 acres, or only about 22% of the desired goal of 2500 acres.

Besides the purchase of the Avocet and DeFair Lake tracts, the only other apparent addition of lake and marsh habitat would be associated with the Twin Lakes tract in Rock County, which was offset by the loss of meadow habitat at the former Almeria Meadows WMA. The two purchased tracts comprise about 313 acres. It should be noted that some minor amounts of marsh and meadow habitat would be associated with the two wildlife areas along the Elkhorn River in Antelope county.

The overall addition of lake and marsh habitat during the ten-year period was probably less than 400 acres. There was an apparent shortfall in the acquisition of this sort of habitat in the sandhills of nearly 3000 acres, or only about 12% of the desired amount of the 3420 acres.

The plan also mentioned the potential to purchase and identify tracts as Natural Areas, though there has not yet been such an area designated by the state agency.

Bird Values of Wildlife Lands

Within the general sandhills region, the state currently owns about 40 properties of various sizes, which includes the following wildlife management areas and other tracts as designated: AGA Marsh, Arnold Lake SRA, Atkinson SRA, Ballards Marsh, Big Alkali, Bobcat, Bohemia Prairie, Borman Bridge, Cottonwood Lake SRA, Cottonwood-Steverson, Dry Creek, Emerson, Fred Thomas, Hackberry Creek, Hull Lake, Keller SRA and WMA, Kent Diversion, Long Lake SRA, Long Pine SRA and WMA, Mirdan Canal, Myrtle Hall, Parshall Bridge, Pine Glen, Plum Creek Valley (acquired January 1999), Pressey SRA, Rat and Beaver Lake, Redbird, Red Wing, Schlagel Creek, Shell Lake, Smith Falls State Park, Smith Lake, South Pine (acquired September 1998), South Twin Lake, Thomas Creek which is an area which has been owned for many years by the state agency), Victoria Springs SRA, and Willow Lake Brown County (acquired December 1992 from the Wildlife Development Federation of North America).

More than 240 different species of birds have been observed at these places, in various numbers and extent among the distinctive habitats of the region, ranging from sandhills marsh and lakes, to the rugged terrain of canyons along the Niobrara River, and amidst other plant communities typical to the region.

Further considering details, the public lands where there has been a greater number of bird observations, based primarily upon observations made during visits by bird enthusiasts and not by any attempt by agency staff to record bird use, are the following sites: Smith Lake WMA (862 available records), Willow Lake Brown County WMA (561 with additional records available for the place before it became public property), South Twin Lake WMA (503), AGA Marsh WMA (397), South Pine WMA (376 with additional observations available for years prior to when the state bought the property), Long Lake SRA (336), Shell Lake WMA (207), Fred Thomas WMA (202), Thomas Creek WMA (167 from visits which required thrashing through the invasive cedars), Cottonwood Lake SRA (151), Myrtle Hall WMA (129), Plum Creek Valley WMA (116), and Pressey SRA (105 available records).

There are a lesser number of records for more than twenty other publicly owned land tracts, with bird information sometimes derived from only a couple of visits, since no other specifics are available.

Site management has been an essential part of the efforts undertaken by personnel of the state agency. This includes some removal of invasive red cedar trees, grassland management by periodic burns and other steps taken to provide quality habitat for the native flora and fauna.

Future Planning

The state agency has not yet developed a new plan to acquire and conserve native habitats throughout the state.

An email sent to four officials of the state agency, asking for comments on the results of the previous habitat plan, or any other comments pertinent to this article, did not respond.