Before we get to the successful trip to NV, a little background on the reason for my trip is in order. For many years I’ve had a goal of being ABA reportable in each of the Lower 48 states plus DC. Recently the ABA stopped publishing those thresholds, which had been defined as half the number of species ever seen in that state. But since the thresholds would slowly increase as new species are added to the statelist, I’ve decided to revise that goal somewhat to be 15 over the last ABA published threshold. That buffer should keep me safely above the “half the state list total” for many years. I’m now rapidly closing in on those goals, with just 5 states below the old threshold, and 11 more reportable but less than 15 over the threshold.
Now onto NV - NV is one of my 5 states
below threshold (just 11 below), and for some time I’ve been thinking about a
trip to the northeastern part of the state to try for the Himalayan Snowcock as
a lifebird. Plus there would be quite a
number of other possible statebirds for me in that part of the state. But would a trip to that area be enough to
not only add the 11 birds I need to reach the old threshold, but also the
buffer of 15 more? I spent a little time
on eBird and with range maps and realized that getting 26 new statebirds in one
short trip to the northeast corner would be unlikely. So to put together a plan to efficiently get
26 new birds in NV, I developed lists of possible targets for each key part of
the state (southern NV near Las Vegas, western NV near Reno and Carson City,
and of course northeastern NV), and for each season (winter, summer, and
migration). There were possible targets
in each region and each season, but the fewest were near Las Vegas. And there were a number in Reno/Carson City
not likely in the northeast corner. So I
concluded that I would need a trip to the Reno/Carson City area in addition to
an eventual trip to the northeast to reach my goal.
With an upcoming trip to the San Francisco area
in August I started to wonder if a short side trip to the Reno/Carson City area
could be a worthwhile addition. The key
feature of this area is a thin sliver of the Sierras and the only part of the
state to try for a number of high mountain species. Plus there could be a number of shorebirds I
could try for near peak shorebird migration time. I checked my lists and figured I could get 7
or 8 new statebirds with a day of birding in that part of the state. So now with a possible critical mass, I decided
to put a plan together. I had birded
Reno/Carson City in May 2012, and had connected with a couple excellent birders
there. In preparing for this trip I
re-contacted one local birder, Rob Lowry, who gave me some great advice and
offered to go with me to try for 3 of my targets – Rufous Hummingbird, Barn
Owl, and Poorwill.
With a midday arrival at SFO, and after a 4
hour drive, I finally arrived in the Lake Tahoe area a little before dinner
time. My first stop was at Van Sickle Bi-State
Park which truly is partly in CA and partly in NV. It was critical to know where the stateline
was since my key target there, Pileated Woodpecker, had been reported from an
area very close to the stateline. I
arrived between thunderstorms, and spent some time in and around the Pileated
area. Despite no luck with the target
bird, there were a number of other woodpeckers including Red-naped Sapsucker
and Hairy’s. Then I noticed a pair of woodpeckers
in the distance which were juvenile Williamson’s Sapsuckers – another of my
targets. But which state were they
in? I checked my map and GPS location,
and realized they were in NV but only by about 20 yards – statebird #1. NV was my 9th state for this
species.
I wanted to bird the area longer, but a succession
of thunderstorms complete with hail made me retreat back to the safety of my
car. After about 30 minutes I decided to
head east out of the mountains to get away from the storms, and made my way to
the riparian area of Carson Valley. One
of my targets there was Sandhill Crane, which is a regular migrant but rare
nester. With just 1-2 pairs in a large
area, it would be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of search. But on my first stop to scan a pasture area I
spotted a pair in the distance - #2. A
short distance ahead I came upon a flooded field and stopped to check for
shorebirds. Although there were no
shorebirds I spotted a hawk perched on a nearby post which at first glance
looked like a young Red-shouldered Hawk.
Not one on my radar screen, I checked the field guide to be sure, and it
was indeed a Red-shoulder (#3). I would
end up seeing another immature and an adult Red-shoulder in the area the next
day, not bad for a species that is a rare nester in the area. My statebird map pretty well matches the range
for this species (with the exception of the gap in IA).
Now I was on to Rob Lowry’s house to team
up with him to try for Poorwill and Barn Owl.
But first there was a stop to check his feeders which were loaded with
migrant Rufous Hummingbirds (#4). Then
we were off to Brunswick Canyon Road through the desert foothills. Although our trip was delayed a bit by a flat
tire, we heard 2 Poorwills at dusk and then saw 11 more in the road on the way
back to town (#5). Easily the most
Poorwills I’ve seen and heard in a day.
And then we went on to what was supposed to be the last stop at Carson
River Park for the stakeout Barn Owls that had nested there. But a spotlight on the favorite perch of the
last remaining juvenile bird to leave the nest came up empty – though it was
there the day before! We spent a bit
more time scanning the nearby fields but with no luck. As we drove back to town, Rob thought we might
try one more spot where Barn Owls had been in the past. We played some tape and a bird flew right in
(#6). I’ve never tried to use tapes to
attract Barn Owls before – I’ve got to give that a try in the future to fill in
some of the gaps in my statebird map.
Six statebirds in just a couple hours
birding was a great way to start the trip.
And with just 5 to reach reportable, I was hopeful that I could reach
threshold the next day. But Rob
mentioned that recent stops at the best shorebird spots had been very slow, so
it certainly wouldn’t be a given to get 5 more on day 2.
