With business trips to southern CA and the San Francisco Bay area on
consecutive weeks, I decided to stay out in CA and take the weekend “off”
instead of flying back and forth both weeks.
Not only would it save my company some money, but it would also give me
some birding time in the region. For a
few years I’ve been thinking of adding some vacation time to a southern CA trip
to head to the Las Vegas area to work on my NV list, and this would be the
ideal opportunity. My NV list was at 250
which is 8 over the ABA reportable limit.
But that put me 7 short of my somewhat arbitrary goal of 15 over that
threshold – “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.
So I set up an eBird Needs Alert for NV and there were indeed lots of
possibilities for my NV list in and around Las Vegas. The trip was on!
And then to supplement my eBird research I reached out to NV birder Rob
Lowry. Rob and I have birded together in
the Carson/Reno Valley area in the past where he is based. But more importantly for this trip, Rob
spends a lot of time birding throughout NV, and he gave me some great tips on
several of my targets. Plus he put me on
to a couple possibilities that weren’t even on my radar screen. So with Rob’s help I came up with a list of
24 recently reported target species that would be new for my NV statelist. Of course some were long shots, so I hoped
for maybe 10 or 11 new birds on this trip – Reportable Plus 15 was definitely
in my sights.
And then while fine-tuning my NV plans I remembered seeing reports of
Nazca Booby’s in southern CA. With a bit
of research on the eBird Rarities Alerts I found daily sightings of up to 4
Booby’s in San Diego Bay. And then I
noticed multiple sightings of Streak-backed Oriole in Tucson. Both would be life birds for me. Could I make a giant loop south to San Diego,
east to Tucson, north to Las Vegas, and then back toward Los Angeles before flying
north to SFO? I wouldn’t be proud of my
carbon footprint, but it was all possible if I made it a 3-day weekend, though
I wouldn’t have much time in NV. But as
the trip neared the Oriole was less cooperative, and not even reported in the
week leading up to my trip, so I decided to pass on the Oriole and just focus
on the Booby and NV. As a result my plan
was to get an early start out of LA and be in San Diego at dawn to try for the
Booby, then make the trek northeast to NV for a long weekend of birding there.
Day 1
The first leg of the trip couldn’t have gone any better – I had a pair
of Nazca Booby’s in San Diego Bay before the sun had even risen on the first
day. (see my previous blog post for a
summary of the Booby sighting) I then
quickly checked all the websites one last time in hopes that the Oriole had returned
– but there were no updates on NARBA, eBird, or the AZ listserve. So although I was disappointed to pass on
another possible life bird, it was indeed on to NV.
I finally arrived in southern NV in mid-afternoon and my first stop was
the tiny town of Searchlight to try for Curve-billed Thrasher (thanks to Rob
for the tip on this one!). According to
eBird, this species had been seen in and around the town since 2014 but in very
low numbers, and in multiple places around town. There were only a few recent reports, but
most mentioned singing birds, though with no one spot apparently being more
reliable than others. So I thought the
best initial approach might be to slowly drive through town listening for
singing Thrashers.
I had driven no more than a few blocks through Searchlight when I thought
I heard a Thrasher singing in the distance.
I stopped the car and listened intently (luckily there was no traffic) –
it indeed sounded like the paired phrases of a Thrasher. After a short walk I spotted a Curve-billed
Thrasher fly up to perch on a TV antenna, soon to be joined by a second
bird. That was easier than I expected,
and new NV statebird #1. And since the
bird was so cooperative, I got this record shot holding my phone up to my
binocs.
Next I was off to the Davis Dam area on Lake Mead where numerous eBird
posts included 4 possible statebirds – Barrow’s Goldeneye, Greater Scaup,
Hooded Merganser, and Herring Gull – along with one post of a pair of Harlequin
Ducks. Though several mentioned possible
complications regarding which state the birds were actually in - different
portions of the Colorado River are in NV or AZ depending on exactly where you
were along the river. For instance,
although more than half of the river in the stretch farther downstream of the
dam was in NV, the area right below the spillway was mostly in AZ. And many of the photos of the Goldeneyes and
Scaup posted on eBird showed the birds in this spillway area were likely in AZ.
