southwestern birding tales

New home for this blog

2006-07-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have a new blog here:

http://3lvbirders.homeschooljournal.net/

I am leaving this blog up for the archives. Hope to see you at our new home.

Our Park Walk

2006-04-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

10:30 am sunny, warm - high 60's, breezy

Common species sighted:

house finch
house sparrow
rock pigeon
northern mockingbird
brewer's blackbirds
white-crowned sparrows
mourning doves
anna's hummingbird
savannah sparrows

There were numerous opportunities on this walk to observe different birding behaviors of spring:

As we walked the wash we stopped to watch;

- Three male great-tailed grackles ALL pursuing one lone female, calling loudly as they all flew and dived after her.
- Two verdin flying back and forth with nesting material (such as that seen in the picture at top) for the nest they were building.
- One killdeer doing a broken wing act as it must have had a nest somewhere close to where we were walking.

On our way home we spotted:

- The gambels quail that we had been hearing sitting on top of the brick wall of a house that sits adjacent to the wash where construction is going on. Josh and I have seen more and more quail in people's yards as a result of this construction.
- A prairie falcon circling above the park.

One of the highlights of the walk was our first spotting for the year of two brewers sparrows. :)

Owls, a Brown Thrasher, and the desire for a telephoto lens or digiscope

2006-04-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

This past week, on one of the bird forums that Josh reads, various people posted about seeing an eastern phoebe and a brown thrasher at Corn Creek. In anticipation we headed out there yesterday morning bright and early.

We never did catch sight of the phoebe but as we were walking along the trail beside some bare brush Josh stopped to listen intently. All of a sudden out of the brush and right across the path in front of us comes a brown thrasher! We were only able to see it for a short time as it headed to the other side of the path and into more bare brush but oh what a sight! Beautiful rich brown! After our hearts settled to their normal rythmns, Josh told me that he stopped as he heard the "thrashing" in the bush. He explained the technique these birds use and why he was alerted to the potential of a bird there. Amazing. He never ceases to surprise me with his avian knowledge which really shouldn't be a surprise to me any more. After all this is the boy who reads and studies bird field guides and books for FUN! One of the gentlemen birders that we met even made a comment to Josh about how knowledgable he was for someone so young.

We were also able to get another great look at momma owl and her owlets.

If you look in the middle of the y of the tree towards the middle of the picture (and squint really hard), thus the wish for a something to get closer shots lol) you will see a dark shape and two little owl eyes looking out at you. A better look at the picture can be seen here. There were three little ones huddled next to each other and momma was sitting in a higher branch watching over them.

Looking close in this picture you can even see her "long ears". Josh and I felt like a couple of tour guides as we met and showed these beautiful birds to two birders from out of town. It was so wonderful to watch these birders in awe as these were the first long-eared owls they had seen being from other parts of the US and Canada. As we watched with one of the briders lo and heold didn't we see ANOTHER baby up there on the branch with her. Josh has said all along that he had seen four. Boy did this mom have to eat HER words lol. We even had to show the lady who works there the owlets as she had not seen them yet. She in return showed us where there was another owl and Josh was able to get this amazing picture.

The owl is nestled in the middle of the picture towards the bottom blending in so very well with his surroundings. It might be clearer to see here.

We saw robins, yellow-rumped warblers, a says and a black phoebe, and numerous ruby-crowned kinglets. We heard the american coot in the pond and also the bullfrog who lives there.

All in all a wonderful day.

Desert National Wildlife Refuge - Corn Creek Field Station

2006-03-31T12:40:00.000-08:00

This morning Josh and I took a ride out to Corn Creek which is a field station in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. This is largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. It is about 30 minutes from where we live in Las Vegas.

On the way in we got some great looks of horned larks, (we were close enough to see their "horns" :), sage thrasher, savannah sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, western meadowlark, american kestrel and common ravens.

Walking around the field station itself, we saw house finches, american robins, ruby-crowned kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers (beautiful males in breeding plumage), a song sparrow and a verdin.

The "bird of the day" was a momma long-eared owl and her three or four (we couldn't tell about the fourth for sure or not) nestlings. They were a sight! Grey, fluffy balls cuddled all around their mom. They are tucked inside this tree in the Y. You'll have to take my word for it as our camera does not zoom in.

