Nevada birding with Je Anne July 20 (31 lifers in one day)

Birds, Travel

They say Vegas is a rich man’s town but if you’re a birder, all bets are off.

This morning an amazing lady named Je Anne picked me up at my hotel at 530am and we set out for Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.  Once at the preserve, we met up with John Taylor (who’s pretty cool too) who was working at the preserve for the day who drove us around and we quickly started stacking up lifers for this little Nova Scotia birding newbie.  Je Anne has a tremendous amount of birding knowledge to share.  I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun too.

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John, Je Anne, and Me at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve

Right away we spotted Black-Necked Stilts and American Avocets which were both new to me, as well as Gambel’s Quail with chicks.  Honestly, had I gone home at that point I still would have been delighted!

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Black-Necked Stilts

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American Avocet

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American Avocet

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Gambel’s Quail family at a distance but good ID shots anyway

g-anne-las-vegas-july-20 163 g-anne-las-vegas-july-20 280 There were a list of lifers that I made confirmed IDs of but did not photograph at the preserve as well:

  • Black-Chinned Hummingbird
  • Anna’s hummingbird
  • Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
  • Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher
  • Loggerhead Shrike (camera battery had just died but I did get something fabulous right before that happened)

I was able to photograph a nice variety of new to me birds (lifers) before the battery ran out on my camera, and the coolest one was a Least Bittern. (will post the rest of the photos shortly)

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Ruddy Duck male note the bluish beak

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Ruddy Duck female note the tail they apparently used to be called the stiffed tail duck?

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Eared Grebes

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Eared Grebe

Coopers Hawk

Coopers Hawk

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Green Heron

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Green Heron

White Faced Ibis there were 5 of them that we noted

White Faced Ibis there were 5 of them that we noted

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Common Gallinule

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Common Gallinule

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Common Gallinule

Long Billed Dowitcher

costas hummingbird

Crissal Thrasher just an ID shot click twice to zoom

Crissal Thrasher just an ID shot click twice to zoom

Bewicks Wren - gorgeous song looks plain

Bewicks Wren – gorgeous song looks plain

Western Tanager - flock of a half a dozen or so males on the move so migration is probably starting

Western Tanager – flock of a half a dozen or so males on the move so migration is probably starting

Yellow-Headed Blackbird (female?)

Yellow-Headed Blackbird (female?)

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the Least Bittern was the show stopper – Je Anne has let me know this is an adult male – my battery died right after I snagged him so perfect!

Least Bittern

Least Bittern

As if this were not enough Je Anne made a stop for us to see some Burrowing Owls (we saw 6) before we headed to our next destination.  I was pretty sad not to have my camera working for those fellers but it was still wonderful.  There was one sitting in the sand, one buried up to it’s eyeballs and a group of 4 a few feet away.  Super cool birds.  We also stopped to observe a group of Eurasian Collared Doves for good measure.  And this ended the city portion of our Nevada birding adventure. Although my camera was not working, the trip to Mount Charleston and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area was breathtakingly beautiful and I watched a bunch more wonderful lifers. Witnessed, IDed and confirmed for me lifers included:

  • Western Scrub Jay
  • Pinyon Jay
  • Violet Green Swallow
  • Western Bluebirds (juvenile and adults)
  • Great Tailed Grackles
  • Lesser Goldfinch (male and female)
  • Black-Headed Grosbeak (stunning bird)
  • Cassin’s Finch (male and female)

The camera phone is not great, but good enough for nabbing some photos of the Mule Deer, and the wild horses.  Yes I said wild horses.  Aplenty at that.

one of the many wild horses

one of the many wild horses

Mule Deer

Mule Deer

The one bird I had wanted to see but did not was the Roadrunner.  At the request of my nieces and nephew of course.  But on the drive back to the hotel I spotted not one, but two. Mother Nature always delivers…