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River sandbars on August 5, 1804. The Warren Expedition also recorded piping <br />plovers and least terns, mostly by Ferdinand Hayden. The piping plover (which <br />Hayden said occurred only on the Platte River) was seen with the least tern on the <br />Loup Fork near the Platte. Hayden found piping plovers on the Loup Fork of the <br />Platte in 1857 and described them as very abundant on the sandbars in the Platte; <br />seen nowhere else in the West (Hayden 1863a). Hayden described least terns as not <br />abundant, though widely distributed along the Western streams; collected from the <br />Platte (Hayden 1863a). Naturalist George Suckley reported on birds species during <br />his travels in the northwest Kansas and Nebraska areas of the Platte River Road in <br />1859. He noted a least tern on the North Platte River. Least terns were reported in <br />1823 flying about at the mouth of the Platte River (Wilhelm 1928). Least terns were <br />reported on the Platte River on July 10, 1857 (Warren in Baird et al. 1860). One <br />least tern was reported on July 15, 1859 on the North Platte River east of Ash <br />Hollow ( Suckley in Beidleman 1956). <br />Other historical accounts have identified the least tern as a common migrant, <br />especially in northeastern Nebraska, with identified sites in 1866, 1893, 1897, and <br />1903.19 The piping plover was identified as a fairly common migrant along the <br />Platte River and common in Nebraska.20 In the 1920's, least terns were found <br />nesting in a colony on sandbars in the South Platte River near North Platte.21 Terns <br />were also present in 1930, but a terrific storm killed some adults and reduced the <br />colony to about half its former size. The next observation was in 1941 when birds <br />were found nesting on sandbars in the river near Columbus.22 Two miles east of <br />Brule, 6 pair of terns were found nesting on a sandbar in the South Platte River in <br />1948.23 In 1949, nesting was recorded again on the South Platte River in the North <br />' Platte area.24 The longest field study of least terns on the Platte River was carried <br />out by Dr. Ray S. Wycoff, who studied activity south of Lexington for 17 years.25 <br />The nesting area was a low sandbar not over 75 feet wide and about 200 feet long. <br />Many observations were made throughout the years. Some of the higher populations <br />recorded were: 1949 (35); 1950 (20); 1953 (24); and 1954 (25). Vegetative <br />19 Bruner, Lawrence, Robert H. Wolcott, and Myron H. Swenk. About 1903. A <br />Preliminary Review of the Birds of Nebraska with synopses. Omaha, Klopp and Bartlett. <br />116 pp. <br />Bruner, Lawrence. 1896 Some Notes on Nebraska Birds, a list of the species and <br />subspecies found in the state, with notes on their distribution, food - habits, etc. Corrected <br />to April 22, 1896 Lincoln, Neb., State Journal Company. <br />20 Bruner et al. 1903 <br />Bruner, Lawrence. 1896 <br />21 Tout, W. 1947. Lincoln County Birds. Privately published. 191 pp. <br />22 Shoemaker, F. H. 1941. Notes on nesting least tern and piping plover. Unpublished <br />field notes. Ip. <br />23 Benckeseer, H. R 1948. Notes from Brule. NBR. 16:94 -96 <br />24 Audubon Field Notes 3:244. <br />25 Wycoff, R. S. 1960. The least tern. NBR 38:39 -42. <br />8 <br />