We didn't stay long as it was very windy and cold but the trip out there was well worth it in just seeing these nestlings with their momma :)

Birding Basics

2006-03-31T12:03:00.000-08:00

I have often heard people comment that they would love to begin birding but just don't know where to start. Little do they realize they probably already have been birding or what some strict birders would call "birdwatching". Most everyone I know birdwatches at least if nothing else. You see a bird or two in your neighborhood and acknowledge them. You hear a birdcall and stop to appreciate it. That alone is birdwatching. Now, birding, is usually defined as the practice of going out with the intention of seeing birds, sometimes specific birds. Our family has done both, more just "birdwatching" in the beginning and then more intense "birding" as we continued along this wonderful journey. There are great benefits to both. Birdwatching is an excellent avenue to get in touch with a wonderful part of God's creation. Josh, who just turned 12, has within this past year (which by the way was his first year of doing this) turned an interest into a passion and brought mom and dad along for the ride. Doesn't matter that he is 12. Shoot! He passed his dad and I in the ability department longgg ago lol. He has met many adults, through being out and about and birding and through specific Audubon field trips, that are blown away by him. I just shrug and laugh. I don't think he could deny this new passion if he wanted to. Birding has become a part of him. When we started all of this none of us knew much. We all learned as we went along, some of us like Josh, faster than the others, ie his dad and mom :)

To get started you don't have to go farther than your own back or front yard. Look. Pay attention. ALL of us have birds where we live even here in the desert of Las Vegas! (That was something I wasn't so sure of when we thought of moving here. Boy was I wrong!)

If you feel a need to do more; get a few feeders, put out some water for the birds (nothing fancy is required, a bowl will do).

If you are still feeling an itch that isn't enough: borrow a field guide from your library or buy one at the local bookstore (Josh now has 6 different ones), get a pair of binoculars (cheap ones can be found at the pawn shop or local KMart or such), begin keeping a list of what you see (again simplicity is OK - a homemade notebook will do fine). Don't worry about making identification mistakes. The most experienced birder friend we know and a fantastic lady told Josh that even the best make mistakes as we learn ALL the time. No one knows everything.
I guarantee you if you have gotten to this point you have probably been bitten by the bug or should I say "bird". :) Enjoy!

Our park walk this morning

2006-03-30T14:06:00.000-08:00

Yellow-rumped Warbler- Myrtle Subspecies
Picture from All About Birds

This morning Josh and I took our usual walk up to our park to bird. It is a beautiful spring day here in Las Vegas and the birds it seemed agreed with this as they were out and about and singing! Josh looked at me at one point during our walk and said to me, "Is it just me or does everything seem to be in pairs?" Ahhh, Spring indeed :)

During each walk we are blessed to see something of nature that speaks to our hearts as well as our minds. This morning our hearts went out to two special birds, one a great-tailed grackle and the other a gambel's quail. Watching the two at different times and places, we noticed as they were hopping on the ground, each had a broken foot. We brightened when we were also able to see each of them fly off with strong wings. I was reminded of this post by Dawn on her blog, By Sun and Candlelight.

We also watched three verdins in the wash, two of them very loud and on the ground in what seemed a wrestling match. Josh concluded they were either two males fighting over a female or the two were a male and female mating. I did say it was Spring didn't I?

We saw our first sighting of tree swallows for this year as they swooped and dived over the wash. Our "bird of the day" as Josh likes to call it though was a myrtle subspecies of the yellow-rumped warbler, the bird in the picture at the top of this post. Beautiful bird!

Here's a list of the species we saw today and recorded in our Bird Log:

house sparrow
house finch
northern mockingbird
tree swallows
verdin
says phoebes
brewers blackbirds
killdeer
great-tailed grackle
gambel's quail
white-crowned sparrows
rock wren
american kestrel
european starling
rock pigeon
anna's hummingbird
savannah sparrows
myrtle subspecies of yellow-rumped warbler

2006-03-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

God's blessings are truly amazing and they come in so many different ways. This tree is in our front yard. It is one of our favorite blessings that he has given us.

This morning as I sat on our computer looking out two verdins flew in and sat for awhile amongts it's branches flitting about every so often.

The other day, I came running as Josh excitedly called to me to come quick. There flying from branch to branch was a beautiful female yellow-rumped warbler. She was close enough that with my binoculars and even with Josh's young eyes unaided, we say the yellow on her face and on her sides. She even flashed us a nice view of her yellow rump which gives her the name. Josh identified her as a female because she had duller coloring on the rest of her body. The males are brighter. I took this picture as she sat on a branch. You can't see her markings though unfortunately as our camera does not zoom much. Here is where you can see a male. All About Birds, the web site I just linked is a fantastic site to see pictures and get great information on birds if you are interested.

We'd love to hear about any of your blessings.

The Death of Socrates and the Removal of a Tree with a Nest

2006-03-25T07:25:00.000-08:00

Mar. 16, 2006 -

Today was a really hard day for Josh and I. He has been sick with a stomach bug this week and as a result, today was the first time we have been able to take our usual walk to the park.

