WELCOME TO
AUDUBON’S NEBRASKA CRANE FESTIVAL
March 19-22, 2015 – Kearney, Nebraska
General Information and Ticket Purchase
The registration booth is the place to get information about the Festival and things to do in and
around Kearney. Additional tickets for meals and available field trips can be purchased there.
The Wild Experience Room
Held in Room C in the Holiday Inn, the Wild Experience Room will be open Saturday,
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., featuring family nature activities and live animal demonstrations.
Silent Auction
Audubon Nebraska will be having a silent auction filled with an assortment of nature-related
and Nebraska items. Support this important statewide organization with the high bid (need not
to be present to win). Bidding will close Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. at the banquet.
FESTIVAL AGENDA
(All field trips will leave from and return to the west entrance of
the Holiday Inn by the registration booth.)
Thursday, March 19
6:45 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Pre-Festival Birding Trip — Transportation provided
4:00 p.m.
Prairie Grouse Viewing Trip — (returning 3:00 p.m. Friday)
5:30-9:00 p.m.
Evening Crane Viewing Blind Trip — Carpooling from the hotel
6:15-9:00 p.m.
Sunset on the Platte — Carpooling from the hotel
Friday, March 20
5:30-9:00 a.m.
Morning Crane Viewing Blind Trip — Carpooling from the hotel
6:45 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Harlan County Reservoir/Rainwater Basin Full-Day Birding Trip
— Transportation provided
7:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Rainwater Basin Half-Day Birding Trip with Scott Weidensaul
— Transportation provided
3:30-8:30 p.m.
Room B
Sandhill Crane Behavior and River Blind Trip
— Transportation provided to the blind, meet in Room B of the Holiday
Inn, Keanna Leonard, Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary
(Preregistration and prepayment required)
5:30-9:00 p.m.
Evening Crane Viewing Blind Trip — Carpooling from the hotel
5:45-9:00 p.m.
Outdoor Crane Viewing — Carpooling from the hotel
6:15-9:00 p.m.
Sunset on the Platte — Carpooling from the hotel
7:30 p.m.
“Migrations: Songs and Poems of the Land”
Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) — 2401 Central Avenue, Kearney
Open to the public, free admission
Saturday, March 21
5:30-9:00 a.m.
Morning Crane Viewing Blind Trip — Carpooling from the hotel
8:30-9:30 a.m.
Rooms D-E-F
BREAKFAST
Welcome by Bill Taddicken, Director, Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at
Rowe Sanctuary
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Wild Experience Room (Free, open to the public)
Room C
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
9:30-10:20
Room A
Room B
10:30-11:20
Room A
Room B
11:30-12:20
Room A
Room B
“Birding 101”
Kent Skaggs, Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary; and Kevin
Poague, Audubon Nebraska
“Rainwater Basin Ecology, Management, and Migratory Birds Use
on Mid-Latitude Stopover Sites”
Jeff Drahota, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
“A Story of Raptor Rehabilitation: the Highs and Lows”
Jeanine Lackey, Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery
“Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary and the Platte River – Four Decades
of Conservation, Education, and Celebration”
Doreen Pfost, Elroy, Wis.
“Prairie-Chicken Vocalization”
Cara Whalen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
“Water for Birds – A Platte River Recovery Implementation
Program Update”
Jason Farnsworth and Dr. Jerry Kenny (PRRIP)
12:30-2:00 p.m.
Rooms D-E-F
LUNCH (served 12:30-1:30)
“Climate’s Impact on Birds and What You Can Do About it! ”
Joseph Ryan, National Audubon Society (1-2:00)
2:00-5:00 p.m.
Executive Room
Photography Workshop
Adrian Olivera
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
2:10-3:00
Room A
Room B
3:10-4:00
Room A
Room B
“Avoiding the Big Freeze: Herpetofaunal Strategies for Winter Survival”
Dan Fogell, Southeast Community College, Lincoln, Neb.
“Waters of the U.S.”
Stan Dart, Emeritus Professor of Geography, Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney
“Manage, Measure, Repeat: Grassland Nesting Birds at Audubon’s
Rowe Sanctuary”
Andrew Pierson, Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary
“Climate Change: Implications for Nebraska”
Clint Rowe, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Ice Cream Social (festival registrants only)
Pre-Function Area
6:30-8:00 p.m.
Rooms D-E-F
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Rooms D-E-F
Social/Cash Bar
BANQUET (served 7-8:00)
“Owls: Soul of the Night”
Scott Weidensaul (8:00-9:00)
Sunday, March 22
5:30-9:00 a.m.
Morning Crane Viewing Blind Trip — Carpooling from the hotel
7:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Half-Day Birding Trip — Transportation provided
8:30-10:30 a.m.
Rooms D-E-F
BREAKFAST (served 8:30-9:30)
“Creativity in Conservation”
Marian Langan, Audubon Nebraska Executive Director (9:30-10:30)
Thank you for attending this year’s festival and sharing the
spectacle of the sandhill crane migration!
Please fill out and turn in your evaluation form at the
registration booth.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Conference presented by Audubon Nebraska. Additional support provided by the Kearney
Visitors Bureau and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Audubon Nebraska is grateful for the invaluable assistance given by
volunteers from the Alia Arram Children’s Museum, Big Bend Audubon Society, IBEX
Puppetry, Kearney Visitors Bureau, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission,
Nebraska Master Naturalists, and Rowe Sanctuary.
Without their able participation, this festival would not be possible.