As soon as I arrived in the little park below the dam I could see many waterfowl
and cormorants loafing below the dam.
But with a quick review of the location of the NV/AZ stateline, I
realized that virtually all were in AZ.
I got out the scope and with some scanning I soon found all 3 of my
waterfowl targets – 6 Barrow’s, 5 Hooded Mergs, and at least 8 Greater
Scaup. But all were in AZ waters, and
none were new AZ statebirds. Eventually
I spotted at least 1 Greater Scaup far enough downstream to be in NV (statebird
#2), but the Mergs were far into AZ. Two
pairs of the Barrow’s were tantalizingly close to the NV stateline – but each
time the currents moved them farther from the dam (and closer to NV), they
would swim back into AZ. Ugh… So close but so far away… I then walked a bit downstream and found a
small flock of gulls on a sandbar, but all were Ring-bills with no target
Herring among them. This was turning out
to be a bit frustrating.
With a bit of time on my hands, I decided to head above the dam on the
AZ side where Surf Scoters had been reported, which would be a new AZ
statebird. After a 15-minute drive I got
to an overlook above the dam (less than a mile from my first location “as the
scoter flies”), and quickly spotted 3 Surf Scoters in the distance. I got this passable phonescoped photo of AZ
statebird #296.
It was now getting late and I headed to my Las Vegas hotel happy that I
had seen most of targets on both sides of the river. And with the Booby in CA, that gave me
statebirds in 3 states on the same day – only the 4th time I’ve been able to do
that.
Day 2
I started at dawn in cool crisp weather at the Clark County Wetlands on the
east side of Las Vegas. This is a very
nice park with manmade wetlands apparently managing treated wastewaters
generated in the city. Recently reported
targets here included Peregrine, Ferruginous Hawk, Golden-crowned and
White-throated Sparrows, and Least Bittern, though none were reliable. My early morning walk through the trails
yielded several raptors (Harriers, Cooper’s Hawks, Red-tails, and a Kestrel),
but no Peregrine or Ferruginous. And the
only sparrows I could scare up were a few White-crowns and Songs. So I decided to spend some time playing tape
for the Least Bittern in several locations with nice cattail habitat, but again
with no luck. I was striking out.
I then diverted my attention to the southeast where a large flock of
gulls were milling about. Lighting was
awful, but they all seemed to be Ring-bills.
Then I started hearing some Canada Geese honking from that general area,
and then spotted a flock of about 20 Canadas flying right toward me. With nothing else to look at I decided to
check the flock closely on the off chance that a Cackling could be mixed
in. And sure enough there was 1 smaller
goose in the flock, and it flew by close enough to see the shorter bill and
steeper forehead – a Cackling Goose!
That was lucky. (statebird #5)
Then I was off to the adjacent Duck Creek area of the Wetlands where
there had been a single recent report of 2 Dunlins – it was likely a long shot
but I thought I’d give it a try. This
portion of the park consisted of several man-made ponds with varying water
levels. I slowly walked along hoping to
find some good mudflats to find the target shorebirds. The first pond was nearly dry with no mud,
and the second one was full of water with no exposed banks at all. But then I reached the third one and it had a
large expanse of mudflats (“just right” as they’d say in the Goldilocks
story). I started panning across the
flats and soon had 4 Dunlins feeding in the mud (statebird #6). I also found 6 Least Sands, a Greater
Yellowlegs, and 5 Killdeer. I only need
Dunlin in 5 more states and DC to complete my statebird map for this quite
common shorebird.
This pond also had a nice collection of waders including Great Blue,
Snowy, Great, Black-crowned Night Heron and White-faced Ibises. Plus an uncooperative sparrow that sounded
like it might have been a Swamp, but it wouldn’t show itself.
I headed out right on schedule and soon arrived at the nearby Henderson
Bird Viewing Preserve. This is a great
spot, once again consisting of managed wetlands treating the city’s
wastewaters. But unlike the previous
park, most of the Henderson Preserve consists of multiple man-made
impoundments, almost all of which are loaded with waterfowl. Although I didn’t do a thorough survey of the
ponds, I would end up with 12 waterfowl species that morning. But at Henderson my key target was Least
Bittern, which is sometimes seen or heard especially in Pond 9. Unlike the other ponds, this pond is full of
cattails. I’ve looked for this species
here 2 other times over the years without any luck. But there had been 5 Least Bittern reports at
Henderson since the beginning of the year, so I was hoping that my luck would
be better this time.
