The bird was coming out slowly, then I got a good look at it. Common Gallinule! Lifer #11 for the trip, and my gorgeous subject was coming closer :
Common Gallinule
It was soon joined by another adult and a baby :
Common Gallinule juvenile
After about 15 minutes of watching and shooting, I turned around, and I raced to the juicy migrants in one of the trees. At eye-level, there were tons of Yellow Warblers, Song Sparrows, Warbling Vireos, and others. Along the water, there was a tall, thick stand of moist trees which I thought I would check out. In that patch, there was one Pacific-slope Flycatcher, a nice Wilson's Warbler, and a SINGING Yellow Warbler. That may sound silly, because all birds sing."DUH" you would say, but this late in the season is quite interesting. We ran into a flurry of Black-chinned, Anna's, Calliope, and Rufous Hummingbirds when we got going again. In the wetlands park, there is a confusing array of paths and trails, where you don't know which one to take! We took the right hand fork, for I thought that vegetation would be good for migrants. As we started down the trail, it felt like we were in a damp, deep, dark jungle, as the branches, weeds, and trees bent and stretched right over the path. The silence in that place was all-encompassing. I peered into the quiet undergrowth, but not a bird was to be seen. So, I started pishing. That got everything going, and a MacGillivray's Warbler quickly hopped into view, and somewhere a Northern Mockingbird was calling. Then, a hummingbird buzzed over my head, and hovered right close to me. It was small, but plump. It then landed on an exposed branch for a split second, then took off to a farther-away perch, daintily looking at me. A little ray of sun poked down for a second, showing me the rich violet color of the throat, and the white eye-brow. Costa's! :
Costa's Hummingbird
Happy dance time!!! Lifer #13, and one of my top priority birds for the trip. Lighthearted, we came out of the tunnel-like trail, to another pond. Birds here included Anna's Hummingbird, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Harrier, and American Coot. A bird call that stumped me turned out to be a lifer Green-tailed Towhee. Here's a recording of the bird. You can faintly hear him crying out at the 0:04 mark of the tape. The other birds in the recording are a mix of sounds, composed of Verdins, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, and maybe an Anna's Hummingbird.
Green-tailed Towhees and others deserty species
We decided it was getting late, and was time to hit the hotel. On the hot, sweaty hike back to the car, around every corner there seemed was a pack of Abert's Towhees, and I counted 30+ for the time we were at the park. The trail was not birdy for a while, until we practically reached the car. More migrants were calling from numerous hiding places, and I heard my first Blue-gray Gnatcatchers ever. On the drive out, my mom (who is fantastic at spotting birds) said, "What's that on the wire?" I got out, and photographed a lovely Lesser Nighthawk up on the telephone wire. Yah, Mom!!!
Lesser Nighthawk
Well, 19 lifers for Day 1 of the Las Vegas trip was unexpected for me, and with two more full days of birding yet to come, I couldn't be happier! As always, I thank my mother explicitly for driving me to all of the birding places there are! She says she loves it too, so, fantastic!
LVBTLL : 19
Nevada Life List : 47 ( sad, but it will improve in the coming days! )
Year List : 274
Next post : Corn Creek, Nevada
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