USA Road Trip 2012: Part 3
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Jun 2, 2012 | by Kevin Loughlin
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| The Platte River |
Today we drove from south west of Omaha to North Platte, Nebraska. All in all, not as exciting a day as the previous two. Nebraska is flat with a lot of corn fields. We looked hard for wildlife refuges to visit but found few.
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| Mud patterns in the Platte. |
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| Beaver-cut tree. |
We did come across Calvin Crest, a Christian camp, where the director showed us their nice trail to the river. The forest was full of birds including: Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Peewees, Yellow-throated Vireos and more.
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| Common Whitetail |
A pair of Common Whitetail hunted along the riverside, and there were about six species of butterfly.
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| Barn Swallow at the Rowe Sanctuary and Iain Nicolson Audubon Center |
Later in the day we saw a sign for the Rowe Sanctuary and Iain Nicolson Audubon Center, so we swung a quick right and headed off to investigate. Typically closed on Saturdays, we were fortunate that they we holding a special event and were open.
We enjoyed the Barn Swallows and their nests that lined the entryway roof, and as I was photographing them I heard a Red-headed Woodpecker calling… a surprise in this open habitat. I watched it for a few minutes before it took off in a flash of white, black and red.
This sanctuary is home to many Sandhill Cranes in March as they migrate, and we were informed that this winter about 100 stayed over. Very unusual.