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.