Clark County Wetlands

I visited  another birding hotspot today, the Clark County Wetlands. It is a water reclamation area that doubles a a birding paradise. I was able to get several good pictures today. This first one is of a couple of Northern Flickers.

These birds are found in Oregon as well but I was excited to capture an "in flight" shot! This next bird is not one found in Oregon. It is a Phainopepla.

It reminds me of a black stellar jay! This next one can be found in parts of Oregon but usually east of the Cascades. It is a Loggerhead Shrike.

West of the Cascades, the Northern Shrike is the most common species of shrike seen. I would need a picture of both to tell them apart as the differences are very subtle. 

Closing the gap between my camera's abilities and my skills!

 I went back to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve this morning and am much happier with the pictures I took! I caught some good detail on several species, like the ruby crown on this Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

He was flashing his colors while trying to impress a female. She ignored him but it gave me some good opportunities for photos! Next is this Greater Roadrunner.

I was lucky to catch the colors on its head as the sun hit them! Another favorite from today was catching a good photo of this Northern Harrier as she flew over!

The females are this orange and brown color while the makes are grey and white. To see more pictures and a complete list of today's birds, click here: Henderson Bird List.

33 Hole Overlook

Just a few miles from the campground is a birding hotspot called 33 Hole Overlook. It is about a 1/2 mile hike from the parking area to the edge of the water.

Last year that green area was a dry cracked lake bed covered in sage brush. Four years ago it was covered in water. It gives a good perspective on the lack of water in lake Mead. The area this side of the water has birds that prefer dry rocky areas like this Rock Wren.

Along the trail I spotted about 10 coyotes scattered from the hillside all the way to the waters edge. This one started a chorus which, shortly after, was joined by all the others!

It was an awesome treat! Near the water I saw a number of waterfowl and this Ladder-backed Woodpecker in trees along the waters edge.

The camera and I got along better today. It's abilities far exceed my skill level but hopefully with time and practice, I can narrow the gap! I think I will head back to the Henderson Bird Viewing area and try for some better pictures tomorrow.

Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve

 I am back in the Las Vegas area, camping at Boulder Beach on Lake Mead. This is an annual stop as not only do I enjoy the campground but there are numerous birding opportunities in the area. They have done a lot of work on the campground over the last few years. They have paved all the roads, cemented all the camp sties and add water spigots to almost all of the sites. A waste water dump, flush toilets and potable water for just $10 a night with my federal senior pass. 

Today I went into Henderson Nevada and spent about 4 hours walking around the preserve. I identified 54 species and even though I took several hundred pictures, only a few dozen were clear enough to keep. I tried putting a polaroid filter on the camera to help with the washed out colors but it affected the focus! Anyway here are a few I kept. First a Common Gallinule.

This is a Black-tailed Gnat Catcher,

A Pied-billed Grebe,

And finally a Western Grebe.

Several of these species are present in Oregon but it is still fun to see them in another state. To see more pictures and a complete list of todays birds, click here: Henderson Birding

 

Adapting to a new "normal"

 This trip has been a bit stressful with the changes I made over the summer. I went from a 1/2 ton gas engine Chevrolet to a 1 ton dually Ford with a diesel engine. I also went from a 20 foot 5th wheel to a 27 foot pull trailer. I drove the set up around home for a month but that did not prepare me for this longer trip. The truck has ran great but it sounds different (louder) and rides different (rougher). Neither of these are bad things, I am just not used to them. The truck pulls the trailer just fine but again a different type of challenge is to see behind and park. Definitely some places that I have stopped and some roads I have traveled that I will by pass on future trips! I am more comfortable with the truck as I adjust to this new normal. Another adjustment is my camera. Even though I miss the zoom capabilities of my old camera, this new camera can take some great pictures. I am very please with these that were taken today!

Above is a Hermit Thrush and below is a Varied Thrush.

Varied Thrushes are a common sight in the Willamette Valley but this is the first one documented in this county since December of 2018. I also could not pass up this cute Cotton tailed rabbit.

I will be heading a bit further south in the morning as the temps will be hitting mid 20's on Monday night! One of the perks of this lifestyle. If you don't like the weather, move!

Pahranagat NWR

Pahranagat NWR is about 90 miles northeast of Ls Vegas. The Reserve is a long strip of land along the Pahranagat River. A few miles north of the reserve is the town of Alamo. For a small town it has a well stocked market and reasonable fuel prices. I am camped at the upper lake which has 15 camp sites, 12 of which are large enough for RV's. There are 3 pit toilets along the 1 mile strip of campsites but no potable water. I was fortunate to find 2 sites open when I arrived yesterday at about 10 AM. They were actually 1 large site so I had to share. Shortly after I arrived, a van showed up and took the second site. 

By nightfall we had my set up, 2 vans and a jeep with a small Airstream trailer! Everyone was quiet and respectful so there were no problems other than it being a bit crowded. The campsites are free so I had no problem with the extra campers. The lake is low but there is still plenty of water for birds. My first list was 35 species in a 3.5 miles walk around the lake. To see that bird list and its pictures, click here: Pahranagat Lake birding list Today I birded a couple spots. One cool thing I saw was a Bald Eagle flying over the water with a large fish in its talons. I landed on the shore and began to feast. Unfortunately the distance was too great for a good picture! My new camera set up had some good features but I miss the 83x zoom of the Nikon! I am considering buy the Nikon P1000 with its 125x zoom. The temps are dropping to below freezing on  Monday morning so I may head to Lake Mead where the lows will be in the 40's. I will decide by Sunday.

Saulsbury Wash Rest Area

 I spent last night at Saulsbury Wash. It is about 25 miles east of Tonopah, NV. It is a nice oasis on the side of the road. 

