Fall cold fronts
Wilson's Warbler
The first good cold front that brings us temperatures in the upper 50s tells us all to dig out our sweatshirts and sweaters and reminds us that before we know it, we will be scooping snow and scraping our windshields. It always amazes me how cold 58 degrees feels in September, when it felt so warm in early March.
Those are the negative parts of the first good cold front of the fall. The good thing about fall cold fronts, however, is that they produce strong and consistent northerly winds and those winds provide good migration conditions for birds that nested somewhere to the north of the Chicken Dance Trail.
The other day, I went out and walked around the yard and hatchery ponds of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission office in North Platte over my lunch break. One of the first birds to greet me was a male Wilson’s Warbler. This beautiful little bird, with its bright yellow body and dark black cap, is always a treat to find when they are migrating through during spring or fall.
Further along in my walk, I was checking out a flock of Franklin’s Gulls, which had apparently also arrived on the northerly winds of the day before. I was hoping to find something odd or different among the group of around 200 gulls, but other than a few Ring-billed Gulls, all that was there were Franklin’s. Fall is a great time to find an out-of-place gull, like the Sabine’s Gulls that have been reported in easterly locations of Nebraska. As I was watching the gulls, a familiar but forgotten metallic-sounding “tink” call note could be heard behind me. I spun around to find a young White-throated Sparrow perched on a dead tree branch, with a bunch of smaller birds around it. The flock of little birds contained dozens of Chipping Sparrows and Clay-colored Sparrows (including many of their confusing young), a Song Sparrow, a Lincoln’s Sparrow, a female Wilson’s Warbler (lacking the black cap of the male), two Orange-crowned Warblers and a single Yellow-rumped Warbler (which all by itself is a sign that fall is setting in).
This little flock of little birds is the type of thing that birdwatchers across the United States watch for following a good fall cold front. Get out to lakes and wetlands as ducks, grebes and gulls will soon be coming through in good numbers. Check out wooded/shrubby habitats, especially shelterbelts, plum thickets and other little pockets of cover that represent an “oasis” to migrating woodland songbirds flying over a sea of grassland and cropland. You might not find much in many of these places, but then you will find that one spot that makes the whole time spent birding more exciting and worth being out for.
And let’s face it, typically in Nebraska, the weather moderates following that first cold front, and before you know it you are back in a T-shirt enjoying mid-70s temperatures, light winds and sunshine. You need to have something to do between Saturday bouts of watching college football, so get out there and enjoy the fall weather while looking for birds. You just never know what you might find!
~ T.J. Walker
Wildlife Biologist
Nebraska Game and Parks
North Platte
About the Chicken Dance Trail
The Chicken Dance Trail is actually a collection of great bird watching locations in southwest and south central Nebraska, between the Platte and Republican Rivers. Because the area includes the narrowest section of the hourglass-shaped Central Flyway, the Chicken Dance Trail is uniquely situated for birders. Millions of different birds come through here during spring and fall migrations, making the Chicken Dance Trail one of the best places in the country to see a wide variety of species in a relatively small area.
Our bird watching sites were developed by local naturalists and birding experts and are collected into a series of bird watching “adventures” which are described in detail, along with interactive maps, on our Web site at www.chickendancetrail.com. Other resources include a birding chart, useful birding links, and guides to restaurants, lodging and activities in the area.
Our wildlife and bird watching sites were developed by local naturalists and are collected into a series of “adventures” which are described in detail, along with interactive maps, on our Web site at www.chickendancetrail.com. Other resources include a birding chart, useful links, and guides to restaurants, lodging and activities in the area.
Come and visit and learn why we say, “Birds love this part of Nebraska...and you will too!”
Special Thanks to:
Nebraska Game and Parks, Birds of Nebraska
www.ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/guides/birds/findbirds.asp