Birding Arc Dome & the Toiyabes

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.

Greater Sage-Grouse

Dusky Grouse

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Northern Harrier

Cooper’s Hawk (confirmed)

Northern Goshawk (confirmed)

Red-tailed Hawk (confirmed)

Golden Eagle

American Kestrel

Prairie Falcon

Long-eared Owl

Common Nighthawk

Common Poorwill

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Red-naped Sapsucker (confirmed)

Hairy Woodpecker (confirmed)

Northern Flicker (confirmed)

Western Wood-Pewee (confirmed)

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Gray Flycatcher

Dusky Flycatcher

Plumbeous Vireo

Warbling Vireo (confirmed)

Western Scrub-Jay

Pinyon Jay

Clark’s Nutcracker (confirmed)

Common Raven

Horned Lark (confirmed)

Violet-green Swallow (confirmed)

Mountain Chickadee (confirmed)

Bushtit

Red-breasted Nuthatch (confirmed)

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper (confirmed)

Rock Wren (confirmed)

House Wren (confirmed)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Mountain Bluebird (confirmed)

Hermit Thrush (confirmed)

American Robin (confirmed)

Sage Thrasher

Orange-crowned Warbler

Virginia’s Warbler

MacGillivray’s Warbler (confirmed)

Yellow Warbler (confirmed)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (confirmed)

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Green-tailed Towhee (confirmed)

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow (confirmed)

Brewer’s Sparrow (confirmed)

Vesper Sparrow (confirmed)

Fox Sparrow (confirmed)

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow (confirmed)

Dark-eyed Junco (confirmed)

Western Tanager

Lazuli Bunting

Brown-headed Cowbird

Cassin’s Finch (confirmed)

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Happy birding!

Jen