I started the second day at dawn high in
the mountains at Tahoe Meadows with hopes for a number of montane targets. Although I didn’t add any statebirds there,
birding was excellent, starting with at least 100 Clark’s Nutcrackers flying
high overhead in small groups, all heading north. There were also resident White-breasted
Nuthatches which someday could be a new species - “Slender-billed” Nuthatch. Other notables were White-headed Woodpeckers,
numerous Cassin’s Finches, Western Pewees, Steller’s Jays, Audubon’s Warblers,
etc.
Next stop was at the Chimney Beach area on
the eastern side of Lake Tahoe. Rob had
given me micro-directions for Pacific Wren which were perfect – I had two quick
glimpses of this skulker along a willow-lined streambed (#7). And while walking back to the car I heard a
loud woodpecker in the distance – a Pileated (#8). I would hear Pileated calls 4 more times in
the next 5 minutes. This was a great
stop for these two species which only nest in this very isolated location in NV. It’s also interesting to look at the range of
the Pileated Woodpecker which closely matches my statebird map – regular
throughout the east and in the Sierras and other far west mountains but not in
the Rockies.
Then I was back into Carson Valley to try
for American Bittern that had been reported several times recently on
eBird. But a long, hot walk along the
river at River Fork Ranch came up empty.
Nor did I find Golden Eagle which is a regular in the area, though there
were numerous raptors in site throughout my walk. During this stop Rob called me to say that
Washoe Lake, one of my planned shorebirds spots, had none of my targets. At least that would save me some time, though
I had sure hoped to get something there.
So the next stop was the south end of
Pyramid Lake in the desert to the northeast, where the Truckee River empties
into this large body of water. On my
90-minute drive to the lake I kept tabs on very threatening clouds to my south
and west. And when they broke in on the
radio to announce a severe thunderstorm warning for a storm to my immediate
south and heading my way, it certainly piqued my attention. When I finally arrived at the lake the storms
were only a short distance away, and they had picked up very strong southerly
winds that were sand blasting me as I got out of the car. I was surprised to run into another birder
who was leaving just as I arrived. He
said it was slow, but mentioned Red-necked Phalaropes, Snowy Plovers, and
Baird’s Sandpipers – all 3 were on my target list. So although that was not as good as I had
hoped, those 3 would at least put me at the magic reportable threshold. So I figured I needed to find all 3 of them
quickly and get back to the car before the storms arrived.
Looking down from the parking lot to the
south end of the lake revealed an impressive picture of dozens of acres of salt
flats, extensive muddy shoreline, and many acres of shallow lake water – a classic
Great Basin lake.
 |
| South end of Pyramid Lake looking north - check out the impending storm! |
Luckily the wind was at my back as I stared
out to the lake, because looking into the wind would have been next to
impossible. A quick binocular scan
showed that the shoreline and shallow lake were full of Canada Geese and waders,
and there were small groups of shorebirds moving along the extensive
mudflats. But with so many acres to
scope, and the storm on the doorstep, where do I start? I made the quick walk to the lake level and first
keyed in on a large flock of birds bouncing around on the water thinking they might
be Phalaropes – but instead they were Coots.
Next I decided to scope the shoreline and soon noticed a group of 5
Phalaropes just offshore. I first wrote
them off as Wilson’s (distant birds, scope bouncing in the wind, etc.), but
when I spotted a group of 3 Wilson’s a few seconds later, I went back to the
first flock and realized they were Red-necked (#9). I continued to scan the beach and kept seeing
small flocks of shorebirds but most were in constant movement as if they were
being spooked by a falcon. One small
group I keyed in on were peeps that I thought could have been Baird’s. As they kept flying along the flats one
eventually left the flock and landed a short distance away – it was indeed a
Baird’s (#10). Some western gaps on my
statebird map are bit surprising for this bird that is especially found in the central
and western states.
Now I needed to find Snowy Plovers, and
turned my attention to the salt flats where it took me less than a minute to
find several adult and juvenile Snowy’s running along the flats (#11). In less than 10 minutes I had my 3 likely
targets. With no rain or thunder yet, I
spent a few more minutes scanning the area, and found good numbers of dark
Ibises (presumably White-faced), some Snowy Egrets, fair numbers of Avocets and
Stilts, a scattering of peeps and Long-billed Dowitchers, and 3 Caspian
Terns. And rather than continuing to
take my chances with the impending storm, I high-tailed it back to the car and
considered it a successful stop. Just a
couple minutes’ later I encountered torrential rains that undoubtedly caused
flash flooding in the area – I got out just in time.
That gave me 242 for NV – the old ABA
reportable threshold. NV is my 45th
state at or above the threshold. And 7
of my 11 new statebirds are not likely in the northeast part of the state, so I
hope that a summer trip there will not only yield the Snowcock but also 14
other statebirds to reach my goal of 15 over the threshold.
With a bit of research I found that the
official NV list as of 12/27/13 was at 492.
So if the ABA was still publishing thresholds at half the state total,
the present threshold would be 246.
Although not surprisingly higher than the old threshold, it’s still well
below my somewhat arbitrary buffer of 15 over the threshold at 257. So my modified goal looks like a safe goal
for some time to come.
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