Nature Center Offers Weekend Wild Walks for Summer

Press release June 7, 2011

The Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center (NNVC) is pleased to offer summertime "Weekend Wild Walks" for families.

Every Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. beginning June 18 through August 20 visitors are invited to take in nature along our trails, within our woods and near or even in the Platte River! Each walk will have a theme: birds, butterflies, wildflowers, amphibians, the Platte River are all themes we will explore.

Butterfly Homes and Gardens

After Crane Meadows Nature Center unveiled its new facility around 2003, staff and volunteers -- including the Family Campers and RVers (FCRV) -- planted a butterfly garden. The garden was designed to provide food sources (i.e. leaves and stems) desirable to butterfly larvae, while adults would probe flowers for nectar.

Sadly, between that time and the nature center's reopening and renaming in 2009, the garden had gone largely to weeds, with only a scattering of survivors remaining from the previous planting. Clearly, the garden was in a need of a renovation.

Mountain Lions in Nebraska

With the recent Mountain lion dispatch in Kearney, I thought it might be good to post the Game and Parks informational video on the topic.

Summer Day Camp Announced at the Center

This summer, the Nebraska Nature and Visitor Center partners with Nebraska 4-H Camps and the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) to bring an exciting and educational day camp for children ages 8-11. The four day camp runs from July 11 through July 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Click here to register for this camp.

The camps include a blend of nature activities with traditional 4-H offerings such as archery and team-building exercises. Add a dash of art and science and stir. The fee is just $115 per child!

Press Release from the Nebraska Environmental Trust

Nebraska Nature Visitor Center Receives Grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust

Lincoln, NE – April 7, 2011 – Nebraska Nature Visitor Center announced today that it will receive $60,000 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for “Educating a New Generation of Environmentally Committed Nebraskans”. The Trust Board announced funding for the project at its meeting on April 7, 2011 in Lincoln. This is the final year of award. The project is one of the 94 projects receiving $15,412,788 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust this year.

Report: Chicken & Stars 2011

Our second annual Chicken & Stars tour is a wrap!

On Friday, ten participants gathered at Sandhills Motel in Mullen, then headed off to Cattleman's Restaurant in Seneca for a great meal. Dr. Paul Johnsgard gave a wonderful presentation on the greater prairie chicken.

Nebraska Prairie Chicken Weekend Report April, 2011

Click’n with Chickens wrap-up report:

We returned from our Click’n with Chickens weekend Sunday afternoon. It was a great outting and was enjoyed by all. The idea was to provide a great prairie chicken viewing opportunity while getting a photo workshop at the same time. I know that I learned a lot of great new information that will help me to be a better photographer. The event was held at the Switzer Ranch located eleven miles north of Burwell, Nebraska.

Our journey started on Saturday morning when Dan Glomski and I decided to check out the prairie chicken viewing at the Taylor Ranch, located northwest of Grand Island. We were joined by Blake Hatfield at about 7:30 a.m. on One R Road where we found a lot of booming activity. It was foggy, limiting visibility, but the booming sounds were very easily recognized. We could make out the ghost-like sillouettes of the birds as the male birds strutted around and did their best to impress and intimidate their fellow courters on the lek (booming ground).

While viewing the birds we stayed on the county road and it was important to keep and eye and ear pen for cars, as they do pass through at high speed. If you go, be sure to park safely off to the side so oncoming traffic can see you.


We ran into several other bird watchers that morning. Some were in the Nature Center the day before and the other car was none other than CPNRD biologist Mark Czaplewski, who was out with his family watching the birds. Mark said he has been watching birds at this location for more then twenty years.

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