The idea for this year’s birding trip came up while on another trip two years ago. David Donsker and I had just finished a multiday trip in UT/ID/WY. Although we added many new birds to my UT state list, we were to the point of diminishing returns, and I ended the trip 8 short of the ABA reporting threshold. So how would I get safely above the threshold in UT? I happened to notice a chapter in the Utah birdfinding guide about Lytle Ranch in the southwestern corner of the state, where a small portion of the Mohave Desert barely gets into Utah. A couple quick days in this area would yield 20-30 birds generally found nowhere else in Utah. And of course if I’m going to a corner of Utah, that means it should be easy to visit one or more other nearby states for some statebirding there too. So after a little planning, David and I decided to make it a UT-NV trip, and maybe even AZ, flying in and out of Las Vegas. With some excellent information from local birders, we were off to get some statebirds and to hopefully get reportable in UT.
Day 1 – Overton WMA NV and Parks in St. George
After landing in Las Vegas, our plan was to make the drive up to St. George, UT which would be the center of our Utah operations. En route we made a quick stop at Overton WMA northeast of Las Vegas. A number of state bird targets had been seen there recently, and it’s the place in southern NV for Turkey. But it’s a large area and I did not have specific directions. So we started driving along the many dirt roads at the site, and eventually found several wetlands. We picked up a late pair of Blue-winged Teal, a Greater Yellowlegs, and a Solitary Sandpiper which is quite rare for the area. And we also had several Turkeys. 4 new NV statebirds.
Then we continued the drive to St. George, including a short interstate stretch through the NW corner of AZ. Just after we crossed into AZ we saw a Swainson’s hawk soaring overhead. Ugh – I needed that one in NV – wrong state. When we arrived in St. George we first headed to Tonaquint Park where we quickly got our prime target – Abert’s Towhee. During the next few minutes we birded the small amount of natural habitat there and also added Gambel’s Quail and Black Phoebe. Then on to Red Hills Golf Course where the presence of a large number of golfers prevented us from gaining too much access to the nice habitat and our Vermillion Flycatcher target, though I picked up Ladder-backed Woodpecker. En route to our next stop we spotted our first Mockingbird of the trip, then headed to another little park, Cox’ Park, where Vermillion Flycatcher’s had been reported – but we dipped on it there too. As evening neared we made a brief stop at Spring’s Pond where Green Herons are possible, but to no avail. As we left the park a small group of domesticated ducks and Mute Swans greeted us – on closer inspection the flock included a wild Snow Goose. A last stop at Washington Fields for nighthawks was not successful, though we had another Swainson’s Hawk and a harrier. 6 new statebirds for UT
Day 2 – Lytle Ranch and More St. George Locations
We left the hotel at 3:30 AM to make the 90 minute drive to Lytle Ranch – which was our prime location for UT statebirds. As we neared the ranch we saw orange eye-shine in the road which turned out to be the first of 2 Poor-Wills that posed for us in the car headlights – not a new statebird but excellent looks nonetheless. We arrived at the Lytle Ranch parking lot and started playing W Screech Owl tape – two birds flew in within a few minutes. Along with a distant calling Great Horned Owl and several more Poor-Wills it was a great start. And while we waited for it to be light enough to use the binocs, a Brown-crested Flycatcher and Summer Tanagers began to call from over our heads at the parking lot. (Summer Tanager was my 224th bird for UT - ABA reportable!) Our first daylight walk was into the arid scrub where we quickly added calling Crissal Thrashers, several Phainopeplas, and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher which was surprisingly our only of the trip. Then we went back to the riparian habitat and encountered a few small mixed flocks of migrants which included a couple Cassin’s Vireos and 2 Hooded Orioles. Walking up-river along the drier edge of the riparian habitat yielded several Bell’s Vireos, Verdins, and Lucy’s Warblers (several nest-building). Further up river we had a pair of White-winged Doves calling, a flyover late American Crow, and the surprise for the park – a flyover Snow Goose that ended up landing and walking in the trail ahead of us. We made our way back to the parking area and ran into the site caretaker who gave us directions to the Black Hawk he had seen earlier that morning. After a little bushwacking we made it to the river and instantly saw a Black Hawk in flight in front of us. We left at 10 AM with all but 1 of our targets (missing Roadrunner), 14 statebirds, and 49 species.
