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U.S.A. -- NEVADA
June 1995
by Martin Meyers
Spring sprung with a vengeance in southern Nevada this week. I've
never seen so many migrant passerines in the west. In the desert
migrant traps, every tree was filled with warblers, flycatchers,
orioles, thrushes, and tanagers. I didn't find anything "rare"
(some birders did), but I sure enjoyed myself.
Overwhelmingly, the warblers were Wilsons and Yellows, the tanagers
were Western, and the orioles were Bullocks. The flycatchers were
mostly Western Wood Peewees (lots of Western Kingbirds, too).
There were quite a few Olive Sideds and Empids, too. And every
thrush I saw was Swainsons -- and I saw hundreds of them.
Here's a
day-by-day report.
After leaving Fallon (reference the separate report on "Lesser" Golden
Plover), I headed for Tonopah, and the Miller's Rest Stop. This
small rest area has been one of the best migrant spots in the state,
and it certainly lived up to that reputation this week. I arrived
just before dark, and the wind was blowing pretty hard (a condition
that continued throughout the visit), so I didn't see much until the
next morning. (Nevada rest stops typically permit camping.)
Thursday
At dawn on Thursday, I was greeted by hundreds of WILSON'S and YELLOW
WARBLERS. There were a couple of COMMON YELLOWTHROATS mixed in,
along with a few TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. Four BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS
were present, along with numerous WESTERN WOOD PEEWEES, BARN SWALLOWS,
a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (dark lores), a LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and a couple
of SONG SPARROWS. There were five SWAINSON'S THRUSHES, a few
BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, several WESTERN TANAGERS, two CEDAR WAXWINGS,
numerous SAY'S PHOEBES, some GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES, a NORTHERN
MOCKINGBIRD, and the ever-present HOUSE SPARROWS and STARLINGS.
I spent two and a half hours in this little rest stop. But by
about eight a.m., the wind had picked up, and within the next hour or
so, it became really obnoxious, with gusts to forty m.p.h. Rather
than continue to bird around Tonopah, I let the wind drive me
away. Bad mistake! A local birder reported YELLOW-BELLIED
FLYCATCHER and GREATER PEEWEE at an apartment complex in town. I
did not see either of these birds and make no claim as to the
correctness of the reports. There was also a report of LARK
BUNTING.
My next stop was the Indian Springs Sewage Ponds, where I found a nice
male BLUE-WINGED TEAL (somewhat rare in southern Nevada), CINNAMON
TEAL, RUDDY DUCK, EARED GREBE, AMERICAN COOT, and MALLARD. Other
new birds for the trip included VIOLET GREEN SWALLOW, BANK SWALLOW, and
WHITE-THROATED SWIFT. I spooked a nice PRAIRIE FALCON.
There were numerous SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (as there have been all over
Nevada this year), some BONOPARTE'S GULLS, and a BLACK PHOEBE.
My next stop was on Mt. Charleston (one of my favorite birding areas in
southern Nevada.) The wind was blowing even more vigorously up on the
mountain, and my quest for GRACE'S WARBLER seemed doomed. Grace's
are found around the corner where the northern road onto the mountain
meets the road that crosses over to the southern road. (I don't
have a map here, but if you look at a Nevada map, the roads I'm
describing are obvious.) I really felt stupid standing in a gale,
worried that trees were going to topple onto my car (or me, for that
matter), looking for a warbler in a tree top. Not surprisingly, I
didn't find one at that corner. I drove a half mile or so along
the crossover road and pulled off into a paved parking area (the first
one on the eastern side of the road.) I only stopped to glance at my
map, so that I wouldn't have to look again as I entered the Las Vegas
area. As I looked at the map, what should I hear but a Grace's
Warbler! A few minutes of searching, and I actually got a very
nice look at this beautiful warbler. There were also
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS on the way down the southern road.
I ended the day at an area west of Las Vegas known as Potosi.
Potosi is an area of Pinyon/Juniper, with Joshua Trees, steep hillsides
and arroyos. It is a "must visit" area if you are heading toward
southern Nevada. Bracing myself against the wind, I was able to
add a few BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS, BLUE-GREY GNATCATCHERS, and BUSHTITS
to the trip-list. Townsend's Warblers were particularly abundant
here, along with lots of Wilsons and Yellows and, well, you know, all
those migrants again. (The next day, a GREY VIREO was
reported. I didn't hear it or see it, but I have seen them there
on previous trips, and it is known as one of the most reliable areas in
the state for that bird.)
I spent the night in a motel, and called the Cressman household for
some advice. The Cressmans handle the southern Nevada R.B.A., and
they provide their home phone number on the R.B.A. for people who
need advice as to locations or whatever. They are also the top
listers in Nevada, and they know the area like the back of their
hands. My next day of birding was mostly following advice from
Jim Cressman.
Friday
Friday was not quite as windy as Thursday, although by afternoon, it
was pretty breezy. I started the day near the Blue Diamond Sewage
Ponds. There is a great area of scrub north of the ponds.
Much of it is marked "No trespassing", but there is plenty of birding
without entering the marked area. Here I heard several BELL'S
VIREOS. I managed to get brief glimpses of two of them, both very
grey. Other new birds for the trip included GREAT BLUE HERON,
KILLDEER, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD (2), ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, NORTHERN
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, VERDIN, SOLITARY VIREO (Pacific coast form),
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (3), GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE,
BLACK-THROATED SPARROW, BREWER'S SPARROW, RED-WINGED and YELLOW-HEADED
BLACKBIRDS, a gorgeous male HOODED ORIOLE, LESSER GOLDFINCH, and HOUSE
FINCH. Many of the migrants already mentioned were present as
well. (I saw 28 species in this patch of scrub.)
