Perched at the very center of the continent, Nebraska is just one of those thousands of great places strangely neglected by birders.

Everyone knows the spectacular March migrations of cranes and waterfowl, but there’s much more to this state than just the central Platte River: dense deciduous forest in the east, ponderosa pines in the west, abundant marshes in the Sandhills.

This variety of habitats is matched by an astounding variety of birds. Indigo and Lazuli Buntings, Black-headed and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Eastern and Western Meadowlarks, and Swainson’s and Broad-winged Hawks all breed in the state, sometimes on adjacent territories, and a vast range of migrants pour in from the east and the west, the north and the south.

My new two-week springtime tour covers many of the finest birding areas in the state, from the Pileated Woodpeckers and Prothonotary Warblers of the southeastern forests to the Long-billed Curlews and Sharp-tailed Grouse of the grassy Sandhills and the Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Bluebirds of the Pine Ridge.

Join me in May 2014! It promises to be a great time.