As is our usual routine, we walked around the park to where Socrates' den is, upon first arriving at the park. We didn't see him but weren't concerned as this is a hit or miss occurrence each time we venture up to the park. Josh asked to walk the wash going our backward route. As he headed up and around a corner he stopped abruptly and cried out. There on the ground was Socrates, face down, dead. Upon closer inspection we saw that a juvenile desert cottontail was also dead underneath one of Socrates' wings that was still spread out. I was amazed at the size of the rabbit he had obviously killed for food. Our best guess is that the rabbit was too heavy for him and somehow after killing it and trying to fly with it he ended up crashing to the ground as we could tell upon turning him over that his beak had been smashed.

Joshua was and still is heartbroken. He knows that death is a part of life and we were blessed to have Socrates as a part of our own lives for the time we did. This bird brought amazing joy into our birding experiences and for that we are forever grateful.

Saddened we continued our walk only to see heavy equipment "maintaining" another part of the wash. These washes are used for runoff during the heavy rains of the monsoon season and are supposed to be kept free of any hindering vegetation etc. Policy that makes sense except for the fact that this is only the second time in 4 years they have actually done it. The killdeer that are in the wash were flying around very agitated as the digging was going on in an area where they have been lately.

We dealt with this same "operation" last year when they removed shrubs and such that had grown up for the past 3 years and had nests in at migration time. Shaking our heads we decided to just walk the path and go home. As we came upon the bridge area where the verdin's nest was in the process of being built, we saw nothing! NO nest, NO tree even. It had been removed! We have no idea why this tree was taken out.

Some hard life lessons, both from nature and from man, have left us with some heavy hearts today. We feel very thankful we at least have had the experiences we did and even have pictures as memories.

Spring, Two Veridns and a Nest

2006-03-25T07:22:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day I made this post.

We had noticed this nest a few days before and thinking out loud said, "Hang on just a minute, that had NOT been here during the winter!" Excited we have been watching it ever since knowing that this is a nest of 2 verdins for laying their eggs this spring. Yesterday, Josh and I sighted both the birds going to and from the nest.

You can see a picture I took yesterday of one of the verdins here.

Such great fun to watch and such a blessing that even in suburbia, life in nature continues in spite of us "Big Ones".

2006-03-25T07:18:00.000-08:00

Mar. 10, 2006

We would like to introduce you to Socrates, the resident burrowing owl in the wash in our neighborhood park, so named by Josh who felt that he should be called something other than 'the burrowing owl'.

You can see a close up of this picture here and be able to see him better. In the beginning when we first began to see him we often overlooked him mistaking him for just another rock. We have gotten much better at detecting him.

Yesterday as we came upon the area we usually see him (which has been just about every day now) we became concerned. There is construction going on in an area of the wash; a major project of condos, offices, retail shops. Well, they have begun using a back access road to get into the site. This is just across from where Socrates has moved in after being evicted from the other section of the wash by this very construction.

Josh spotted him right away though and he just sat there looking around and probably wondering what in the world these Big Ones were up to.

We are hoping that he does not get agitated and decide to move somewhere else for we would surely miss this wonderful fellow.

Great Backyard Bird Count II

2006-03-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

Feb. 25, 2006

Great Backyard Bird Count

Josh and I birded our neighborhood park for all four days of this count (well he did, I missed one day) and his dad was able to join us for 3 of those days. We birded at different times to try and get a feel for the population at different times of the day. Josh and his dad birded on the third day without me and were worried that it wouldn't go as well as we had been doing. Boy were they wrong! lol It was a much colder and greyer day than we had been having (we have been in the low 70's at times in weeks past with ALWAYS plentiful sunshine as our weatherman says) and we even had some snow flurries that morning. Well they saw a few species we hadn't seen, saw species we had seen but this time in higher numbers and finally sighted the Burrowing Owl that is a resident (albeit a shy one) of our wash! :)

Each day we sent in our results online and always in excitement looked at the results for our area as well as the rest of the country. We were surprised to see that we were the only count in Nevada to list having seen a burrowing owl :)

So, drumroll please, here is the total count:

- Four days of birding for a total of 5 hours
- 365 total number of birds seen
- 25 different species sighted which included the following:

Red-tailed hawk
Great-tailed grackle
Killdeer
European starling
Northern mockingbird
Mourning dove
Rock pigeon
Gamble's quail
White-crowned sparrow
Prairie falcon
Verdin
Say's phoebe
Northern flicker
Anna's hummingbird
American pipits
Brewer's blackbird
House finch
House sparrow
American kestrel
Rock wren
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Burrowing owl
Western meadowlark
Abert's towhee
Common raven

We are looking forward to hearing about other families Great Backyard Bird count experiences.