After checking in at the office I headed right to Pond 9 to start
looking for the Bittern. I’ve seen a lot
more Least Bitterns than I’ve heard, most often seeing them flying low over the
vegetation, and only a few times hearing them call spontaneously. And only twice have I ever had them respond
to taped calls. So my plan was to find a
place where I could look over the impoundment and hope to see one in flight. The problem was the cattails were really
tall, and my sightlines were very limited no matter where I stood. So I decided to play some tape to try to
enhance my luck. My first stop was
unsuccessful. At my second stop I started
playing tape and thought I heard something in the distance. I turned off the call and listened. A few seconds later there was the
characteristic 3-note “hoo, hoo, hoo” call of the Least Bittern (statebird #7). NV was my 30th state for this elusive
species.
And with 7 new statebirds that gave me 15 over the old ABA threshold –
my 42nd state where I’ve reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal. But there were many more NV targets still
ahead of me.
Next I was on to Lake Mead and multiple stops principally for target species
attracted to this large body of water in the middle of the desert. The first stop was Boulder Beach where eBird
reports included up to 2 White-winged Scoters often in a flock of Goldeneyes,
and several Herring Gulls. The water was
smooth as glass which greatly aided in my waterfowl search. I found a couple flocks of Goldeneyes, and 5
other species of common divers, but despite lots of effort, I could find no
Scoters. So I turned my attention to two
flocks of gulls on the beach, but could only find a few California’s mixed in
the Ring-bills. I was even unsuccessful
at turning a smaller Ring-bill into a Mew Gull.
That was disappointing.
Next I headed to the nearby Boulder Beach Campground where, thanks to a
tip from Rob, my focus was on a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that had been reported
occasionally along with its much more likely Red-naped cousins. The campground was a classic island of mature
cottonwoods in the desert where the Sapsuckers had spent the winter. But it was a large campground with lots of
trees – it looked like it could be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of search. I decided to start in the northeast portion
of the campground where the cottonwoods were densest, and then wander through
the campground looking for recent Sapsucker holes. Amazingly the first trees I checked had rows
of Sapsucker holes, and several looked fresh.
And then I hadn’t walked more than 100 feet from the car when a
Sapsucker flew by me and landed in a large neighboring tree. But what species was it? Unfortunately the bird perched on the far
side of the tree from me, and the campsite had a family camping there, so I was
never able to get a look at it. A couple
minutes later I saw something fly by, and it was the Sapsucker, this time
landing in a much smaller tree. Finally
I got good looks at the bird which was a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with no
red on the nape, and a red throat sharply demarcated by black (statebird
#8). NV is my 4th western state for this
species as a rarity.
A couple minutes later the Yellow-bellied was joined by a Red-naped
Sapsucker, giving nice comparisons. I’m
sure glad I chose that part of the campground to start my search.
Next I was on to Hemenway Harbor where a Thayer’s Gull had been
reported. I took this rather sobering
photo of the marina in the distance showing how low the lake level is. All the dirt in the foreground would normally
have been under water, and the normal high water mark is evident on the far
side of the lake.
I made my way around the harbor finding many roosting gulls, but no
Thayer’s. Although I finally found my
first Herring Gull for NV (statebird #9), perched on a dock giving this nice
comparison with a California and 3 Ring-billed’s.
I also had a couple Greater Scaup here, eliminating any concern I had
about adding this species to my NV list the previous day as it straddled the NV/AZ
stateline.
Next I was off to Government Wash where up to 2 Yellow-billed Loons had
been reported sporadically since late December.
I spent a fair amount of time searching the water here from multiple
vantage points but with no luck. I had
an exact count of 192 Western/Clark’s Grebes but I couldn’t turn any of them
into a Loon.
Then I was off to my last stop of the day at Calville Bay where there
had been a long-staying Neotropic Cormorant always reported perched on a
jetty. There were also several reports
of an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, and one of a second year Thayer’s Gull. So lots of targets to pursue. As I pulled into the area I could see the
jetty in the distance, but it was really long, not very close, and portions
were obscured by boats at the marina. So
I was a bit worried about finding the Cormorant. But within seconds I spotted a small Cormorant
standing next to a larger one, and a scope view quickly confirmed I had the
Neotropic Cormorant (statebird #10).
