Birding at Rowe Sanctuary | Audubon

Each spring, hundreds of individuals flock to Rowe Sanctuary to witness one in every of Nebraska’s biggest wildlife spectacles: massive concentrations of Sandhill Cranes gathering alongside the Platte River throughout their annual migration. The cranes are unbelievable, however I’m going to allow you to in on a secret—the birding at Rowe Sanctuary is spectacular even when the cranes aren’t right here. And that’s particularly excellent news for those who’re a “child birder,” a “not-a-real-birder-yet,” a “non-eBird person,” somebody who is just “alongside for the trip,” or, as some would possibly name you, a starting birder.

Birding is a fast-growing interest, and there are extra instruments than ever that can assist you uncover and respect the birds round you. However maybe one of the best factor about birding is that you just don’t should be an professional to get pleasure from it; you simply have to be curious.

Come Chicken with Us—Any Time of 12 months

Not like the annual Sandhill Crane Migration, when guests want to order a spot on one in every of our guided crane viewing experiences, birding at Rowe could be as leisurely as you need it to be. Come when it really works for you, keep within the customer middle and hen from our home windows overlooking the Platte River or go for a hike on our miles of mountain climbing strays. Keep for 20 minutes or spend the afternoon. Convey your binoculars, a subject information and perhaps your cellphone with a couple of hen apps or just carry your eyes and ears. There is no such thing as a admission price to go to the Customer Middle, and  workers and volunteers can reply any questions you may need, and we maintain a latest hen sightings board the place you possibly can see what different guests have been discovering.

So, you wish to get into birding? Meet the birding group

One of the crucial great issues about entering into birding is discovering that you’re not the one one who thinks birds are cool. There may be a whole group of people who find themselves fascinated by birds. You may study identification suggestions and methods from different birders—generally issues that aren’t in your subject information, and generally issues that are within the subject information, however you haven’t seen but as a result of there are roughly 4,000 tiny particulars to recollect. A technique to do this is by attending one in every of our month-to-month hen walks right here at Rowe Sanctuary; an effective way to satisfy each new hen AND human mates.  One subsequent hen stroll is August 29, 2026 you possibly can register here though registration will not be required!

One other nice strategy to uncover what’s occurring at Rowe Sanctuary is thru eBird. It’s one instrument novices can use to change into a part of the web birding group and see what different birders are discovering. eBird is a web-based platform the place birders file the species they see and listen to, and guests can submit easy species lists or add images and notes about their observations. When you’re new to birding, eBird can appear somewhat intimidating at first. There are leaderboards, species lists, private data, and birders who appear to know all the pieces.

However don’t let that scare you away.

Whereas a whole lot of species have been recorded at Rowe Sanctuary through the years, the variety of species reported in any given month is far smaller however a typical hen record from a brief stroll across the sanctuary will embrace 15-25 species. Don’t fear about seeing the ultra-rare birds; begin with the birds which might be frequent and change into acquainted with them. Whenever you see a hen you don’t acknowledge, examine what you noticed—its dimension, form, shade, habits, location, and sounds—with the birds you already know are prone to be right here.

And don’t be shocked in case your “uncommon Australian hen that has by some means by no means been documented in North America” seems to be a quite common hen seen from a barely uncommon angle.

Belief me. It occurs.

Don’t Neglect to Hear

Certainly one of your most underrated birding instruments is one thing you have already got with you: your ears. Birders typically deal with what they’ll see, however birdsong and calls can inform you the place a hen is hiding, assist you to determine a species, and even offer you clues about what is occurring round you. Generally you do not have to see a hen to begin determining what it’s.