It is easy to spot as it has the only trees for miles around in either direction! They survive because the highway department has set up a wind mill that pumps water to a storage tank for irrigation! You can just see the corner of the buried storage tank at the edge of the picture.

It has picnic tables and a pit toilet but no potable water. There is some road noise but the highway thru that area is not too busy! At first glance the surrounding hills appear pretty barren but after closer inspection, you will see horses scattered about. I am told there are also desert sheep but I did not spot any.

The h0orses were to far away for my camera to get a photo where they would be large enough to see so you will just have to take my word for it that they were there! I spoke to another camper about the rest area. He has been stopping here for years as he lives in Pahrump, which is a couple hours south west of here, but spends the summers in Idaho. You might call him a sun birder as he leaves home to go north for the summer and then back home for winter! I hit the road fairly early this morning and am now at Pahranagat NWR but more about that tomorrow!

Walker Lake, Nevada

 After 8 days at Lahontan Reservoir, I am on the road again today. This leg of the journey is a short drive after my 8 hours drive from Chiloquin to Lahontan. The steep hills and rough road of that drive was too stressful so I am determined to break my travels into much smaller portions! 

Seeing how low the water level was at Lahontan, I was concerned about the amount of water that I would find here. Fortunately the lake looks very full. This is a free BLM campground with pit toilets but no potable water that I can find. I am only going to be here one night then on to my next stop, Saulsbury Wash, which is just a couple hours from  here. My 3 day goal is Pahranagat NWR. I stopped there a couple year ago and had some great bird watching which included several life birds!

Making modern connections to historical places

 One of the things I enjoy about traveling is discovering historical places, some of which I have not heard of. Yesterday I visited, for the purpose of bird watching, Fort Churchill. 

As you can see, there is not much left of the original fort but they are in the process of  restoration. Before visiting this area, I was unfamiliar with the fort. That is the case of many of the historic places I have come across over the last few years. It is interesting to read the history of these places like Fort Churchill which was a stop over for pioneers on the California Trail as well as a the Pony Express. Another thing that makes these historical sites fun for me is that I like to watch old westerns. One movie I watched about the early telegraph building mentioned for Churchill. Just this evening I was watching a movie with William Holden and Fort Stockton was mentioned. That is another historic spot I have visited on my travels! There are several other places mentioned in these old western that I have been to! It just makes all this even more fun! I am looking forward to more modern  connections to our history as I go along!

Lahontan Reservoir

 I woke this morning to clear sunny skies! I grabbed my camera and binoculars and started walking along the shore line. The cottonwood leaves are starting to show their fall colors.

Among the trees I spotted this Great-horned Owl

and this Northern Flicker which I was lucky to catch a photo of it flaring its wings!

To see my complete list of todays sightings and a few more pics, click here: Lahontan Birding list

Snowbird Trip 2020

Sunday morning I left the Oregon Coast and headed out on my 2020 snowbird trip! I made a quick stop in Veneta to say good bye to Amy then hit the road. Sunday night was spent in the Kla-mo-ya Casino parking lot. 

On the way I passed thru the area that burned just north to Chiloquin. The Collier State Park campground was destroyed along with hundreds of acres of timber and at least a few homes. The Williamson River campground was spared as was the logging museum across the highway from Collier. Some good news is that I left the casino with and extra $5 in my wallet!

I left the casino this morning and drove to Lahontan Reservoir south east of Reno. I stop here each year on my way south. I found a great flat spot between some nice shade trees!

To my surprise, the reservoir is almost empty!

All the other times the lake has been full and there were lots of boaters racing, water skiing or fishing! On the plus side it is very quiet and not many campers. I got here too late to bird watch but have seen lots of activity so hopefully I will get some good lists over the next few days!

Seven days of birding in Polk County

I spent 7 days camping at the Polk county fairgrounds so I could bird watch with my friends, Jim and Jeanette Scott. We visited over a dozen local birding hotspots and took 1 day trip to the Nestucca Bay NWR. Jim was our official photographer for the trip so no pics from me. You can check out his blog for some details on our outing at the following link:  http://cascaderamblings.blogspot.com With the cool weather and fog, bird activity was slow but we always have a good time together! I did get a few good pics, such as this one of a Northern Flicker:

and this Cedar Waxwing:

I have purchased a new camera and am slowly learning how to use it. It is a Canon Rebel. It came with several lens including a 75-300 but after using a Nikon P900 with 83x zoom it felt inadequate so I purchased a 150-600 Sigma lens for it! 

It does not have quite the zoom capabilities of the Nikon P900 but it has manual operations that I prefer. A manual zoom is needed for photographing birds that a partially obscured by foliage. 

I am back on the coast today for a week and went for a bird walk on the Waxmyrtle Trail along the Siltcoos river. One of my favorite pictures today was of a Green-winged Teal!

I like how the sun captures the green on the wing and the reflection in the water! Hopefully I will continue to get more comfortable with the new camera and will be able to add plenty of pictures in the future.

Uncomfortably Comfortable

I have been spending the last month adjusting to all the newest around me. The trailer, the pickup, the quad and now a new camera! The trailer is very comfortable with not only a large living area but also larger storage, refrigerator, seating and cabinets. 

Having spent the last 5 years in a much smaller and more spartan space, I was a bit uncomfortable with all this comfort but I am quickly adjusting! I took a couple beach rides on the quad. It is a Yamaha Wolverine so I named it "The Jackman" after Hugh Jackman who plays Wolverine in the movies! I should be posting pictures but haven't taken many yet. I did get a good Halloween picture of a Spotted Towhee!

I am having a bit of trouble working with this new version of the blog! Seems like every time I get familiar with an app they "improve" it with an upgrade! I will be heading south for the winter soon so I will be doing a better job of updating my blog!