Here’s what you might call a patriotic phonescoped view of both birds in
the distance. Hopefully it was a vagrant
from somewhere in the US rather than Mexico.
Also on the jetty were quite a number of gulls, but I was just too far
away to do much with the IDs. I looked down
below in the marina and realized that I could probably make my way onto the
docks and get a lot closer - hopefully I wouldn’t be trespassing. So I headed down to the marina, and was able
to walk down among the boats, setting up my scope less than half of my original
distance from the jetty. The 2
Cormorants were still there, and now I could see a group of about 30 gulls just
to their left. I started scanning these
birds and I instantly spotted a bird that grabbed my attention – it was a
uniform light/medium brown color, with a small all black beak, roughly the size
of a California or Herring. I quickly
thought of Thayer’s, but since the bird was facing me I couldn’t tell much
about the mantle nor wingtip color. It
then turned and it was still that uniform brown color with slightly darker (but
not black) wingtips. It then took off
and it had pale underwings – I had found a first year Thayer’s (aka Iceland)
Gull (statebird #11), though different from the 2nd year bird reported here once
before. Unfortunately it was all too quick
for me to get a photo.
I went back to look at the other gulls and now spotted one with a darker
mantle. It took me just a couple seconds
to confirm it was an adult Lesser Black-Backed Gull (statebird #12). This one stuck around a while, affording me
the opportunity for this phonescoped photo.
NV was my 30th state for this increasing species.
Amazing to find the Neotropic Cormant, Thayer’s Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull, all within a few feet of each other on the jetty. A nice way to end my day!
Day 3
My plan was to start Day 3 at dawn at Corn Creek in the Desert NWR about
45 minutes north of Las Vegas. This
riparian oasis in the middle of the desert can be a great hotspot for rarities,
and a migrant trap in general. In fact,
in May 2012, David Donsker and I experienced an amazing fallout there that
included several rarities as well as thousands of regular migrants. So I was happy that the cancellation of the
AZ leg of my trip gave me the extra time to be able to re-visit one of my
favorite birding locations in the country. On this trip the key Corn Creek targets were two
wintering sparrows – a Golden-crowned and a White-throated. Both were seen coming to a feeder maintained
by one of the residents at Corn Creek and nearby lawns, and with great
micro-directions from Rob, I knew exactly where to look for these targets.
I arrived just before dawn to this spectacular sunrise – I had to stop
for a picture.
I quickly headed toward the feeder area keeping my distance so as not to scare away the feeder birds. There was a large flock of White-crowned Sparrows feeding on and below the feeder, with birds coming and going almost constantly. So I kept watching the new arrivals, but could only find White-crowns. Then I looked over to the nearby lawns and found even more White-crowns feeding in the short grass. Lots of sparrows, but no target birds. I turned my attention back to the feeder and within a couple minutes I spotted a slightly smaller sparrow fly in under the feeder – it was the White-throated Sparrow (statebird #13). I’ve now seen this eastern species as a rarity in a number of western states.
Now I needed to find the Golden-crowned.
I kept watching the birds at the feeder, but each time I had a possible
candidate it turned out to be just an immature White-crown. After a while I decided I was trying too hard
to make one of the White-crowns into a Golden-crown, so I started to focus on
the birds foraging in the lawn. There
was a small group of sparrows feeding near the base of a large shrub, and with
a quick view all were White-crowns. Then
I spotted a bird a few feet farther away and there was the winter-plumaged
Golden-crowned Sparrow (statebird #14).
With my 2 target birds out of the way rather quickly, I decided to spend
some time wandering through the Corn Creek trails hoping to find some other
rarities. But birding was really slow,
and the only woodland bird I found was a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
So it was off to try for my next target – Bell’s Sparrows that were
reported sporadically in the desert along the entrance road to Corn Creek. I’ve only seen this western split from the old
Sage Sparrow once before – as a breeder in the hills of southern CA in 2013. And I’ve seen the inland Sagebrush Sparrow
before as a breeder in NV. But
apparently wintering birds near Las Vegas are typically Bell’s Sparrows, though
eBird included a few Sagebrush Sparrow reports as well. So I studied the differences between these
newly defined species, and headed out to the desert to give it a try.
