Great Basin
September 27 - October 4, 2008 - Bird/Species Trip List
Guide Greg Smith with 3 participants

BIRDS:

Pied-billed Grebe – A few birds scattered around Ruby Lakes NWR.

Eared Grebe – Two individuals in basic plumage at Ruby Lakes NWR.

Double-crested Corm – Most significant bodies of water had a few of these individuals.

American Bittern – A single bird lifted off of the refuge at our first stop.

Great Blue Heron – Individuals were scattered around streams, ponds and farmed fields.

Great Egret – A single individual at Ruby Lake NWR was the only bird of the trip.

Snowy Egret – One adult and two juveniles at Ruby Lakes were the only ones for the trip.

B-Crowned Night-Heron – A single juvenile plumaged bird was foraging with a Great Blue Heron.

White-faced Ibis – One scattered flock of adult and juvenile birds were at Ruby Lakes.

Mallard – The “common” duck for the trip.  If there were waterfowl, there were mallards.

Gadwall – A group under the bridge as we waited for the freight train to pass in Carlin, NV.

American Wigeon – A male and female with the Gadwall mentioned above.

Northern Shovelor –Most birds were in eclipse plumage, but their big bills made them easy to ID.

Blue-winged Teal – A few females and eclipse-plumaged males were scattered at Ruby Lakes.

Cinnamon Teal – Numerous and scattered throughout the refuge.

Green-winged Teal – A lone female was feeding with a group of ibis at Ruby Lakes.

Lesser Scaup – A small number of females with one or two young were seen at Ruby Lakes.

Ring-necked Duck – Two drakes and a hen gave us a distant look at the refuge.

Canvasback – Ruby Lakes has the largest nesting population in the west.  We were lucky to see six.

Ruddy Duck -  Five basic plumaged birds were all we could find at Ruby Lakes.

Turkey Vulture –  Scattered individuals were seen on four different days in varying habitats.

Golden Eagle – We had a total of six, with five perching on poles giving us great looks!

N. Harrier – The most “common” raptor we saw in the Great Basin desert.

Cooper’s Hawk – A well seen immature bird perched on a post at the entrance to Lamoille Canyon.

Sharp-shinned hawk – Two immatures were seen hunting in the canyon leading up to Lexington Arch

Red-shouldered Hawk - A single individual by the Nevada State Fish Hatchery atRuby Lakes.

Red-tailed Hawk –  A gorgeous dark phase bird consuming a desert gopher snake was a highlight.

Ferruginous Hawk – An immature and an adult seen together gave us great looks at plumage difference

American Kestrel – These tail-bobbers were not common but were seen daily.

Common Moorhen – Two immature birds at Ruby Lakes were foraging along the cattail edge.

American Coot – The most common waterbird on any body of water we viewed.

Sandhill Crane – Three individuals at Ruby were surpassed by a field of birds east of Elko.

Killdeer – At Ruby Lakes and other stops, ie the rest area on the way to Carlin.

Yellowlegs sp. – One individual flew across Route 80 on the way to the airport.

Wilson’s Snipe – Three birds flushed as a NOHA flew over at Ruby Lakes.

Red-necked Phalarope – A small group of fifteen were at Ruby Lakes spinning and feeding.

California Gull – Numerous birds in the Great Salt Lake as we drove to the airport.

Rock Dove – A few birds were around the buildings of Baker, NV.

Mourning Dove – Usually seen flashing across our windshield as we drove Nevada’s back roads.

Eurasian-collared Dove – Seen in Baker, NV around various out buildings.

Belted Kingfisher – One individual perched on a wire over Indian Creek on the way to Ruby Lakes.

Red-naped Sapsucker – The Lehman Caves Visitor Center gave us great up close looks at a female.

N. Flicker – They were migrating and we saw them in various habitats.

W. Scrub-Jay – A few individuals scattered through the juniper/pinyon pine habitat.

Black-billed Magpie – Most of the birds we saw were around ranches.  A few were in the “wild”.

American Crow – Unusual locations given the lack of trees.  Six were seen around Ruby Lakes HQ.

Common Raven – Everywhere foraging on anything.

Horned Lark – A few birds were taking flight as we drove on the roads of Ruby Lakes.

Barn Swallow – We saw about twenty migrants as we birded Ruby Lakes.

Mountain Chickadee – Scattered around the forests of Wheeler Peak, usually with groups of RBNU.

White-breasted Nuthatch – A single bird calling on the way down from the bristlecone pine grove.

Red-breasted Nuthatch – Small groups associating with MOCH in the forests below Wheeler Peak.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Only two individuals on the entire trip, but we got good looks.

Bewick’s Wren – A single individual calling and giving us a look at its tail in Lemoille Canyon.

Townsend’s Solitaire – We ran into a group of five on our way up to Lexington Arch.

Mountain Bluebird – These Azure-breasted Prairie Hoverers were scattered throughout our trip.

American Robin – Scattered migrating flocks were seen in canyons we visited.

European Starling – A few birds were sitting on wire around cattle feed lots.

Yellow-rumped Warbler – We saw/heard only six individuals, primarily in the high forests.

Green-tailed Towhee – A single first year female was racing our vehicle up the canyon to Lexington.

Chipping Sparrow – A flock of about thirty birds gave us great looks sitting atop junipers at Ward.

Savannah Sparrow – A few birds gave us nothing but brief glimpses at Ruby Lakes.

Song Sparrow – We had these birds show up in streamside willow thickets.

Dark-eyed Junco – A large flock on the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail gave us outstanding looks.

White-crowned Sparrow – Not as many as we had expected to see, but there were a few around

W. Meadowlark – These birds would flutter off the sides of the road as we drove by.

Red-winged Blackbird – A solo male in the Ruby Mountains was in an odd location.

Brewer’s Blackbird – Common and everywhere, especially around Elko.

House Finch – A single male in Garrison, UT was our only one for the trip.

Cassin’s Finch – We had a half dozen birds sitting atop spruce on the Alpine Lakes Trail.

Pine Siskin – Along with the CAFI, we had these birds sitting atop the spruce.

House Sparrow – Usually seen around eateries in the small towns we visited.

 

MAMMALS:

Coyote – A vary dark individual was hunting just ahead of us as we drove the loop road at Ruby Lakes.

Least Chipmunk – Usually seen on rocks in the forested areas of the mountains.

Uinta Chipmunk – The chipmunk that we would see when traveling in sagebrush areas.

Muskrat – A single individual was swimming adjacent to the road in Ruby Lakes.

Blacktail Jackrabbit – Most common around the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.

Mountain Cottontail – We saw these rabbits dash into the brush where there was a little more cover.

Pronghorn – Single individuals were seen in the flats with one large group bedded down in alfalfa.

Mule Deer – A doe, two fawns and a large buck were on the Alpine Lakes Trail.

 

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