Great Backyard Bird Count

2006-03-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

Feb. 17, 2006

Great Backyard Bird Count
As avid birders now for almost a year, we were very excited to find out about this wonderful program.

Sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon, the information from this annual bird count across the country is gathered by people just like you and me and then used by scientists to further understand bird population, habits, patterns, etc. You don't have to be an experienced birder to participate and it only takes as little as 15 minutes on one day to help out.

Josh and I are birding our neighborhood, our neighborhood park and the desert wash adjacent to the park. We will do this for the four days that the count covers. We are going to vary the time we bird to see the differnce in how many and which types of birds are out during various times of the day.This is something we do almost daily anyway. The difference being we will keep count of how many of each species we are seeing.

Today we birded for just a little over an hour, from 2:30 pm - 3:36 pm. Here is our tally for that time:

1 red-tailed hawk
19 great-tailed grackle
2 killdeer
29 european starling
4 northern mockingbird
13 mourning dove
13 rock dove (pigeon)
12 gamble's quail
5 white-crowned sparrow
1 prarie falcon
4 verdin
2 say's phoebe
1 northern flicker
1 anna's hummingbird
20 american pipits
3 brewer's blackbirds
2 house finch

A Valentine's for the birds

2006-02-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

or should I say WITH the birds :)

Yesterday on our walk to the park Josh and I were given numerous Valentine gifts from our friends, the birds.

Walking in the neighborhood up to the park we saw an American Kestrel swoop on to the top of a light post across from us and up the street a little. We studied him and got good looks at his red and blue back until he flew off to another light post a little further away. As we walked on, two Common Ravens flew overhead and we also caught sight of one of our neighborhood resident Says Phoebes. House Finches, House Sparrows, Rock Doves, Northern Mockingbirds, and Mourning Doves were numerous as always.

Upon reaching the park were the ever present and loud Great-tailed Grackles as well as more Northern Mockingbirds. We also saw the Brewer's Blackbirds that we had seen previously but have not been there as much as they had been in the last few months. The White-Crowned Sparrows were in one of their usual spots. Alas, it seems the Red-tailed Hawk that sat on the tree in the golf course next to the park is gone as we have not seen him in weeks now.

Josh headed down in the wash, as I stayed up on top watching him, trying to find a bird that we had seen fly down to a bush at the bottom. We were both able to see it finally as it came out from the bush to reveal itself as a beautiful Western Meadowlark with it's vibrant yellow breast and black v. On the other side of the wash he came upon a pair of Mourning Doves and their nest and carefuly backed away as not to disturb them. Walking along with him at a distance were some of the wash's resident Gambles Quail. We were able to get very good looks at a Rock Wren in the wash also. We saw and heard an Annas Hummingbird flying around. Coming back up to my side of the wash at top, he stopped a moment to watch the spot where we have seen our Burrowing Owl. As I started to tell him that I had been looking for awhile and hadn't spotted the owl, didn't that same owl fly right out of the very spot he is usually at not five feet from where Josh was standing! It is such an amazing thing to see him in flight and also amazing at how well camouflaged this owl is in the wash. Perfect habitat for him. We try to be as careful as we can not to disturb him but sometimes because of this we can't help but "stumble" upon him.

Before heading home we took a walk along the rest of the path around the park and were very glad we did. Josh caught sight of a verdin with material in it's mouth. As we watched, it flew straight to the VERY nest we had noticed the other day and had remarked at how we hadn't seen it before and wondered if some bird had already started it's breeding nest. Well, we have our answer now :)

Josh is getting excited as Spring gets ever nearer. Signs keep popping up proclaiming it's arrival, such as the trees budding in the park and the birds building their nests. We have noticed the verdin's call has even changed and are thinking now that it is doing it's mating call along with it's normal song.

Love it seems IS in the air.

Lots more birding going on

2006-02-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

Burrowing Owl
picture from What Bird site

This morning Josh and I headed up to our neighborhood park to bird. We have been trying to do this a few times a week and keeping track of what is there each time. In January we were able to finally see the Burrowing Owl that we had been told by neighbors that lived in the wash sandwiched in between our park and a golf course. He was such an amazing sight. Josh and I stood there hardly daring to breathe for the first few minutes. We have since been blessed to see this bird again numerous times and this morning was no exception. Josh and I smile just thinking how lucky we are to have this species living within a few minutes of where we ourselves live. :) The park has been fairly quiet in the winter but we have enjoyed watching the different behavior of many of the birds. This is another aspect of birding that is fun for Josh besides identifying new birds he hasn't seen before.

There has been a tremendous amount of birding that has gone on in our house but we are much poorer at actually documenting it here.

