April 2025 • Nebraskaland 33
The Weber family of Omaha, Corey, Andi, Silas and Eli, look for birds in the woodlands at Fontenelle Forest in Bellevue.
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
One day, while sitting on the porch, Eli, who was 5 or 6
years old at the time, exclaimed, "Mom! Chimney swifts."
When Andi asked what he was talking about, he told her
there were chimney swifts fl ying around the house, and he
knew that because of the noise they were making. "I thought,
'That's cute.' And he went inside and got the book and came
out and played it and, sure enough, he was spot on," she said.
"That's when we were like, 'He's really into this. Let's get
everybody some binoculars.'"
The family's interest in birds grew with outings to
Fontenelle and other sites around Omaha. More than once,
while getting ready for a hike, Silas would wander off to talk
to other birders. "Silas was great," Corey said. "He'd break the
ice with anybody else out on the trail."
Silas's outgoing personality led to a chance meeting
along a trail at Fontenelle in 2018 with Mark and Ed Brogie,
