A Fairly Simple Hobby for citizens to keep track of the robins and cardinals that you see around but has grown to so much Ed Brogie has been birdwatching more.” since he was 10 years old along with Recording the birds spotted on his brother Mark. eBird also provides documentation “My dad would point out birds in for state record keeping. Ed’s our back yard,” Brogie said when he brother keeps a written journal was growing up near Hoskins. for all of his sightings and to date, As the brothers grew up and Mark has sighted more birds in the attended Wayne State College in state than anyone else, numbering sciences, they began donating 420 plus. Ed’s record of sightings of time banding birds at the Banding bird species is 388. Station near Wisner operated by “You can’t just stay in your John and Willetta Leushen as part backyard,” Ed said. “First, you need of the US Fish & Wildlife program. to find the physical environment, That’s really where the brothers got the plants that live there and a their feet wet. water source, and then the birds “Willetta was a bird lady in will come in certain seasons.” northeast Nebraska and an official Ed calls it a strategy game. Some bird bander for the US Fish & Ed - Left, Mark - Right species are only found in certain Wildlife Service,” Ed said. areas in certain trees or plants or watering areas. Research is part of the Even though the Leushens are no longer living, a bird watching game but sometimes he said one just gets lucky. group near Norfolk still carries their name as a tribute to their “I travel all year round to see birds and most of my travels are in the landmark efforts to keep track of birds in Nebraska. Mrs. Leushen and state of Nebraska,” Ed said. “Although I have been known to travel all her husband were leaders in birdwatching and her contributions can across the US to see bird species – you know, plan a vacation and spot be found in the Nebraska Bird Review magazine. a bird.” Ed is a retired biology and chemistry teacher living near Wayne and For the Brogies, bird watching is a year-round hobby and the reason birdwatching keeps him busy year-round. He describes bird watching is fairly simple. Northeast Nebraska has certain species that southeast as a citizen science, a recreational activity for observing wildlife by Nebraska doesn’t have and vice-versa. Ed made a special trip to the everyday people. The activity is voluntary but many sightings are used Kansas border to find a scissortail flycatcher and other trips took him by the US Fish & Wildlife to track migration and bird numbers. It is to Scottsbluff in the Panhandle and Sioux County by Harrison to find also believed to be the largest citizen science group today. other species. “It’s nothing for me to see a bird species someone has spotted near Birders have to travel where there are trees the certain bird species Valentine and hit the road to see if I can see it, too,” Ed said. “Usually like to roost and live. Ed recalls a certain type of woodpeckers who the birds are in an area for a period of time and if my brother is too favor trees in areas after forest fires, looking for insects living in the busy to go with me, I get my wife to go.” Ed’s wife is a retired science damaged wood. teacher also. Ed guesses he spends a minimum of 10 hours a week birding. More Birdwatching is a fairly simple hobby. All it takes is a pair of eyes, a birdwatching is done in the summer but he notes this time of the year good bird reference book or smart phone app and a set of binoculars there are different species migrating through like certain snowbird although Ed also recommends a good spotting scope so birds from species which are rarely seen in Nebraska and then snowy owls show farther away can be spotted. It is also a good idea to have a journal up in December. to record a day’s sightings for documentation and a good camera to Ed’s special bird sighting memories include his brother Mark. They photograph a sighting is helpful, too. In today’s world, a couple good visited California and together spotted California Condors and closer computer programs downloaded to a smart phone like an eLibrary to to home west of Chadron, the duo sighted a three-toed woodpecker. identify birds can replace books and be used to record a day’s sighting. He added Knox County is a great place to spot birds with all the But the most revolutionary tool in bird watching is a website called diverse habitats of trees, river beds and creeks. eBird, a website and free app created by Cornell University. Since its But documenting bird sightings in the eBird app alerts other bird evolution birdwatchers have access to much more information Ed said watchers so they can enjoy a sighting also. Another good place to share because it contains birder information from all over the world. If a bird sightings is Facebook because Ed said Bird Nerds love to share birder has registered with eBird, he can spot a bird, find the photo in their bird photos in that public forum. the app, go to the satellite icon, document your time and position and But all in all, Ed considers his brother Mark a better authority on it is recorded world-wide. birding. Mark is also a retired science teacher living in Creighton but “The great thing about eBird is you can download the app to your also hold degrees in ornithology and forestry. phone and when you have a sighting, you can record it so other “Ed started working with Willetta Leushen and I just followed in his birdwatchers belonging to the website can note the bird you have footsteps,” Mark said. “We went from catching and banding birds to, spotted and they can travel to see it to,” Ed said. “Early on it was meant vBy Linda Wuebben HERVOICEvJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019v11