In the middle of December we participated in our first Christmas bird count and had a great time! For Christmas, Josh was given a surprise birding trip to Monteray, California with his dad. Then in January, Josh and I were able to go on our local Audubon group's trip to San Diego. My goodness. Between the two trips Josh added over 50 new life birds! We had such a great time with the small group of people that we went with to San Diego. It never ceases to surprise me how generous of their time and knowledge seasoned birders are and how blessed we are as a result. Josh is now up to 266 life birds and he still hasn't closed in on his first year of birding yet!

We are gearing up for our first participation in the Great Backyard Birdcount. We had to laugh as lately when we go to the park, which is the place we will be using for the count, Josh and I have found ourselves counting the birds. Practice makes perfect they say lol.

I am going to try and make a concerted effort to post here more often. I love sharing the amazing experiences that birding has brought to us.

our latest birding walks

2005-12-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

We have been heading up to the park almost every day for a bird walk in our neighborhood park and I always feel blessed by the "surprises" we are given each and every time. Within the last few weeks we have seen new birds in the park including a northern flicker, a lesser goldfinch, inca doves, abert's towhee, red-tailed hawk, raven, and prairie falcon.

This morning was no exception as we saw two western meadowlarks on the ground under a group of bushes in the park. As we watched them and got great views of their beautiful vibrant yellow breasts with the black v two more flew in next to them.

None of these birds are new to Josh as he has seen some of them many times before but to see them in our own environment is reason enough to get excited all over again about them.

We are gearing up for TWO Christmas bird counts with our local Audubon group that we will be a part of in a couple of weeks. They are back to back on Dec. 17th and Dec. 18th and Josh is in heaven knowing he will be birding ALL day, BOTH days lol. His poor dad is doing both while I opted to just do one.

I had to laugh this morning as we were at Target looking for ornaments as gifts. I showed him a "cardinal" and he just looked and me and politely stated that really looked like a scarlet tangager but had the tail length wrong etc. There was a lady behind us who commented that he must know his birds. That's putting it lightly lol.

within the past two weeks

2005-11-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

Josh and I have seen in our neighborhood and backyard:

- an American Kestrel on top of the lightpost at the corner of our street
- a western meadowlark in our backyard
- american pipits in the wash next to the golf course and park in our neighborhood
- two abert's towhees in our backyard

These wonderful experiences never cease to amaze us!

latest birding news

2005-11-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Josh and I have been having a great time birding our area lately. We have been able to add to his life list with new birds of wood duck (both male and female), bufflehead, and american wigeon, ross's goose, and wild turkeys.

In our own neighborhood park we have new birds that have come in such as the white-crowned sparrow, brewers blackbird, ruby-crowned kinglets, and yellow-rumped warblers.We have even had western meadowlarks there a few times. We still have our regulars such as the verdins, great-tailed grackles, rock and mourning doves, house finches and house sparrows as well as the anna's hummingbirds.

This morning we saw a female summer tanager which was very unusual for this late in the season.

Our best sighting has happened during this last week, a Northern Parula! We saw this on Nov. 7th and then again this morning during our walk. This is a bird that is listed as being a rare vagrant migrant for our area. Because of this I was a little skeptical of Josh's id the first time. This morning there is NO doubt in my mind that Josh NAILED this id. What an amazing bird! I have to also say what an amazing kid I have :) He seems to have a natural talent as well as a passion for this wonderful thing called "birding" and I am blessed to be able to share this with him.

the morning after

2005-10-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

After two days of rain and I do mean actual rain here in Las Vegas, Josh and I took an early morning walk up to our neighborhood park.

The first thing we saw was lots of blackbirds, brewers, great-tailed grackles and starlings. As we began walking around the path, we observed two western meadowlarks down in the bushes in between the wash and the edge of the park. We snuck up to get a closer look. We were rewarded with great looks at detailed field marks as they just sat on the bush and on the ground. We also saw a ruby-crowned kinglet and a flock of white-crowned sparrows within this same area. As we were looking at the sparrows, Josh looked down into the wash and was excited to see a part of the wash near the golf course on the other side with 30+ western meadowlarks. We took a walk down into the wash to get closer views. As soon as we got close, a bunch of them flew to the other side of the wash and up into the golf course. Walking across the wash we ended up in mud up to our shins from the previous rains. We got some amazing views of the yellow and the black v on these birds! We also observed killdeer and a say's phoebe while walking in the wash.

On our way back home we caught sight of another say's phoebe on top of one of the neighborhood walls and then it flew to the top of a light pole allowing us to get some great looks.

