Notes on Bird Sightings in Nebraska

Ross\u27 Goose. A single bird came to Heartwell Lake (in the Hastings area) in mid-December 1995 and has been here up to now (4 April 1996). It is not injured and flies well, but it has chosen to stay because Hastings uses a device to keep the water open. I threw food out especially to the little goose because the larger domestic ducks chase it away. It is so used to me by now that it will come to within 12-15 feet of me. I walk to the lake nearly every day, and the wild Mallards, Lesser Scaups, Ringnecked Ducks, Canvasbacks, and Redheads also come for food. Ring-necked Duck. On 16 December 1995 at about 2:30 P.M., a duck on a small pond on the east side of the Pfizer Co., 601 W Cornhusker Hwy, Lincoln, was observed from a vehicle with Nikon 8 X 40 Egret binoculars at a distance of approximately 25-30 yards. It had a black head, a breast with gray sides, and a black back. The most distinctive feature was its bill, with a white ring separating the base from the face. the bill also had another white ring near the tip. Merlin, European Goldfinch, and other species. A Merlin sits in the lilac bush in the yard and looks all around, but I have not seen it catch a bird (written 19 February 1996). On 13 and 17 February, a European Goldfinch was eating niger seed from a tube f 7eder along with American Goldfinches and House Finches. Two firsts this winter were a Red-breasted Nuthatch since November and a Brown Creeper only occasionally