Nebraska Bird Partnership

The yard around your house may seem like it belongs just to you, but that's not quite the truth. Even the most private, enclosed backyard is home to a whole range of other creatures, from insects and butterflies to birds and mammals. We may not want neighbors camping out there, but most of us love to have birds nesting or stopping by.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, bird watching is the number one hobby in North America, and it's a hobby that can be pursued from infancy to old age.

What trees are most likely to attract birds to our landscapes?  Not surprisingly native trees offer the most extensive resources for native birds.  It's a mutually beneficial relationship, with trees supplying shelter, food and habitat and birds in turn helping trees spread far beyond their static boundaries.

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Nationally acclaimed birder Greg Miller is lost in Nebraska and that's all right with him.

He's not lost. He knows he's not far from Grand Island and just down the road from Kearney.

But for the rest of this week, Miller has strayed into a world of wings and wonder.

Miller is one of the three birdwatchers whose marathon 365-day competition in 1998 to see the most birds in North America was chronicled in the book "The Big Year" and in last year's film by the same title.

Read more from the Omaha World-Herald.

Greg Miller was featured on KHAS TV on Monday night:

http://www.khastv.com/news/local/Dara-Bird-PKG-143432416.html

The 2nd Annual White Pelican Homecoming and Celebration in Alma was featured in the latest issue of Midwest Living magazine.

The main festivities start on Friday and go to the end of the month.  Learn more at http://www.harlantourism.org/

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge will host "Spring Migratory Bird Day" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Contact the Refuge for more information:  712/388-4800, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Crane Trust announced Friday that it will be selling about 1,200 acres of crop and pasture land at a public auction set for May 15.

According to Chuck Cooper, Crane Trust president and CEO, the Crane Trust originally purchased the land as an investment to be either sold or traded for property that fits the Crane Trust mission of protecting and maintaining critical habitat along the Platte River for cranes and other migratory species.

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Erv Nichols leaned on his broom in a crane viewing blind along the Platte River west of the Iain Nicholson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary on his first morning as a 2012 sandhill crane season volunteer.

Nichols and fellow voluntourist Sandra Noll are from Socorro, N.M., along the Rio Grande River, but they aren’t strangers at Rowe Sanctuary. This is Nichols’ sixth year as a crane season volunteer, and Noll has come with him to south-central Nebraska for the past five years.

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Omaha World-Herald photojournalist Alyssa Schukar headed west to document the annual event.

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The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission on Friday selected Deputy Director Jim Douglas to head the state agency.

Douglas, 61, will succeed Rex Amack, who will retire in April after 24 years as director.

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/local/jim-douglas-named-new-game-and-parks-director/article_c84ab591-3a6c-50cf-a8a3-ae9b5adc46e1.html#ixzz1pZuAySVp

Douglas was the 2011 recipient of the Nebraska Bird Partnership Chairman's Award for his outstanding leadership and commitment to bird conservation, including his instrumental role in founding the Nebraska Bird Partnership.

The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) met last week and approved more than $24.5 million in federal grants under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) for partnership-based conservation projects that will protect, restore and enhance more than 146,000 acres of wetlands and associated habitats across the United States and Mexico.

Among the approved funds were 2 standard NAWCA grants (capped at $1 million) associated with Ducks Unlimited wetlands conservation projects in Nebraska.