We needed to spend a lot less time at Lytle than expected, so we had lots of time to hit other nearby spots. Along the drive from the ranch back to “civilization” we made a couple stops in Joshua Tree habitat and had several Cactus Wrens though couldn’t find a Scott’s Oriole. Then 2 stops in pinyon juniper habitat yielded Black-chinned Sparrow and Gray Vireo, and a 4-foot long rattlesnake that crossed our path just a few feet in front of us. Can’t be too careful! The next stop was a small town park to look for a lingering Ross’ Goose reported by local birder Rick Fridell – took all of 5 seconds to find it sitting among a small group of domestic ducks. But without the tip, we might not have noticed it, and wouldn’t have even visited the park at all.
Next stop was to Snow Canyon State Park where local birders recommended a quick stop at the campground host’s feeders for both Anna’s and Costa’s Hummingbirds. Another successful stop – took maybe just 20 minutes to get both species. It was also fun here to watch the Bewick’s Wrens bringing food to their young in a nest located in the hitch of the host’s trailer.
David and I then hooked up with local birder Rick Fridell to chase after a few individual targets a bit east of St. George. First one was Inca Dove, which Rick spotted on a fence in a neighborhood in Hurricane. Then we spent some time at the Hurricane sewage treatment ponds, and although there were no new statebirds, we picked up a number of shorebird and waterfowl species. A stop at a local marsh for Common Gallinule was not successful, which was followed by a second unsuccessful attempt at Vermillion Flycatcher. Ended the day with 20 new UT statebirds
Day 3 – Kolob Reservoir Road then back to Nevada
With another early start we headed east to upper elevation locations along Kolob Reservoir Road. But first we made another attempt for the Common Gallinule. As we pulled into the site near dawn a Lesser Nighthawk flew by. So although no luck with the Gallinule again, the Nighthawk was a great consolation. Then we started up Kolob Reservoir Road. As we climbed in altitude we found a bush with 1 each of Cassin’s and Western Kingbirds. Then we took a great hike in ponderosa pines in Zion National Park. This was a tremendous spot with lots of birds including 2 statebirds – White-breasted Nuthatch and numerous Grace’s Warblers that gave us superb views. We eventually made it all the way up to Kolob Reservoir picking up a couple more birds for the day list. The last target was Rick’s tip of a small colony of Acorn Woodpeckers in the aspens close to the reservoir. The oaks in the area are quite small, so although they undoubtedly provide enough acorns for the birds, they likely aren’t big enough to serve as cache trees. Maybe that’s what they use the aspens for. On the way down from the reservoir we started playing tape for the woodpeckers in large groves of aspen, and on our second stop an Acorn Woodpecker flew right in. Pretty amazing location for an oak-loving bird. 5 more UT statebirds
Then back to Nevada and the greater Las Vegas area. Our first stop was in North Las Vegas where a small colony of Burrowing Owls had been reported on e-bird in a couple vacant lots. We had 3 birds there quite easily. Then we headed to the western side of Las Vegas to look for passerines . Our first stop was in the lovely little town of Blue Diamond to look for a likely escaped Black-throated Magpie-Jay. No luck with it, but we did have an Olive-Sided Flycatcher there, and a number of feral burros. Then off to Spring Mountain Ranch State Park where we quickly added Summer Tanager, and one skulking Hermit Thrush, and pretty good numbers of migrants but nothing unusual. Later I had a distant Vaux’ Swift fly by as a number of swallows and White-throated Swifts began to appear as the evening approached. 5 new NV statebirds.
