Birding for Life

Driving through Nebraska was monotonous compared to the more western states.  The view from the highways was nothing but agricultural fields for mile after mile.  I did not even see birds from the road as I had in other areas.  However, beautiful rest areas along the Platte River were like little oases in this hot and dry land.  They had lovely trees, birds, and each one came with a history lesson about the Oregon Trail.  Here are a couple of photos taken at O’Fallon’s Bluff rest area on Interstate 80.

Crossing The Overland Trail

The Great Platte River Road

Late in the afternoon, I also made an unplanned stop at the Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary in Buffalo.  The center is most well-known for Sandhill Crane viewing on the Platte River in the spring.  It is a lovely spot along the river and even on a hot June afternoon, I easily found birds.

It was fun to see Dickcissels where they are common. These guys seem to sing all day!

An Eastern Kingbird enjoys its perch over the Platte River.

On Wednesday, it was on to the next state – Missouri. Again, it took most of a day to drive through one state. But, I did start the morning at Loess Bluffs NWR, which I suspect may be one of the best wildlife refuges in the country.  I was pleased with the 32 species that I found in two hours without getting out of the car.  But when I checked eBird, I saw that the previous day two guys had recorded 97 species!  Loess Bluffs is definitely on my list of places to go again.

An adult Bald Eagle at Loess Bluffs NWR in Missouri.

My third and last big travel day towards home was mostly through Tennessee.  It was one of the few days that I did not do any birding at all.  I needed to be in Tellico Plains on Thursday night to help my friend, David, with his adventure – The Cherohala Challenge, a road bike event.  David successfully completed the 62-mile ride last year.  This year he would be participating in the longest ride, 115 miles up the Cherohala Skyway, through The Tail of The Dragon, an 11-mile stretch of US-129 with 318 curves, and then back to Tellico Plains.

David stopping to pose with the dragon during the ride on Saturday.

On Friday, we drove the route in the car and I marked every stop in my GPS.  We had a very nice time and finished with a few hours to spare, so we went in search of Tennessee birds for my list obsession.  I randomly choose an eBird hotspot not too far away.  At first it appeared to be a dead-end road with a path to the river at the end.  We walked the path and were lucky to see both White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos as well as an Orchard Oriole.  Those birds helped me reach one of my goals – over 50 species for Tennessee.  The path led to Chota Memorial,  a full scale representation of the townhouse, or council house, originally erected by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, a completely unexpected and interesting surprise.

Chota Memorial lies along Little Tellico River.

We were up at 5:00 AM on Saturday, the day of the big ride.  I dropped David off at the starting line and headed to the first rest stop to wait.  The volunteer was just setting up and gratefully accepted my offer to help.  I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut up fruit, and put out other goodies for the riders for an hour.  Then, it was off to the next stop to wait for David.  For over 10 hours, he rode and I did what I could to help my friend and others with food, water, and encouragement.

Coming into a rest stop on the Cherohala Skyway.

At the toughest part of the ride – 8 miles at a very steep grade to the highest point – I even gave one guy a ride because he was cramping too badly to ride that stretch of road.  Fortunately, David’s hard work training paid off and he got to the top under his own power.  After another 31 miles, he reached the finish line – tired, but extremely happy.

David was happy and smiling after riding 115 miles!

Sunday was a recovery day, so we did a little birding in the NC mountains. We were able to add a few birds to my county lists and see more beautiful scenery. After all my traveling this past month, I still love North Carolina.  I drove home yesterday, June 11, and that’s the end of the trail. Stay tuned for a few numbers (miles driven, species observed, etc.) and reflections on the adventure in a few days.