Nebraska sandhills: Valentine NWR and Fort Niobrara NWR

Well I have made it to one of my favorite spots in the midwest: the sandhills of Nebraska.  I have just about finished my roadside habitat survey points, except for a few more to the west.  I am spending a few days near Valentine, NE so I can hang out at Fort Niobrara NWR and Valentine NWR. 

Nebraska sandhills

Before getting here, though, I saw my first rufous morph red tail hawk in Custer County.

Rufous morph re-tailed hawk: Custer County, NE

There were also a few flocks of sandhills around.  There are reports from Quivira NWR and Cheyenne Bottoms in KS that tons of whooping cranes are coming through....a flock of 18 at Quivira!  Too bad I just missed them by about 2 weeks!!!!!

sandhill crane: Custer County, NE

The morning I left Custer County, I had a small run in with a deer.  I saw it for about .1 seconds bolting at me from the left, so I slammed the breaks, only to hear the smack on the back driver's side.  I looked in the rear view to see it slide off the car and take a tumble, as the words "LIABILITY ONLY" flashed through my mind.  I stopped, fearing the worst and to assess the damage...to find only a deer snot mark on the car.  Not a dent at all!!!  I went back to find the deer, but she was gone.  There was only a bit of mud in the road that she knocked off my car.  I'm sure she had a major neck cramp for the rest of the day.  Luckily it was only a white tail.  I'm not sure I could have gotten off so easy if I hit a mule deer, or a cow, both of which I have had close calls with.  Also, yesterday, I got my first flat tire of the trip.  It was a slow leak, caused by half of a metal staple.  An easy repair though.

Highlights from today were this juvenile harlan's intermediate morph, and a variety of rough legged and ferruginous hawks.

Typically, these darker birds are more leery and take flight more easily than lighter colored birds, but this one stuck around for awhile, allowing me to get some good photos.

Harlan's intermediate morph juvenile: Cherry County, NE

At Niobrara NWR, there is an area known as Prairie dog town, where hundreds of these cute little prairie dogs run around and make cute noises as your vehicle goes by.  This ferruginous hawk had them all in a fit.  I found him first in my scope (a juvenile).  He was tucked in near this brush, very low to the ground.  He was trying to escape the wind, as it was gusting up to 35 mph or more out on the open prairie.  Eventually he started preening.  I did not find any burrowing owls (Alex and I found them here in June) but I will be there early in the AM to try again.

ferruginous hawk and prairie dog at Fort Niobrara NWR, NE

scoping out some dinner?

On the east side of the refuge I found these two ferruginous hawks soaring over the prairie.  They seemed to be having more fun than anything on the wind, but I am sure they were also looking for dinner.

rufous morph ferruginous hawk: Fort Niobrara NWR, NE

light morph ferruginous hawk: Fort Niobrara NWR, NE

light and rufous morphs together

dinner?

another black-tailed prairie dog

There are not many places to perch at Niobrara, so this ferruginous hawk found this nice outcrop on a high sand dune, and had a great view of prairie dog town below.

ferruginous hawk: Fort Niobrara NWR, NE

Finally, one of the great things about Fort Niobrara NWR are the roaming buffalo.  Well, kind of roaming.  They are enclosed and managed within the refuge, and give us a good idea of what it was like before we wiped them out.  There are also elk here, but I didn't find them today.

Bison: Ft. Niobrara NWR, NE

After tomorrow, I will head west and finish my points.  I will then head in the general direction of Rapid City, SD, where I will wait for Alex to arrive at the airport on November 20th.  Hopefully the weather stays this wonderful (it was 80+ degrees today!!!), so I won't be regretting my idea to travel in the mid-west in November!