Day 4 – Red Rocks State Park, Henderson Ponds, Duck Creek, Boulder City,
We started at dawn at Willow Springs n Red Rocks State Park with hopes of migrants, Chukar, Cactus Wren and Juniper Titmouse. Very few migrants were around that morning, but we did hear a distant Chukar up the canyon. A short walk down the trail yielded a pair of calling Cactus Wrens. And a lengthy walk up the canyon eventually yielded a Juniper Titmouse along with some Gray Vireos. A successful stop finging all our targets!
Then off to Henderson Ponds for a try at some waterbirds. Targets seen there recently were Least Bittern and Wood Duck, with the possibility of some shorebirds. We dipped on all our targets here, though had another Olive-sided Flycatcher. Next stop was nearby Duck Creek where shorebirds were possible. Although we had a number of shorebirds and waterfowl there, no new statebirds. The next stop of the day was in Boulder City where amazingly a small colony (family?) of Harris’ Hawks had taken up residence. Took us a couple tries but found one perched in a tree right over the road in this residential community.
Our last stop was at urban Sunset Park which didn’t yield any new statebirds. But surprisingly, we ran into 3 more Ross’ Geese mixed in with the mostly domesticated ducks at the lake there. I certainly wouldn’t have expected to see 4 Ross’ Geese and 2 Snow Geese on this trip. 4 new NV statebirds
Day 5 – Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area, Kyle Canyon in the Charleston Mountains
In our original itinerary this was to be the day to head down to the western edge of AZ to try for a number of birds in riparian areas and along the Colorado River. However, none were very likely, so we decided to spend extra time in Nevada instead. We started at dawn at the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area, with stunning old growth Joshua Trees. The key target here was Gilded Flicker – the only spot for them in NV. In about 3 hours we were able to find 2 Gilded Flickers (though our views weren’t the best), 1 “Red-Shafted” Flicker, and heard another flicker, sp. .
In several e-bird posts back in 2011 Bendire’s Thrashers were mentioned from this location – but it’s a big site and there weren’t specific locations on e-bird. So we checked our handy Sibley’s guide and it mentioned that Bendire’s prefer areas with some grass, which we had earlier found in only a small area at Wee Thump. So when we got back to this site we began to play some tape and had a pair of Bendire’s almost instantly come in. Great photos too! As an aside, an e-bird post from a couple weeks earlier had mentioned seeing a Sage Thrasher and a LeConte’s Thrasher at Wee Thump. Frankly, neither is very likely in this habitat, so we wondered if these birds were actually a Bendire’s and a Crissal.
This part of the desert also had a few obvious migrants, like an occasional Western Tanager and Black-headed Grosbeak, plus a few Empids. One silent Empid we got great views of we reluctantly called a Willow Flycatcher – obviously miserable habitat for a Willow but it had all the right physical features.
Next we headed up to the Charleston Mountains and Kyle Canyon. Key targets that had been suggested there were Band-tailed Pigeon, Purple Finch, and Lewis’ Woodpecker. We had no luck with any of these, though we spent much of the afternoon in the canyon enjoying great study time with Cassin’s Finches in the pines and at a great feeding station. 3 new NV statebirds
Day 6 – Corn Creek and Lyle Canyon
When we left our hotel that morning still in the dark, we were greeted by a strong northerly wind. We had seen an earlier post suggesting that north winds could be good for migrants at Corn Creek, so we crossed our fingers. We arrived at first light and immediately noticed a number of kingbirds flying into the trees from the desert. As the steady stream of birds continued, we noticed numerous warblers flying in along with the kingbirds. The first tree we reached was loaded with Western Kingbirds – although only 10 feet tall it had at least 50 kingbirds on it perched like Christmas tree ornaments. This was just the beginning of what turned out to be a truly memorable migrant fallout! Each binocular field in each mulberry tree contained at least 5 Bullock’s Orioles and a few more Western Kingbirds. Groups of 5 to 10 warblers (mostly Audubon’s) were in the trees, on the ground, in the grass, on fence posts - just everywhere. We birded the oasis from 5:15 to 11 and conservatively estimated 2,000 birds, though counting was next to impossible as the birds were constantly flitting from tree to tree.
