We Have All The Right Ansers, Bird-a-thon 2024

We Have All the Right Ansers started their Bird-a-thon on May 11th at 3:30 AM by owling their way up Spooner Summit, and along the east shore of Lake Tahoe. Despite several stops in promising locations, the only owl we managed to detect was Great Horned Owl. One of the stops did yield the day’s only Common Poorwill, however. We made our way back down the hill, and hit Washoe Lake at daybreak. Clark’s and Western Grebe, Savannah Sparrow, Spotted Sandpiper, ducks of many varieties; with species pouring in, we were off to a good start! Caspian Terns flew over just in time to keep us on schedule, so we headed back across the highway to Davis Creek for the dawn chorus. Though we were slowed a little on the way by neighborhood birds, including Western Bluebird and American Goldfinch, seen while driving. A pit stop for Long-billed Curlew and Willet in the wet fields opposite Washoe Lake was also well worth it. Back at Davis Creek, we added White-headed Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Calliope Hummingbird, Nashville Warbler, quickly tallying songbirds. Having to call it good with a heard-only MacGillivray’s Warbler, it was time to move on. But, where were the Wilson’s Warblers??

We continued south into Carson City, logging Western Kingbird and Swainson’s Hawk from the highway. A quick stop at the Bentley Heritage trail yielded Vesper and Lark Sparrows. Another quick jog along the Carson River turned up Rock Wren and Wood Duck, but no Golden Eagles at the eponymous open space. With Sage Thrasher and Brewer’s Sparrow seen from the car, we felt off to a strong start! Still heading south, the Carson Valley wetlands produced Tricolored Blackbird and Wilson’s Snipe, as we had hoped. Bald Eagle and Sandhill Crane were in predictable locations, a likely stop just outside of Genoa turned up Virginia Rail and Sora in 5 short minutes. This allowed us to zoom back up to Lake Tahoe, only 30 minutes behind schedule now. Peregrine Falcon at Cave Rock, Red-breasted Sapsucker and Green-tailed Towhee at Spooner Lake. With a longer stop than planned for at the lower Marlette Lake trail, the ghost-like Pileated Woodpecker did not oblige us with a sighting (or sound), but we did have 4 surprise Pine Grosbeak and a few booming Sooty Grouse! But where are the Dusky Flycatchers?

Team member, Paul Hurtado spying the day’s first Anseriformes

Having not done ourselves any favors in terms of the schedule with this stop, we hurried on to Tahoe Meadows. There were White-crowned Sparrows singing on the snowpack, but conditions were not going to allow us to try for Williamson’s Sapsucker or Lincoln’s Sparrow on breeding grounds. Making our way back down the hill, we stopped at Galena Creek, but still couldn’t buy a White-breasted Nuthatch. And where are the Dusky Flycatchers?? One last attempt at Thomas Creek was not particularly productive, but our hearts all leapt when Ben called out Vaux’s Swift, and sure enough 4 whole swifts were swiftly zooming by!

With the morning well behind us, it was time to focus on shorebirds and water birds. Knowing that good mud and certain species were going to be in short supply, we allowed for a quick stop at Damonte Ranch, but there were no Godwits or Dowitchers, of any length bill to be found. A homeowner had graciously given us permission to stop by and try to see a Lawrence’s Goldfinch that had been frequenting their feeder, but alas, the bird did not make an appearance. At this point, we were starting to feel a little unlucky… where are the Wilson’s Warblers? When, just then, a hummingbird zipped in, and perched for just long enough to be identified as a Costa’s Hummingbird! Well that saves us a trip out to Lockwood, and we need all the minutes we can get back!

Having spent as long as we could here, we zipped over to Hidden Valley, and at least the Black-throated Sparrow and Anna’s Hummingbird were in their requisite perches, making this a quick stop. On our way to Verdi, we stopped at Sparks Marina. While there were no gulls out of the ordinary, the continuing Red-breasted Merganser did oblige us with a sighting. Once we got to Verdi, we had our sights set on woodpeckers, Lewis’s and Acorn Woodpeckers had both been seen the day before, but alas, not this day. We had several Purple Finch, but, not to sound ungrateful, where were the Dusky Flycatchers?? Feeling like there ought to be Evening Grosbeak around somewhere, we cruised around town for longer than we should have, but did not manage to turn up any new species. At this point, we knew we were low on migrants, and felt that a stop at Rancho San Rafael could be productive in this department. It was not. Ned heard a Ruby-crowned Kinglet utter a single call note, but couldn’t find it or make it talk again so everyone could hear. At this point, we felt that we were running out of daylight, and still had birds to find in the north valleys. With nothing gained from Rancho, we made a quick pit stop for caffeine (doesn’t everyone need a pick me up around 7 pm?!) and headed for Silver Lake.

We Have All The Right Ansers, developing ground-breaking new techniques for spotting raptors after dark

By this point, a pattern was emerging; the Sanderling that had been present throughout the prior week was nowhere to be seen this day. But we did manage to add Western Sandpiper and Bonaparte’s Gull to the list. With the sun beginning to get low, we had to get to Swan Lake before we lost the light. Once there, we added Canvasback and Bufflehead, but the swarms of Black Terns and Franklin’s Gulls we knew were there, must have been just over the horizon…. We used the last of our light to get over to the Fleetwood drive access point, but did not find anything new here. With the sun fully set, and conditions too dark to identify birds without a light source, we tallied up our list. Over the course of one heck of a day, we managed to list 144 species of bird. Check out this link to see the full list on the eBird trip report. I still have one question, where are the Dusky Flycatchers?