My plan was to just wander around in the desert and hope to find
sparrows foraging in the area. I first
started north of the access road but didn’t find a single bird. Then I decided to focus on somewhat lusher
vegetation but still came up empty.
After nearly an hour and walking a couple miles, I crossed the road and
started doing the same on the south side.
I came upon an area of thicker vegetation and spotted some movement of a
sparrow up ahead. I played a bit of tape
of the call notes of a Bell’s Sparrow and the bird popped up and perched in
front of me – it was a Bell’s Sparrow.
But then again it didn’t seem quite dark-headed enough to be a
Bell’s. I then found several others,
each were dark-headed but not as dark as the drawings in Sibley, though each
had limited (if any) streaking on the back and sides. I spent the next 30 minutes studying a flock
of about 5 birds, and none seemed perfect for Bell’s, though none were quite
right for Sagebrush. I got back to the
car and did some research on my apps and realized I was actually looking at the
interior canescens race of the Bell’s
Sparrow, and not the darker-headed coastal belli
race. And the clincher was none had
white in the tail which would have been visible the numerous times that I
flushed birds as I neared them. So I was
finally convinced that I had added Bell’s Sparrow as statebird #15, after an
hour and a half and 3 or 4 miles walking through the desert.
After having success with all 3 of my early morning targets, I was off
to another of my favorite Las Vegas-area birding spots – the Mt. Charleston
area. An hour northwest of Las Vegas,
this isolated mountain range rises well over 8,000 feet in elevation, with a
road through Kyle Canyon ending at over 7,500 ft. Here’s a view from one of the overlooks with
the desert down below in the distance.
There is a small community near the top called Old Town and another nearby
at the Mt. Charleston Lodge, that have a number of feeding stations and
excellent montane species. On this trip
my target was Lewis’s Woodpecker, with quite a number of recent eBird reports seen
throughout the mountains, including Rob’s tip of birds right in Old Town and
near the Lodge. I spent a couple hours
wandering the area looking for my target bird, and although I found quite a
number of the expected montane species, had no luck with Lewis’s. Given that the eBird reports were now a bit
dated, I wondered if there had been an earlier incursion of Lewis’s into the
area that was short-lived, and the birds had moved on elsewhere. So I eventually gave up and started my drive
down out of the mountains. And soon
after I started my drive down the mountain I noticed a large bird flying over
the road – it was a Lewis’s. Not the
best of views, but good enough for statebird #16. NV was my 9th state for this species – I
still need it in MT and WY within its regular range.
I was actually ahead of schedule at this point, and had just one more
possible target to try for – a Brown Thrasher seen recently at Spring Mountain Ranch. But the most recent reports were now a couple
weeks old, so I wasn’t too surprised that I didn’t find this target bird. Though the birding in this park was fun
anyway.
That evening after I entered my sightings into eBird I decided to check
the ABA Rarity listing for the day, and amazingly the Tucson Streak-backed
Oriole was re-spotted that day.
Ugh… Made me wonder if I could
have been successful with the bird a couple days earlier after all. Oh well, at least the NV birding was going
great!
Day 4
I needed to make my way back to the Ontario, CA airport late in the day
for a flight to the Bay Area, so this day’s birding was focused on areas in
Pahrump west of Las Vegas. Then the plan
was to make the long afternoon drive to the airport when my birding was done. I had 3 key targets in the area – the first
was an overwintering male Eurasian Wigeon.
This bird had been reported numerous times at the Mountain Falls Golf
Course, though at multiple water features around the course. And a further complication was that the golf
course didn’t let birders on the course.
So my plan was to head to the course at first light to get there hopefully
before the golfers arrived. And one last
challenge – the day before I arrived the bird was seen swimming all by itself
rather than with a large flock of American Wigeons which had been its MO
previously. That could make it more
difficult to find.
