And with this installment, I grudgingly admit that the NBC is over for yet another year. As you probably remember from previous posts, awhile back I asked the crew to shoot me an anecdote from their season, and here’s a final few –
Dennis: [Becca and I had a] sighting of a Big Horn Sheep at the McCarran Ranch on the morning of our first area search in May. Becca dropped me off at my plot before going across the river to her’s …. I was at the car putting on my boots and gaiters when she came running back yelling “Big Horn Sheep! Big Horn Sheep!” I ran down the dirt road with her past the amphitheater only to see the sheep running away from us east down the road. After Becca left I started down the road again on the way to my plot when I saw the sheep approaching me again. I slowly took off my backpack and got out my camera, but just as I got the camera up to shoot it turned and ran away. I did however get a shot of it running away. I told Chris Sega [The Nature Conservancy] about it and he was quite excited. Apparently Nevada Department of Wildlife released some in the hills to the south of McCarran Ranch and they have been coming down to the river to drink and feed, but this was the first time one had been seen on the north side of the river.
Becca: This was a great year for critters. I was area searching around the McCarrran Ranch east end pond when I came face to face with a skunk. He stopped. I stopped. He stared at me. I stared back. He raised his tail, and I turned my tail around in a hurry. Who was I to interrupt a skunk’s morning stroll?
Laura: It feels like such a privilege to see what we see and work where we work. Private lands and reservations aside, it's not too terribly difficult to access some of the sites that we do provided you have four wheel drive and the gumption to do so. But most people stay on the beaten path which I suppose is best for us. The wildlife and soaring vistas I've seen on the job, the latter usually earned after an arduous hike, are sights the average person probably never sees. I'm glad to have witnessed them and in some small way aid in making sure they'll remain in good condition for years to come. My two favorite sightings hands down: a roadside Gila Monster and a female Greater Sage-Grouse my partner and I flushed in the Desatoyas.
I just had an interesting realization the other day, as I was writing about my Warm Springs Natural Area territory maps and going through nest photos – I had a snag where I observed 3 different pairs building nests – Brown-crested Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, and Lucy’s Warbler. And every single one ended up abandoning their nest either late in construction or shortly after nest completion - it's a little hard to tell with cavity-nesters! This seemed unlikely to have just happened. I was trying to think about what was special/different about this snag. It was probably the major perch used by Brown-headed Cowbirds on the plot, but while they could conceivably get past one of the Western Kingbirds (though they’re pretty rare hosts), it’s difficult to see them getting into the Flycatcher’s cavity (I suspect it’s possible, but unlikely, and there are no North American records of them as hosts mentioned in their BNA account), and fitting into that Lucy’s Warbler fissure/cavity was even more unlikely – it was a pretty small opening. The only other thing I could think of was (well, other than random chance) maybe an ant colony had moved in and swarmed. I don't remember seeing high levels of ant activity at the snag, but I wasn't really looking, and they're certainly in the area. Any other ideas? |
| Western Kingbird nest, mid-construction - bit of an odd location for a Kingbird! |
 |
| Lucy's Warbler nest cavity |
Well, that’s it for the anecdotes for this season. Thanks again to my awesome field crew: Becca, Brian, Dave, Dennis, Kathryn, Kelly, Laura, Rayann, Russ, Rya, Sam, and Sue. Seriously, you guys rock beyond the telling of it!
Happy birding,
-- Jen
No comments:
Post a Comment