November 16th 2009
I have unsuccessfully attempted to find and photograph Chukars* a number of times in Las Vegas. This time I was given an area where I may find them by Carl who works for Ash Meadows NWR so I reached
Mt. Charleston in late afternoon looking for them. It took me a while to find the exact location but once I did I found 8-10 of them foraging. I was able to take a few photographs before they noticed and flew away. I went in search for two other birds as well and had a fleeting look of a Pygmy Nuthatch* but was not able to locate a Red-naped Sapsuckers. In addition to the birding, I enjoyed seeing snow in a place so close to Las Vegas…
July 17th 2008
I had a chance to do a little bird photography during a resent business trip in Las Vegas. I spent a late afternoon at Mt. Charleston and the next morning at the Henderson Bird Viewing Reserve.
I left downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, July 17th at 4:00pm heading towards Mt. Charleston. The temperature was around 105 F (about 5 degrees cooler than the day before)!! When I started the assent of Mt. Charleston some 30 minutes later, the temperature dropped gradually and reached 65F at the top. One of the first stops was successful as I photographed what I thought was a Western Bluebird but turned out to be a Lazuli Bunting a new bird for me. That was followed by a few more new birds including
Band-tailed Pigeon*,
Black-headed Grosbeak*,
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher*
and a number of humming birds of which I have only been able to ID
Anna’s* and
Rufous*.
Heading back towards Las Vegas and as the sun was setting, I noticed two Lesser Nighthawks hunting near the road. I was able to pull off and take a few shots of one of them and add one more to my total.
All in all a very good harvest of new species .