A great morning birding right in our own neighborhood.

the beauty of being serenaded

2005-10-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

The other night during a twilight walk at our neighborhood park and again during this morning's early morning walk, Josh and I were serenaded with the beautiful songs of numerous White- Crowned Sparrows that are presently inhabiting the trees. What a wonderful way to start and end the day. We were able to get great views of the birds too.

Here's a site that has a picture and you can also listen to it singing:

http://home.teleport.com/~jorrie/sparrow-white-crowned.htm

During this morning's walk we also saw a Townsend's Warbler and a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.

loss of habitat

2005-09-23T02:18:00.000-07:00

This morning Josh and I went up the park to bird the wash for the first day of fall only to find they had bulldozed it! I spoke with the operators of the diggers and such and they were so nice. They agreed it was a shame, they hated doing it, the city has neglected keeping this free of vegetation for the last 3 years (since we've moved here!!!). This is a drainage area for the wash and needs to be clear. The guys gave me the name and numbers of depts and supervisors to call, told me that they hadn't done a bird study which is generally what is supposed to have been done (only I didn't hear it from them ;) , and then stopped and told me that their supervisor and some EPA officials were supposed to be there soon. Well just their supervisor showed up, I taked to him, got some more names and numbers. We'll talk to Je Anne tomorrow when we go birding at the Preserve and see what she suggests is the best course of action to take. Josh is heartbroken. He was so upset he was crying. It was a huge shock to see that empty void when we weren't expecting it. Good lesson in bureacracy and taking a stand on something he cares about though.

We have been birding with the Audubon goup and Josh is up to 180 birds. He is hoping to make it to 200 before the year ends.

We missed our first Audubon meeting because I was blessed to be at the birth of a friend's baby instead. Josh was so cute about it telling me that there would be many more meetings but how many more births lol.

Henderson Bird Preserve

2005-09-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Friday, Sept. 2, mom and I went to the Henderson Bird Preserve after dropping off Brad at work. Our favorite birder was working and let us in. As we got ready to go out with Je Anne, she noticed a falcon circling pond one. Grabbing binoculars, we all looked and realized it was a Peregrine. The Peregrine circled a few times and then dove down into a flock of Phalaropes, both Red-necked and Wilsons. He did this a few times and the birds scattered. He nabbed a straggler and took off with it. WOW! What a way to start the morning. We all knew we were in for some good birding then :))

AND we were right! Here's the list for the day:

American Avocet (in winter plumage)
Savannah Sparrow (life bird)
Blue Grosbeak - female (life bird)
Black-necked Stilt
Great-tailed Grackle
Least Bittern
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper (life bird)
Western Sandpiper
Prairie Falcon
Peregrine Falcon (life bird)
Osprey (life bird)
Black Tern (life bird)
American Kestrel
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Great Blue Heron
Common Yellowthroat
Orange-crowned Warbler
Verdin
House Finch
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Cinnamon Teal
Ruddy Duck (males in winter plumage without their blue bill)
American Coot
Aberts Towhee
Gambles Quail
Wilsons Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Black Phoebe
Western Kingbird
White-faced Ibis
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged swallow
Marsh Wren
Crissal Thrasher
Sora
Killdeer
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Song Sparrow
Turkey Vulture
Eared Greeb
Western Greeb

We are always in debt to Je Anne. She is such an amazing birder. Extremely knowledgable in this field and more than willing to share with us. Thanks once again.

Hooded Orioles

2005-09-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

This morning my Dad looked out the window and saw an interesting bird. He called me and asked what it was. We all went out to get a better look. It was a male Hooded Oriole. After a minute of looking another bird flew in . . . . . . . It was a female Hooded Oriole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a way to start off the weekend.

camping at Lee Canyon

2005-08-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

The same night that Josh and I took our hike in Lee Canyon we decided to go impromtu camping. Older brother and sister who are still at home were both out of town so it seemed like a good opportunity. Dad and Josh went up the mountain that night to reserve a spot (it fills up over the weekend). They came back down and then Dad went back up for the night coming back down in the morning on Saturday to collect Josh and Mom and the rest of the camping gear. Alot of coming and going huh!

On the way to pick up a few needed grocery items that morning, Dad discovered a screw in one of the tires. Detour to tire place (on a Saturday morning aghhhh) and after ending up having to buy 2 new front tires we were finally on our way, albeit much later than we had anticipated. Josh was getting a full dose of Mom's lectures of being open enough to Plan B sometimes. (Shoot lately we have had LOTS of Plan B's with even a few Plan C's lol).

