Back To Valentine NE - 30 Mar 2010: Our crane-watching mission is fulfilled, and we're heading home. Our legs are a bit weary from long hours standing in the blinds, and our necks are sore from craning to see cranes through the binoculars and camera. So we'll take those thing into account for a future visit. Note to ourselves: sole cushion inserts and a spotting scope are in order.
Leesha is eager to get on the road; she's sniffed out all there is to know about our Best Western motel room in Kearney, about the "sniffin' bush" in the planter in front of the housekeeping door, and about the immediate area outside the front door. So we say goodbye to our friends from the Bay Area in CA and our family from Minneapolis and off we go at the crack of 10:00 am, headed back to Valentine, NE.
Along the Wood River - Just north of Kearney we turned onto NE HWY 40 and followed the Wood River, which often has neither water nor wood, through huge corn fields and small towns.
Western Nebraska Agriculture and Sandy Hills
Mohawk of Trees Where the Snow Drifts Linger
One of a Thousand Odiferous Feedlots
Pressey State Wildlife Management Area -- At Octono, we turned on NE HWY 21 for a short visit at the Pressey State Wildlife Management Area. This area consists of 1700 acres of land, including hills and steep canyons mostly covered by grasslands of the South Loup Valley. Diverse habitat types include riparian woodland, wetlands, native prairie, and agricultural areas. Land management activities such as grazing rotations and prescribed fire are used to control the spread of invasive plants and to maintain wildlife habitat. There are Sharp-tailed Grouse on the area, as well as a rookery of Great Blue Herons.
Leesha enjoyed a great prowl through the grass and juniper not far from the banks of the South Loup River. After I finish writing this post, I have to go cleanse all the pine pitch in her fur! A big, cat-friendly, goofy tail-thumping chocolate lab greeted her in the Management Area parking lot -- he took one sniff and ran off to his owner who was sharing dog biscuits that the dog took from her mouth. Kinky. Furry's tail puffed up something fierce even though we were standing right there to protect her if necessary, and she scrambled back into the car! But she was quickly over it and ate some crunchies.
On we went along the River Road, crossing and recrossing the South Loup. As we approached Callaway, we were also approaching the 100th meridian of longitude -- known as "the dry line." Areas to the east of this line generally get more moisture more consistently than areas to the west. So the land and vegetation change -- to the west, drier hills, more native grasses -- more grazing and less farming. Feels more like home to us!
At Callaway, the market was only open on Thursday, but they had a place where you could clip advance orders at the bottom of the sign.
From Callaway we headed on the Loup River Road to Arnold, home of the South Loup Blues and Barbeque and the Sandhills Open Road Challenge. The 2010 Blues festival features the Rain Dogs from Kansas City. The Road Challenge is in August -- you must visit their website to believe this much can happen in such a small town!
After we left hoppin' Arnold, NE HWY 92 took us west to US HWY 83. Hence the title today -- by the time we reached US HWY 83, the temperature had climbed to 83 degrees. US HWY 83 runs from north of Minot, ND, all the way to Brownsville, TX. Therein lies a future trip, perhaps!
We took a little side trip on the old highway to a lookout point over the Dismal River. In an earlier post, we talked about the Dismal being the "river of acrimonious divorce" for couples canoeists. It looked placid enough from the overlook, until we checked it out closer, at least.
We had visions of the lead paddler turning around for a second and saying, "Hey, how about one of those sandwiches from the cooler?" followed by a shriek from the back seat and then a sudden hopeless entanglement in this barb-wire-and-creeping-vine combo -- followed soon after by a divorce filing.
The Dismal River Looping Under US HWY 83
One Reason They Call the Dismal River the "Divorce River" for Canoeists
Been There -- This is close to what happened to my late husband Mark and me on the Niobrara River years ago, but fortunately, our marriage survived intact. Laughter is truly the best, and often the only, response under these conditions! Although the poison ivy makes that difficult.
Valentine National Wildlife Refuge and Trumpeter Swans: The Valentine National Wildlife Refuge is twenty-five miles south of Valentine on both sides of US HWY 83. Just south of the Refuge, Brian spotted something white in a very small, secluded pond. Trumpeter swans!
The swans were a long way off -- just out of clear telephoto reach, but we were thrilled to see them through the binoculars.
We started our NWR explorations on the east side at Pony Lake. The ducks were easily startled, flying off as soon as we stopped the car. The result of hunting that is allowed on the Refuge, I think. Here we spotted a Great Blue Heron, the ubiquitous Canadian Geese, and red-winged blackbirds. Western Chorus frogs sang up a storm -- the spring serenade.
Little Hay Road Wildlife Drive : From there, we headed to Little Hay Road wildlife drive. This good gravel road took us west from US 83 to Refuge Headquarters eight miles away. The Refuge consists of marshes, sloughs, small shallow lakes, and sand hills. Many of the four-wheel drive roads were still way too muddy for successful exploration.
Here's what else we saw in and around the Refuge: wood ducks, mallards, northern shoveler ducks, northern pintail ducks, ring-necked ducks, bufflehead ducks (our favorite!), ring-necked pheasants, red-winged blackbirds, wild turkeys, American white pelicans, a golden eagle, a merlin (hawk), killdeer, American crows, robins, western meadowlarks, and white tail deer.
 in the Distance at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge&)
Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) in the Distance at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge
Pony Lake on the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge
 Stalks Pony Lake Artistic Rende&)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Stalks Pony Lake Artistic Rende
Froggy Bog Near Pony Lake
 Nesting on Abandon Muskrat House&)
Canada goose (Branta canadensis) Nesting on Abandon Muskrat House
 in the Mud&)
Mallard Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) in the Mud
 Pair&)
Northern Shoveler Duck (Anas clypeata) Pair
&)
Northern Pintail Duck (Anas acuta)
&)
Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
 and Fleeing Ducks&)
American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) and Fleeing Ducks
&)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
&)
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
We Meet an Artist -- We met an amazing artist, Patricia Schemmer. She was photographing spawning Northern pike (a very fierce, eel-like fish) at the Refuge. She's a multi-talented artist who teaches and is a potter. Her studio website, Schemmer Studios, contains a selection of her work. She also highly recommended the Plains Trading Company Bookstore.
An amazing day for wildlife watchers!
Louise, with photos by Brian. Text and photos copyright Goin Mobyle LLC 2010