Pine Nut Range

The Nevada Bird Count has included several surveys in the Pine Nut Range over the past few years, and in 2014, we stepped that up quite a bit.  Most of our surveys have been/are in areas that will be undergoing (or have undergone) some pinyon-juniper treatments, along with control surveys in areas with no treatments planned.  Other transects were burned in the 2013 Bison Fire.  The goals of our surveys are to provide baseline monitoring of birds within the Pine Nuts, and to use those data to evaluate the impacts there (both short- and long-term) of treatments and fire.  

Some of these areas are in pure upland; others are along streams and drainage bottoms.  The Eldorado Canyon area is one of our survey areas (see previous post), but we’ve been covering the length of the mountain range, from the north near Dayton, all the way south to Bald Mountain.  In the process, we’ve been enjoying some great birds, beautiful views, crazy roads, and more than a few close encounters of the predator kind (mostly bears, but several mountain lions, as well).  In the case of the cats, one of those encounters was a little too close for comfort!  

What follows is not a full species list from our 2014 surveys, since our data entry/proofing process is not yet complete, but hopefully is enough to spark your interest!  For those of you that remember my request to keep your eyes and ears pricked for breeding Gray Vireos , we were sadly unsuccessful.  Maybe next year!  Please do let me know if you had better luck!

 

Chukar

Mountain Quail

California Quail

Turkey Vulture

Cooper's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Golden Eagle

American Kestrel

Band-tailed Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Northern Pygmy-Owl

Common Nighthawk

Common Poorwill

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Western Wood-pewee

Gray Flycatcher

Dusky Flycatcher

Western Flycatcher

Say's Phoebe

Loggerhead Shrike

Steller's Jay

Western Scrub-jay

Pinyon Jay

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Mountain Chickadee

Juniper Titmouse

Bushtit

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Rock Wren

Canyon Wren

Bewick's Wren

House Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Mountain Bluebird

Townsend's Solitaire

American Robin

Orange-crowned Warbler

MacGillivray's Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Green-tailed Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow

Sagebrush Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak

Lazuli Bunting

Western Meadowlark

Brewer's Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Cassin's Finch

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Happy birding,

Jen