Nebraska: Pine Ridge, Wildcats, and Sandhills - June 2026
Dates: June 11–21, 2026
Leaders: Rick Wright & Raymond Vanbuskirk
E-bird
Total Species: 142 birds
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Overall Summary
Little known and infrequently birded, the eleven counties and 14,000 square miles of the Nebraska Panhandle are a revelation to first-time visitors and a constant source of delight even to those of us who have already had glimpses of this ornithologically rich region. Our inaugural tour took us from the buttes and pine woodlands of the northern Panhandle to the high plains of the south, and from massive Scotts Bluff to the grassy dunes of the remote western Sandhills. A late-spring wildfire, sparked by lightning just before our arrival, demanded some accommodation, but an area so vast and varied as this offers an enormous range of alternative localities, and we succeeded in encountering virtually all of our feathered desiderata, including Mountain Plover, Clark’s Grebe, Lewis’s and Red-headed Woodpeckers, Eastern and Mountain Bluebirds, and Thick-billed and Chestnut-collared Longspurs. The area’s mammals performed just as well, with a Swift Fox and a Bobcat joining the Pronghorn, Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, and Mule and White-tailed Deer on our tally.
All of this excitement played out against a tremendous variety of landscapes. The Pine Ridge, in the extreme northwestern corner, was the site of some of our most stirring sunsets, made all the more evocative by the cries of evening Poorwills. The bluffs along the North Platte River, most imposing among them the famous (and officially apostrophe-free) Scotts Bluff, impressed us much as they must have the native inhabitants. Our evening at nearby Chimney Rock took us back almost two centuries to the days of the earliest European immigrants, whose diaries mention that landmark more than any other on the westward trails. Weirder still were the White River Badlands, and our stop at Toadstool Geologic Park, which we shared with Say’s Phoebes and Rock Wrens—the true genii of that bizarre locus—will provide some of the most lasting memories of our trip.
Most moving of all, though, were the Nebraska Sandhills. This, the largest stretch of dunes in the hemisphere, is also one of the most isolated areas in the Lower 48, and we felt like privileged guests in the realm of the Long-billed Curlews, Burrowing Owls, and Swainson’s Hawks, which went about their earnest business as they have since long before the first humans ventured out onto the sands. Our own first venture onto (note well, not into) the shifting sands was stymied by a deep drift, and we determined that it was the better part of birding valor to turn around—but we succeeded the next day in approaching Crescent Lake from the more forgiving south.
Our final afternoon was spent in the hay meadows north of the city of North Platte, where Bobolinks and Dickcissels sang and buzzed over the tall grass, and Wilson’s Snipe and a Virginia Rail family haunted the wet ditches. It was an exciting end to an exciting tour, and Raymond and I are grateful to all of you for making this such a memorable introduction to so wonderful a part of our world.
Day-by-Day Summary
June 11 - Arrivals and dinner in Chadron
June 12 - Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Harrison, grasslands north of Pine Ridge
June 13 - Chadron Creek Ranch Wildlife Management Area, Chadron State Park, Toadstool Geologic Park
June 14 - West Ash Creek
June 15 - Sowbelly Canyon, Harrison, Henry Road, Scottsbluff
June 16 - Kimball County shortgrass, Kimball County prairie dog towns, Wildcat Hills, Chimney Rock
June 17 - Scotts Bluff National Monument, Ogallala
June 18 - Lake McConaughy, Lake Ogallala, Boot Hill
June 19 - Hyannis, Lakeside, Antioch
June 20 - Crescent Lake, North Platte hayfields
June 21 - Departures
Wildlife Seen:
MAMMALS:
White-tailed jackrabbit
Eastern cottontail
North American porcupine†
Fox squirrel
Thirteen-lined ground squirrel
Black-tailed prairie dog
Coyote
Swift fox
Raccoon
Bobcat
Striped skunk
Pronghorn
Mule deer
White-tailed deer
REPTILES:
Common snapping turtle
Bullsnake
Lesser eared lizard
BUTTERFLIES:
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Common Checkered White
Cabbage White
Red Admiral
Orange Sulphur
Juniper Hairstreak
Monarch
Common Sootywing