From Blue Diamond, I returned to nearby Potosi in the hopes of finding
SCOTT'S ORIOLE. After about an hour and a half of searching, I
finally heard an Oriole and was able to get a fair look. The bird
was quite drab, dull yellow with a greyish head and back, probably a
first spring bird. Scott's is a beautiful bird -- I've seen many
in Arizona and a few in California. The bird I saw Friday was not
particularly beautiful, but I'll take it. A large flock of PINION
JAYS flew around noisily, and a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD was carrying nesting
material to a tree on the hillside. I also found my first
WARBLING VIREOS of the trip, along with several BROAD-TAILED
HUMMINGBIRDS. Numerous warblers and flycatchers made the stay
even more pleasant. (I did mention that there were a number of
migrants around, didn't I?)
My next stop was an attempt to find a ROADRUNNER. Somehow, that's
a bird I've missed in Nevada up until now. Jim sent me to an area
next to the Tropicana Palms Mobile Home Park which features nice desert
habitat as well as some wetlands. This was around 1:00 in the
afternoon, not exactly prime birding time in the desert, but I had a
really nice walk. GAMBEL'S QUAIL, ABERT'S TOWHEES, BLACK-TAILED
GNATCATCHERS, and a few CACTUS WRENS kept things interesting while I
listened in vain for a bird going "meep meep" :-). At the
wetlands, there was one WHITE-FACED IBIS, SNOWY and GREAT EGRETS, and
MARSH WRENS. Lots of warblers (surprise). I heard a
WHITE-WINGED DOVE mixed in with all the MOURNING DOVES, but didn't see
it. I walked all the way to the end of the path, then turned
around and walked all the way back. This took around two
hours. And there, twenty feet from my car, was a Roadrunner!
Next, I headed north to Corn Creek, another of my favorite southern
Nevada birding locations. It was now about 4:30, breezy, hot,
humid. Perfect time for another walk in the desert. And
within a short time, up popped two LECONTE'S THRASHERS! Lots of
SAGE SPARROWS around, too.
I returned to my car and drove on into the Corn Creek research area, a
lush oasis that welcomes birders as long as you stay on the trails and
don't look in the residents' windows with binoculars. Here I
found WILLOW FLYCATCHER, a few silent "WESTERN" FLYCATCHERS, an
interesting family group(?) of one adult INDIGO BUNTING, one adult
LAZULI BUNTING, and several immature whatevers. A large (and
somewhat unexpected) flock of CASSIN'S FINCHES and several LARK
SPARROWS added to the fun. Oh, did I mention there were tons of
warblers, tanagers, .., oh yeah, I guess I did mention that. I
followed the "Western" Flycatchers until sunset hoping for a
call. Unsuccessful. As evening arrived, LESSER NIGHTHAWKS
appeared.
Saturday
I headed over to Lida, where a SUMMER TANAGER had been reported.
I was able to find that gorgeous bird (singing vigorously), as well as
numerous warb.., uh, never mind. ROCK WRENS were all over.
A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK flew by. And one of the biggest surprises of
the trip, a single VAUX SWIFT flew overhead. And I finally caught
up with another of my Nevada nemesis birds, CHUKAR. I've stumbled
over Chukar in California, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming, but try as I
might, I had never managed to find one in Nevada. But at Lida,
there was a very attractive hillside, and I spent about fifteen minutes
searching it carefully, And, sure enough, one lone Chukar came into
view!
My next stop (and last stop for the southland) was Dyer, Nevada.
This is an area that many California birders visit when they "do the
desert" at Memorial Day, and it is often excellent for vagrants at that
time. (You'll note that I have not mentioned any eastern warblers
or vireos, etc. If the migration continues as dramatically as it
was this week, I really envy the migrant chasers who show up in a
couple of weeks. But it was too early, I guess, for the lost
eastern birds.)
At Dyer, I added DUSKY FLYCATCHER, GREY FLYCATCHER, an unexpected
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, SWAINSON'S HAWK, and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE to the
trip list. And, yes, the trees were full of migrants. One
fence had over 40 Western Tanagers lined up on it! But by now,
the wind had really picked up again. I had planned to spend
another day or two, but the predictions were for more wind, and I
decided I'd had enough. I called the Cressmans to report on my
successes, thanked them again, and headed north.
I did make one more interesting stop, by the way. At a marsh just
south of Gardnerville, Nevada (that's up near Carson City), I went and
saw the large flock of TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS that had been discovered a
few days before.
Finally, a note about flycatchers. I found myself really confused
this week by Peewees, Olive-Sideds, Dusky/Hammond types, and
Willows. There were many birds that were obviously Western Wood
Peewees, some that were obvious Ash-throateds, and some that were
obvious Empids. But there were an awful lot of birds that were,
well, not so obvious. I guess I didn't realize how dependent I
have been on calls and behavior. Many a small dark flycatcher,
sitting quietly (both in terms of sound and movement) really made me
humble. (I'm not talking about trying to differentiate Duskies
and Hammonds, or anything like that. I'm talking about trying to
decide if that flycatcher is an Empid, a Peewee, or an Olive-Sided.)
Martin Meyers
Reno, NV
meyers@scs.unr.edu