Midday we headed up to Lee Canyon with one key target in mind – Grace’s Warbler. We played a lot of tape in locations suggested to us by a local birder we ran into at Corn Creek, but with no luck. We added some good birds for the day list, but nothing new. So we headed back to Corn Creek arriving at 2:30. We birded the area till 5:30, and although activity had decreased significantly, there were still hundreds of migrants, several more still flying in from the desert, and we found several species we didn’t have in the morning.
We ended up with 75 species at Corn Creek, with several unusual ones and rarities –
· Indigo Bunting – 1 adult male seen in the morning and seen again (or a second bird?) in the afternoon
· Black-and-White Warbler – 1 adult male seen several times, and also heard singing several times
· Rose-Breasted Grosbeak – 1 adult male seen and heard singing in the morning and seen again (or a second bird?) in the afternoon. Record shots taken
· Hepatic Tanager – 1 female, record shot taken (there’s only one accepted record for NV)
Other highlights with likely conservative numbers –
· Doves - White-winged– 2, Eur Collared Dove X Mourning hybrid – 1, Eur Collared - 6
· Swifts - Vaux’ – 1, White-throated – 1
· Black-Chinned Hummingbird - 4
· Flycatchers - Western Kingbirds – 300-500 (very conservative?), Western Pewee – 3, Willow Flycatcher – 1, Hammond’s Flycatcher – 1, Dusky Flycatcher – 2, Gray Flycatcher – 3, “Western” Flycatcher – 1
· Ruby-Crowned Kinglet – 1
· American Pipit – 2 (late)
· Vireos – Plumbeous – 1, Cassin’s – 2, Warbling – 1
· Warblers - Orange-Crowned – 3, Virginia’s – 1, Lucy’s – 2. Yellow – 20-30, Audubon’s – 500-700 (very conservative?), “Myrtle” – 4, Black-throated Gray – 1, Townsend’s – 1, Yellowthroat – 6, Chat – 1, Wilson’s – 15-20
· Western Tanager – 10-15
· Blue Grosbeak – 3
· Lazuli Bunting – 15
· Sparrows – Lark – 20, White-crowned – 10, Lincoln’s – 1
· Orioles - Bullock’s – 100-150 (conservative?), Hooded - 1
· Pine Siskin – 3
· Goldfinches – American – 1 (late), Lesser – 3
On our way out of Corn Creek we started playing some tape to try for LeConte’s Thrasher which resides at very low density in the saltbush to the west of the oasis. On our 9th or 10th stop, David spotted one perched on a bush not too far away to the south near the town of Corn Creek. We had distant but good views of this very difficult skulker. This last bird of the day was our 6th statebird for the day as well.
By the Numbers –
I ended up with 31 new state birds for my UT list which is now 247. This is my 40th reportable state, and with 23 over the threshold I’ll stay reportable in UT for a long time to come. In NV I added 22 new statebirds, to give me 215. That’s still pretty far from the 242 threshold, but that was only my 4th trip to the state. The 53 ticks give me 12,234 total ticks per the ABA definitions, and 12,056 in the US alone.
For the trip we had 183 species – 135 in Utah and 151 in Nevada. Our totals included a surprising 20 species of waterfowl, 9 raptors, 13 flycatchers, 12 warblers, and 12 sparrows.
Thanks once again to all the great advice from the local UT and NV birders!
I've inserted 3 of my statebird maps that are representative of some of the new statebirds from this trip -
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak - common throughout the east (though I still need it in LA), and now I can color in NV as a vagrant
- Summer Tanager - widespread throughout principally southern portions of the US (though VA is a gap in my lists), a regular vagrant in the NE, as well as regular in the southwest - added it in its limited habitat in southern NV and southwest UT
- Cactus Wren - limited to southwest deserts - added in both southern NV and the little piece of Mojave Desert in UT
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