Anyhow we made it up the mountain, the campsite was wonderful and began setup of tent etc. Ate lunch and no sooner were we done than the skies opened up with a storm and I do mean STORM. We were, after all, at around 8000 feet elevation. Lightning was VERY close and the rain and hail, yes I said hail, came down in torrents. Josh and I tried to stay calm in the tent playing cards but finally gave up that charade. Dad (who is an experienced hiker and backpacker) even admitted later he got very close to making us all get in the van. Storm finally played itself out and the sun came shining once again. The air was a little crisper but gorgeous.

Mom, forgetting her lectures to Son, started moaning and complaing because boy were things WET!! Dad showed AMAZING patience with her and just proceeded to lay things out to dry. Mom and Son went on a hike to stomp out some frustration, I mean bird! We saw white breasted nuthatch, a male yellow rumped warbler, stellars jays, black headed grosbeak and an amazing sighting of a pine siskin on a flower pecking out seeds!! On our return we ate dinner
and then it was Dad and Son's turn for a bird hike while Mom relaxed with her Jan Karon book, These High Green Hills. The men saw northern flicker (which gave them excellent views to see details), mountain chickadee, and white breasted nuthatch.

The night was filled with a fire (that only got going after Mom entreated Dad to just throw the whole dang bundle that we had on it!), VERY cool temps, smores and a visit from oldest daughter (who doesn't live at home) who stayed the night with us.

Next morning after breakfast oldest daughter left to thaw out, Dad and Son went on a birding hike on Bristlecone Pine Trail, and Mom settled back down with her Jan Karon book. Back on the walkie talkies she was again given a sighting by sighting description of what they saw which included hermit thrush, brown creeper, clark's nutcracker, stellars jay, townsends solitaire, SEVEN hairy woodpeckers, lots of pine siskins, black headed grosbeak, mountain chickadee, mountain and western bluebird, chipping sparrow, dark eyed junco, pygmy nuthatch, and white breasted nuthatch.

As Dad and Son birded and Mom read, the skies began to darken. Mom, not wanting to take chances, began to tear down camp and by the time the men returned had pretty much everything done. Good thing too because no sooner did we get the car packed up and started down the mountain that once again the skies opened up!

Well it is after all monsoon season in the desert :))

Lee Canyon Mt Charleston

2005-08-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day and what an absolutely gorgeous place.

Josh and I left early, by 8 am, which got us up to the meadow before the morning's dew had even evaporated. There was no one else around other than work crews we passed on the way up. We decided to bird the meadow first and came upon numerous chipping sparrows flitting back and forth among the trees. As we wandered around we came upon horse hoof tracks which reminded us of the time we saw the three wild horses in this very meadow. We heard and saw more than a few broad tailed hummingbirds as they dove all over the place. Coming upon a cluster of trees in one section we were lucky enough to spot a green-tailed towhee, a life bird for Josh. We watched the antics of a pygmy nuthatch pecking at the branches and hanging upside down. And we were given the remarkable gift of being just 3 feet from a dark eyed junco (along with numerous other friends of his) gray headed sub species. We stood absolutely still and watched in wonder as this bird pecked and walked on the ground until moving slightly we scared him up into the nearest tree accidently. This place to me has to be heaven on earth!

We moved on up the canyon to the top and parked at the ski area parking lot. We then began a slow amble along Bristlecone Pine Trail. Before going far we spotted a female yellow-rumped warbler, a black-headed grosbeak, a female cassin's finch, a female western blue bird, and a western wood peewee. Josh asked to just sit in the area we were observing and what a wise decision that was as we sat silently watching and taking in the beauty of this place suddenly we spotted a hawk fly out from a distant tree and circle. That hawk then flew within 6 feet of where we were sitting. Amazing!! Josh knew right away as he watched that it was a sharp-shinned hawk. Beautiful!!

Ambling along a little while after this we saw a male mountain bluebird, a male cassin's finch and two female western tanagers. We were given yet another gift as we were able to watch one of the females, who was about 10 feet from us, eating berries from a bush. THESE are the things I love about birding.

Even the drive back home gave a sighting of a red-tailed hawk!

All and all a wonderful day of birding :)))

Hooded Oriole...

2005-06-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

spotted the other day at our bird feeder.

I had just by chance looked out the window and there it was a female Hooded Oriole. WOW!!!!!!!
This is the first oriole we have gotten at the feeder.

Josh

Hualapai birding trip

2005-06-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday we were fortunate to go birding with two of the most knowledgable woman in Las Vegas to the Hualapai Mountains in Arizona.

We weren't even out of the city when we were given our first surprise by our guides when we were shown burrowing owls along the highway going to Boulder City. Josh and I couldn't believe it. One was sitting on a light post while the other was sitting right on the side of the road.

On the highway to Kingman we saw numerous redtailed hawks and ravens along with more than a few nests on the poles. A stop along the way right before we went into Haulapaii mountains gave us views of cassin's kingbird, mama quails and many babies, canyon towhee, crissel thrasher, lucy's warbler, and also blackthroated sparrows.

