Birding Arc Dome & the Toiyabes

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Last tour, the Nevada Bird Count crew finished up the birding portion of the season with a few days in the Toiyabe Range, camping at Columbine Campground.  So beautiful!  A little stormy, though – lightning storms chased downhill our highest-elevation surveyors on both afternoons.  We explored the gamut from mid-elevation sagebrush and pinyon-juniper, mountain mahogany, up through aspen riparian areas to high-elevation pines, sagebrush and meadows. 

 

It was several days of highlights: getting attacked by protective Goshawk parents, getting attacked by protective Cooper’s Hawk parents, fledglings everywhere, mule deer creeping up to be startled at our presence, spectacular views, and cooking over campfires.  One of my personal highlights was right there in camp: one aspen snag with four active cavities, supporting House Wren, Red-naped Sapsucker, and Northern Flicker nestlings, as well as Violet-green Swallows.  The Violet-green Swallows appeared to be nest-building – Kaitlin watched one of them “manhandling” a feather into the nest cavity.

 
 
 

We found 64 species, and confirmed breeding for 31 of them.  To me, the biggest surprises were the presence of the Night-Heron and the absence of Mourning Doves!  Here’s our species list, with confirmed breeding noted where applicable.

 

  1. Greater Sage-Grouse

  2. Dusky Grouse

  3. Black-crowned Night-Heron

  4. Northern Harrier

  5. Cooper’s Hawk (confirmed)

  6. Northern Goshawk (confirmed)

  7. Red-tailed Hawk (confirmed)

  8. Golden Eagle

  9. American Kestrel

  10. Prairie Falcon

  11. Long-eared Owl

  12. Common Nighthawk

  13. Common Poorwill

  14. Broad-tailed Hummingbird

  15. Rufous Hummingbird

  16. Red-naped Sapsucker (confirmed)

  17. Hairy Woodpecker (confirmed)

  18. Northern Flicker (confirmed)

  19. Western Wood-Pewee (confirmed)

  20. Hammond’s Flycatcher

  21. Gray Flycatcher

  22. Dusky Flycatcher

  23. Plumbeous Vireo

  24. Warbling Vireo (confirmed)

  25. Western Scrub-Jay

  26. Pinyon Jay

  27. Clark’s Nutcracker (confirmed)

  28. Common Raven

  29. Horned Lark (confirmed)

  30. Violet-green Swallow (confirmed)

  31. Mountain Chickadee (confirmed)

  32. Bushtit

  33. Red-breasted Nuthatch (confirmed)

  34. White-breasted Nuthatch

  35. Brown Creeper (confirmed)

  36. Rock Wren (confirmed)

  37. House Wren (confirmed)

  38. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

  39. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

  40. Mountain Bluebird (confirmed)

  41. Hermit Thrush (confirmed)

  42. American Robin (confirmed)

  43. Sage Thrasher

  44. Orange-crowned Warbler

  45. Virginia’s Warbler

  46. MacGillivray’s Warbler (confirmed)

  47. Yellow Warbler (confirmed)

  48. Yellow-rumped Warbler (confirmed)

  49. Black-throated Gray Warbler

  50. Green-tailed Towhee (confirmed)

  51. Spotted Towhee

  52. Chipping Sparrow (confirmed)

  53. Brewer’s Sparrow (confirmed)

  54. Vesper Sparrow (confirmed)

  55. Fox Sparrow (confirmed)

  56. Song Sparrow

  57. White-crowned Sparrow (confirmed)

  58. Dark-eyed Junco (confirmed)

  59. Western Tanager

  60. Lazuli Bunting

  61. Brown-headed Cowbird

  62. Cassin’s Finch (confirmed)

  63. House Finch

  64. Pine Siskin

Happy birding!

Jen