My Nebraska

[Tigerlady105]

Deb, thanks for telling us about the Monarchs and for the links.   

[winterwren]

Deb, thank you for that thoughtful post with the 3 articles about Monarch biology. What an interesting read. Each article teaches us something about the Monarchs, and each teaches us something about how research works, what it does well, and what we might miss if we get stuck in the (fascinating) details. The entire post is a great reminder to never lose track of the greater context... About which we know so little.

And so we learn, bit by bit.
 

[gmadeb3]

Prairie Dog town has prairie dogs but also if you are lucky you may find a Burrowing Owl.  Prairie Dogs live in burrows and sometimes a burrowing owl will take over a burrow and nest in it.  Hot and Humid but worth a trip to see if there is any activity.  This time no cows around and I looked around and saw no owls.  I took a little adventure by crawling out to a burrow and laying down hoping to be just another lump in the ground.  I had some nice camo on so I laid and waited.  No activity.....  the prairie dogs were barking.  I was about to just get up and leave when here comes a bird in with around 5 black birds chasing and diving at this bird.  OH wait it was the small little burrowing owl,  it landed on one of the mounds that I suspected was their burrow from last year.  Now I am on my belly and stretched out taking photos.  He has not gone in the burrow and I have only seen him.  I thought that maybe they didn't nest, something happened to its mate.  We had so much rain earlier that maybe the rain flooded out their nest or when the cows were in there they scared them off.  Finally he flew off to the edge of the tall grasses and I was able to crawl back out ( thank goodness all the cow pies have dried) Once back to the car, the clouds came in and it was getting to be dusk,  sure enough she pops up out of the burrow and he flies back to the post.  Maybe they just have very little ones still.





prairie dog mound between us

[gmadeb3]

Took a hike back to see the Rough winged Swallows who nest in the cavities of a hill side bank.  This time I noticed the adults flying in and out of the cavity with something in their beaks.  So I set out to try and get a photo of the food delivery.  This is not easy,  they are fast and unpredictable -  after a good 45 minutes and many photo deletes I at least got a picture.  One swallow was so kind to land on a branch not far from me almost to say " see this is what the kids are having to eat"





I think this is the removal of a poop sac from the nest cavity

Hiking back I was looking for any butterflies, one special one - the Regal Fritillary, it has been in decline over the last years.  I was just out for a butterfly and wildflower count last week and that was one we were particularly looking for.  They are very difficult to get close to. 

[gmadeb3]

I was finally able to get out on the river with my Kayak.  Not far down the river I notice on my left to dark objects on an old tree.  Of course I was pretty sure they were eagles and as I looked around on my right I saw two adults in another tree and right behind them a tree with a nice nest in it.  I pulled my kayak up to a sandbar and just watched for a bit.  Soon the youngsters left the tree and flew across to where the parents were,  also another youngster was in the tree behind the nest.  Lucky for them, 3 healthy juvies.









The really nice thing about kayaking is i could just float on by and not bother them

[gmadeb3]

More from my kayak trip.  The river is running really good and I don't have to paddle much.  I can have my camera out and get some photos as I pass by things. 

[gmadeb3]

I had a stop on a sandbar and took a little walk around.  I saw this little bird walking very fast for cover.  I was able to get a quick picture of it and I think it could be a young spotted sandpiper chick.



Also saw a few small leopard frogs


Paddling by a sandbar I look back and see a strange looking thing,   it looks like a creature, a river monster....... I can get a photo and look closer........... it is really just a piece of drift wood.....   

[gmadeb3]

I was so glad to have a day off so guess what I wanted to do?  Go Owling ............  yes Burrowing Owls and Owlets.  It is that time that the young should be out and about.  I headed out to some prairie dog towns and started looking.  We were in a very extreme heat index so being outside was hard on me, can't imagine how the owls felt out there.  I found a couple of places that had burrowing owls.  They are cute to watch.  The good thing about these locations is you could sit in your car and watch them.

The parent here was just to the left of the burrow entrance



At first this is what I saw



Sitting quietly in the car I waited, took more pictures of course



Then another popped up and another,  kinda a shy one



checking out what is flying above



This was the first area I went to,  another area is next

[gmadeb3]

Second burrow I found was a bit farther away but had 4 owlets,  they were out and about a little.   They were standing by their burrow and one flew a ways to another burrow.  While standing on the side there was a prairie dog across from it.  The prairie dog was not at all afraid of the owl,  they kinda looked at each other some.





This shows the size comparison a bit

[gmadeb3]

Here is a little bit of cuteness for you to watch 

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[Cawatcher]

Great series Deb; the little smile makers

[gmadeb3]

Driving through the Sandhills is always a joy.  Found a few Bison close to the road.  The Bull was spectacular and a couple of little calves in the mix.  They were a little curious but cautious





Where the Deer and the Antelope play............

[gmadeb3]

Here are a couple more from the drive in the sandhills.





Not the traditional windmill.  This is a solar powered one.  Out in the middle of the sandhills maintenance and parts can be difficult to come by so I guess solar is a bit easier.  Plus I heard these are easier if you want to move them to another area.

[gmadeb3]

Many sunsets and many windmills but I got a picture of them both.



The Bob white quail are usually hard to find,  you hear them calling but just can't locate them. Well luck was on my side this night.  One was sitting on a gate, so I drove up close enough and stopped and got a picture while I was still sitting in the car.  They have a really nice call.

[Cawatcher]

Beautiful