94 Species on this Custom List
To upload the attached Custom list and Quiz yourself on birds that may be seen on this VENT Tour, right-click HERE and select "Save Target As.." (You may want to rename the file Platte.xml)
Mar. 15-Mar. 19, 2008
Spectacular and unmatched experience which features not only tens of thousands of cranes, but also the potential for hundreds of thousands of geese and other waterfowl advancing north with the retreat of winter.
Nowhere is the arrival of spring more dramatic than on the northern Great Plains in March. The sight and sound of the first groups of waterfowl, raptors, and field and marsh birds returning to northern latitudes as winter loosens its grip has an appeal all its own. And along Nebraska's Platte River during March there is an ornithological event of global significance: the annual gathering of some half-million Sandhill Cranes—about 80% of the world's population—on their traditional staging grounds. The spectacle of the dusk and dawn flights of tens of thousands of cranes to and from their roost sites on the river is a visual and aural experience that is literally beyond description.
Almost as awe-inspiring as this massing of seemingly countless numbers of Sandhill Cranes is the arrival of hundreds of thousands of waterfowl on the nearby wetlands of the Rainwater Basin. Given normal weather and water levels, we have also seen vast and impressive flocks of geese and ducks, sometimes including seemingly endless hordes of Snow Geese with a sprinkling of Ross's Geese among them.
Bald Eagles, Rough-legged Hawks, and other raptors will also be present, with perhaps a Golden Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, or Prairie Falcon among them. We will also schedule a morning to see Greater Prairie-Chicken (and perhaps a Sharp-tailed Grouse or two) in full display on their breeding grounds. In addition, Wild Turkeys, American Woodcocks, Black-billed Magpies, Harris's Sparrows, and Rusty Blackbirds are found in more wooded habitats along the Platte.
Only one motel change; mostly roadside birding with relatively little walking; primary birding focus at dawn and dusk; relatively short species list.
To Get (upload) a Custom List from this Forum and add it to your computer:
1. Open the Posting of the Custom List you want to upload to your computer.
2. Right-click on the word "Attachment" at the bottom of the post -- it will be a hyperlink and underlined.
3. Select "Save Target As..." and save to your desktop. (You may want to rename the file - but do not change the .xml file extension)
4. Open your Thayer Birding Software birding program version 3.5 or 3.9.
5. Click the Custom List icon
6. In the upper left corner of the Custom List screen, click on the word File.
7. Click Import. Select the file you just uploaded to your desktop. Click Open.
8. The Custom List will now appear on your computer with your other Custom Lists. (You may rename the Custom List if you like.)
|