After the short drive from Las Vegas I arrived right on time and parked
in the nearly empty parking lot – luckily it was indeed too early for the
golfers. Plus it may have been too cold
– 30 degrees per my car thermometer. I
headed right to the lake next to the restaurant where the bird was most often
reported. My initial scans revealed many
waterfowl but few Wigeons. But then with
from a slightly different viewpoint I could now see the far end of the lake and
there was a nice Wigeon flock. I got
closer and scanned the flock numerous times but found no Eurasian mixed
in. I re-checked the entire lake a
couple more times to be sure, but my target wasn’t there. Next I headed to the nearby 9th hole where
there were a couple more water features.
Here I picked up my only Snow Geese, White-fronted Goose, and Cinnamon
Teal for the trip, though found only a few Wigeons and again no target.
The last area to check was a larger set of lakes on the far eastern
portion of the golf course. Luckily,
since it was now getting a bit later (and warmer), these lakes were mostly
visible from the edge of the golf course and I wouldn’t have to enter the course
to get a view. I drove around to the
east and could see the lakes in the distance - they were full of
waterfowl. I found a place to park and
with a quick binocular scan I found a nice-sized flock of Wigeons in the water
and on the grass at the eastern end of the lakes. I pulled out the scope and within seconds had
my first glimpse of the red head of the Eurasian Wigeon (statebird #17). I got these nice shots of the bird
illuminated by the rising sun.
It’s nice when a search comes together like this! NV was my 14th state for this rare but
regular species.
Next I was on to nearby Discovery Park where a Vermillion Flycatcher had
been sporadically spotted throughout the winter. The previous day I had talked with a worker
at Ash Meadows NWR who also happened to be a birder, and she had suggested that
there were likely multiple Vermillions wintering in the park, and to especially
look in the area west of the ponds. I
parked in the lot at the eastern end of the park, and started my walk west
through this long, thin park. One of the
first birds I spotted was a calling Red-shouldered Hawk which was a bit of a
surprise. I got this photo holding my
phone up to my binocs.
I continued walking west and soon arrived at the ponds. In these cold early morning temperatures I especially focused on sunny areas close to the water that would likely be places where a flycatcher’s food would be most active. I did find a Black Phoebe here, but not the target. I then walked a bit further west and spotted some movement in the backyard of a house abutting the park. A few seconds later there was the tell-tale bright red flash of a male Vermillion Flycatcher (statebird #18). Exactly where the refuge worker had suggested. I would have loved to get a picture of this beautiful bird, but that would have meant spending more time staring into this person’s backyard, so I headed back to my car. That was my 10th state for this species which is prone to wandering from its regular range, especially in winter.
My last target was Ferruginous Hawk, with several reported sporadically
in and around Pahrump throughout the winter.
Initially it looked like this species was reported randomly throughout
the area with no reliable locations. But
with some extra eBird research of sightings over the last couple years I was
able to group the reports into 2 principal areas around town. And then switching on the satellite view on
GoogleMaps I could see that these spots generally coincided nicely with
agricultural areas which would be likely habitat for Ferruginous. So that would allow me to concentrate my
search in these 2 key areas rather than randomly driving around the area hoping
to run into one of my targets.
I first birded the southern spot, finding a couple Red-tails, but no
Ferruginous. Then I headed to the northern
area near the middle of town and again just found a Red-tail. But then I could see a couple hawks perched
in a tree far in the distance. Too far
to ID, I drove closer to the perched birds for a better look both they too were
just Red-tails. And then in the distance
I could see another pair of perched raptors, and these appeared to be all white
below. I drove closer to these birds and
sure enough they turned out to be an adult and immature Ferruginous Hawk
perched together in a bare tree (statebird #19). The adult soon flew off and later soared
overhead with a Red-tail. But the immature
stayed perched nearby, and I was able to get this phonescoped photo in the
distance.
What a nice way to end the trip – where extra detective work paid off in
fine-tuning likely locations for one of my targets.
I ended up with 142 species on the trip, including finding 19 of my
possible 24 targets – an excellent result given my hope for just 10 or 11. And quite a number were rarities with 11 of
the eBird NV “Rarity” sightings being my birds.
My NV statelist now stands at 269 which is obviously way above the old
ABA reportable threshold of 242. So no
need to come back to bird in NV, that is unless I’m searching for a Himalayan
Snowcock…
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