Jake Mohlmann on his just-completed tour, Nebraska: The Sandhills and the Platte River

We breezed through just over 1,000 miles of America’s Heartland in search of the last lingering waterfowl, early spring migrants, an unbelievable crane show, and a legitimate chicken dance. It started out along the deciduous forests of the Missouri River Valley where residents such as Pileated Woodpecker, American Woodcock, and Carolina Wren were starting to set up shop on their breeding grounds.

A Carolina Wren announcing the borders of its territory

Heading west we meandered through the tallgrass prairies successfully finding many sparrow species such as Fox, American Tree, and Harris’s as well as both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks.

Eastern Meadowlark in full song

Scattered throughout were scads of ponds and lakes which held an impressive array of waterfowl and we had great looks at Wood Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, and all three merganser species. A smattering of geese were still loafing about and we took time to enjoy Cackling Geese mixed with their Canada cousins as well as point-blank views of Greater White-fronted Geese.

Greater White-fronted Geese soaking in the sun

Sandhill Cranes were abundant and we watched at sunset as many of the 270,000 estimated birds came pouring in overhead - a mind-boggling visual and aural experience - landing to roost along the Central Platte River. Usually it’s not until early April that a few Whooping Cranes start showing up, but we were delighted with our great good luck when one of these very rare birds landed upriver just before the sun went down.

Sandhill Cranes en mass

Whooping Crane

Our last exploration lead us to the famous Sandhills region of Central Nebraska which covers about one quarter of the state. Our main goal here was to view the extravagant courting rituals of the Greater Prairie-Chicken. We succeeded in capturing this mind-blowing phenomenon on film, at close range, from our comfortable blind set amongst the hills.

Greater Prairie-Chickens: inquisitive female checks out courting males

Our group’s chemistry was amazing and we all had a wonderful time sharing stories along the way which added to a truly memorable experience. Cheers!

Group cheer