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Seasonal guide follows. Return to Home Page for 3-minute slideshows on Destinations, Birds, Butterflies, Native Grasses, and Wildflowers.
Winter
January: Most lakes and ponds freeze over completely. Chickadees huddle together in tree cavities on the coldest nights, shivering continuously to stay alive. Anglers still get out, even when temperatures fall below zero.
February: Most of the thousand or more trumpeter swans who live in the Sandhills overwinter in free-flowing rivers and creeks which are kept ice-free by water welling up from the High Plains Aquifer. In late February, the swans begin to disperse to nearby nesting marshes.
March: About 20,000 greater sandhill cranes gather along a 10-mile stretch of the North Platte River between Lake McConaughy and Oshkosh to rest and refuel before continuing northward to nesting areas in the northern Rockies and northern plains. Visit the Birding Garden County website for information. Visit the Audubon Nebraska Rowe Sanctuary website for information about observing the aggregation of a half-million lesser Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River in central Nebraska.
February: Most of the thousand or more trumpeter swans who live in the Sandhills overwinter in free-flowing rivers and creeks which are kept ice-free by water welling up from the High Plains Aquifer. In late February, the swans begin to disperse to nearby nesting marshes.
March: About 20,000 greater sandhill cranes gather along a 10-mile stretch of the North Platte River between Lake McConaughy and Oshkosh to rest and refuel before continuing northward to nesting areas in the northern Rockies and northern plains. Visit the Birding Garden County website for information. Visit the Audubon Nebraska Rowe Sanctuary website for information about observing the aggregation of a half-million lesser Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River in central Nebraska.
Spring
April: Greater prairie-chickens and sharp-tailed grouse dance and display on hundreds of leks. Public photographic blinds are available at Valentine and Crescent Lake national wildlife refuges. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/valentine/. Outfitters in Mullen and Valentine offer private tours.
May: Hundreds of thousands of ducks, avocets, stilts, terns, white-faced Ibis, and other water birds gather on shallow lakes and ponds. Most will eventually head north, but many stay to nest. Crescent Lake and Valentine national wildlife refuges offer unlimited viewing opportunities.
June: At least 150 bird species nest within the region, including trumpeter swans, bald eagles, sharp-tailed grouse, piping plovers, American bitterns, burrowing owls, and bobolinks. Ornate box turtles and snapping turtles waddle across roadways seeking fresh drinking water and sandy nest sites. Federally threatened blowout penstemon blooms in sand blowouts north of Crescent Lake.
May: Hundreds of thousands of ducks, avocets, stilts, terns, white-faced Ibis, and other water birds gather on shallow lakes and ponds. Most will eventually head north, but many stay to nest. Crescent Lake and Valentine national wildlife refuges offer unlimited viewing opportunities.
June: At least 150 bird species nest within the region, including trumpeter swans, bald eagles, sharp-tailed grouse, piping plovers, American bitterns, burrowing owls, and bobolinks. Ornate box turtles and snapping turtles waddle across roadways seeking fresh drinking water and sandy nest sites. Federally threatened blowout penstemon blooms in sand blowouts north of Crescent Lake.
Summer
July: Red admiral and other butterflies gather in wetlands to sip nectar and mate. Dragonflies and damselflies glisten like jewels in the morning dew.
August: Migrating shorebirds return from the north. Monsoonal thunderstorms often keep the prairie green and lush. Brilliant yellow sunflowers and four-point evening-primroses carpet the hillsides, while giant evening-stars unfurl their creamy white petals just before sunset .
September: Tallgrasses bloom and set seed. Frosty mornings and calm afternoons are perfect for swishing through the curing grasses or sunbathing on a grassy dune. However, temperatures may range from the 20s to the 90s during a single day.
August: Migrating shorebirds return from the north. Monsoonal thunderstorms often keep the prairie green and lush. Brilliant yellow sunflowers and four-point evening-primroses carpet the hillsides, while giant evening-stars unfurl their creamy white petals just before sunset .
September: Tallgrasses bloom and set seed. Frosty mornings and calm afternoons are perfect for swishing through the curing grasses or sunbathing on a grassy dune. However, temperatures may range from the 20s to the 90s during a single day.
Fall
October: Prairie grasses turn amber and gold. Thousands of Sandhill cranes pass through on their way south toward wintering areas in New Mexico and Texas. Barn, great horned, long-eared, and eastern screech-owls court in the moonlight.
November: Brilliant white ferruginous hawks swoop over the hills, hunting prairie dogs and other rodents. Migrating tundra swans and short-eared owls pass through. White-tailed deer spar and mate.
December: In this quietest time of the year, you can hear the groaning voice of the lake ice as it shifts and settles. Frogs freeze nearly solid, and snapping turtles hibernating under the ice subsist on oxygen absorbed through the pores of their skin.
November: Brilliant white ferruginous hawks swoop over the hills, hunting prairie dogs and other rodents. Migrating tundra swans and short-eared owls pass through. White-tailed deer spar and mate.
December: In this quietest time of the year, you can hear the groaning voice of the lake ice as it shifts and settles. Frogs freeze nearly solid, and snapping turtles hibernating under the ice subsist on oxygen absorbed through the pores of their skin.
"Earth is your Grandmother and your Mother and She is sacred. Every step that is taken upon Her should be as a prayer."
- Black Elk
- Black Elk
For Peter, with eternal love and gratitude.