On arrival in the picnic area of Haulapai we saw a few acorn woodpeckers. We also saw an amazing sight. One of the trees there is the woodpecker's granary tree and is filled from top to bottom with holes with acorns in them. At the vistor's center we saw a group of turkey vultures soaring in the sky overhead. Looking more closely at the group we realized that one turned out to be a zone tailed hawk. It's important to remember to always give closer inspection when seeing what you think are turkey vultures because the zone tailed hawks fly along with them sometimes. The reasoning behind this being that rodents and other small mammals will look up and see the turkey vultures and not worry because they are carrian eaters and scavenge their food. They won't be as on guard. This gives the zone tails the chance to swoop down and catch them. While in the mountains we also saw Grace's warbler, a flock of bush tits, white breasted nuthatches, western bluebirds, western wood peewee, black headed grosbeak, house wren, say's phoebe, lesser goldfinch, chipping sparrows, spotted towhees, and western scrub jay.

A stop in Laughlin on the way home produced a single cliff swallow.

Josh and I were so grateful for the opportunity to bird with these two amazing women. They are always so giving of their time and knowledge. What an amazing day we had.

Summer's birding notebook

2005-06-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

Recently Josh and I came across Summer's great blog about her own birding experiences. She also has a message board there and we have met the nicest bunch of people on it. Much great birding experiences shared amongst all. Be sure to check her site out and say hi. I have put a link on the side bar so you can find her.

birding trips galore

2005-06-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

Since we got the blog up we have been so busy out and about birding that we haven't had time to even sit at the computer to log on and share our adventures. lol We have been to Corn Creek at Desert National Wildlife Range (twice), Red Rock Canyon conservation (twice), Henderson Bird Perserve (once) and to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge (twice).

We have seen an amazing amount of different species in each of these places. One of the trips to Corn Creek we took with a ranger from Red Rock and had a fabulous day seeing new birds such as Great Blue Heron and Greater Roadrunner. We got yet another chance to see the long-eared owls which are always amazing. We took to calling this trip the Phainopepla trip since that seemed to be the bird of the day. Everytime we looked there they were.

During our Red Rock trips I was lucky enough to finally see a loggerheaded shrike. Josh and his dad had already seen one at an earlier Corn Creek visit. We saw a momma chukar with her babies both times we went out to Red Rock. What a sight it is to see these little ones. We saw a Scott's Oriole during one of these trips and what an amazing bird! On our second trip we saw numerous scrub jays with their beautiful blue! We also spotted a few spotted towhees.

Josh and Steve took the first trip out to Pahranagat by themselves. They saw 33 species that day including: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Canada Goose, 2 Ladder-backed woodpeckers, 2 lesser goldfinches, turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks. They also saw MANY red-winged blackbirds and yellow-headed blackbirds at the middle marsh.

We took the second trip out to Pahranagat yesterday and I was amazed at this beautiful place. Such a lake in the middle of the desert! I was amazed at the Great Blue Heron and the Great Egret. We actually got to see the Great Blue Heron snatch a fish out of the water as he was wading in the marshy area. We saw a Bullock's Oriole and I can't begin to describe the beauty of its coloring. The same could be said of the yellow-headed blackbird. WOW! We saw more turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks. What wonders in flight they are. We saw a western grebe, very cool! And Josh had the id of the day which he had to do much convincing of his dad and I. We saw a canvas back momma with her brood. Josh said right away that this was the species and Steve and I made him keep checking details etc until he was able to convince us. lol We all added new birds to our list when we saw a California Gull and a Forster's Tern. We went to the middle marsh again and Steve and Josh were amazed at how much the marsh had dried out in just a week. Doesn't take long in this desert heat. Kildeer had moved in this time and we saw a momma with a little one. Here's a species list for the day:

common raven
turkey vultures (14)
great blue heron (4)
great egret
yellow warbler
marsh wren (2)
western grebe (2)
canada goose ( flock)
bullock's oriole (2)
western kingbird (too many to count)
forster's tern
american coot (abundant)
american avocet
yellow-headed blackbird (5)
red-winged blackbird (6)
ruddy duck female
yellow warbler (6)
mallard (4)
california gull
common yellowthroat (5)
red-tailed hawk (7)
mourning dove (way too many to count)
american kestrel
great-tailed grackle (3)
black phoebe (3)
canvas back (female with 6 ducklings)
redhead
kildeer
violet-green swallow
white-throated swift

the beginning

2005-06-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

We hope you'll join us as we tell birding tales of our many adventures here in the southwest.