Coming Out on Top In Vegas

     Tim and I headed West with my sister and her at the time, boyfriend, for a long weekend of fun. Most people don't take me for the Vegas type, and I get it, but I love visiting. On this 5th visit, we all came out winners, especially my sister, who left the place with a fiancé-- and it wasn't one of those what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas type things. We are all so happy to officially welcome Mike into our family. So what began as a birthday/super bowl weekend, escalated into something much more.
     And somehow, you bet-- I got in some birding! Got some welcome lifers, sad to miss a roadrunner, but it only means I'll have to go back...

Just a 20 minute Uber ride beyond the strip sits the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. It's free, it opens early, and with an Uber it's a bit funny to get to as it is on an unnamed road just west of the Animal Control Building and all maps fail to recognize its true location.
Tim joined me for my first outing here and was quite a trooper. I love when he comes for outdoor walks with me and we explores new places together.
ANYWAY. Once inside, it's this amazing oasis in the desert and as a visitor from the East, I won big here with quite a few life birds including this Black Phoebe that nets at their site.

The place was full of desert cottontail rabbits. Every time I saw something run across a path, I was hoping roadrunner-- instead, rabbit.

A darling bird, that is just flitting through every shrub and low tree -- verdin.
They move fast, flit, but when you can finally catch one for a moment, they are gorgeous little things!

On first glance, with a splash of yellow, and a bird darting from branch to branch, you think what friggin' warbler is that?!
Yellow-rumped warblers are EVERYWHERE here, but this one was stumping me, until I finally got a solid look as one -- this one, paused (for most likely, a mere 2 or 3 seconds).

This bird is only found in the very South West and is the only member of its family that lives in North America.

These little birds build nests year round, one nest os for brooding, as bird do with their eggs. But the other type of nest they build is for roosting and keeping warm on those cold desert nights.

Along with pied-billed grebes were these little bug-eyed birds, eared grebes!
Being a water reclamation site, there are a number of ponds chock full of differing groups of waterfowl.

Aside from one snow-topped peak, this was the only other snow I found in the desert.

It was 75 degrees out and it felt so funny to see snow geese here when I am used to seeing them in New York in actual snow.

They were pretty stunning against the arid desert clay colors.

Quite common were common gallinules as they chugged through the ponds alongside American Coots.

Favorite bird of the trip goes to this duck.

What a special treat, to see cinnamon teal. They feel like cinnamon, they appear so warm and a little spicy all at once with that amazing color. I also think if I were a bird I'd be a cinnamon teal, I think our plumage matches up well.

Except I would not be a female cinnamon teal.
With much more cryptic color, and some females I noticed show a little warmth in color on their flanks/wings. Her beak looks almost shoveler like, and man, was this place covered in shovelers. So scanning between all of them revealed special treats like these teal.

This bird also matched the desert in its color, those earthy reddish-brown colors feel similar to the mountains and canyons off in the distance.

I think this duck, the cinnamon teal, got my vote for favorite bird I saw.

Any shade is good shade, even if it's man-made.

Right before our Uber showed up, I nabbed a Costa's Hummingbird for the list in the parking lot.

On Sunday, Tim went for a long run, and I went for a short morning of birding-- because, when in Rome. Or Vegas.

Seen, and heard everywhere-- great-tailed grackle. The males are large, black, and glossy. Females are more of a warm brown and look similar to a female boat-tailed grackle.
The sound these birds make is loud, boisterous, and when a bunch of them get going-- this is the last bird you'd expect it to come from.

The ducks were certainly the show stoppers here, this male green-wing teal were lovely to look out and a real treat in how close in view they often were. Some ponds being bigger than others, with small islands allowed birds to hang out and (I assume) feel relatively safe as the area is monitored for who comes in ( you sign in and out each visit) and restricts activity here to birding, photography, and walking.

I did see lots of familiar faces, aside from shovelers, also were coots, mallards, Canada geese, pied-billed grebes, ruddy ducks, and rafts of these adorable little birds, bufflehead.

Seems like a regular here, white-crowned sparrow were foraging in low, seedy brush and on the ground below. If this showed up in Brooklyn, folks would be trying to track such a bird down for their list.

Another gorgeous green-winged teal, swimming past as I began to huff it back to catch a car and head back for super bowl fun.

Unfortunately, I am easily distracted.

This cheeky trio of three was such a delight, an American Coot, Common Gallinule, and Ruddy Duck chug along together.

How fun are they?

One last duck for the road.
What a great little escape this was from the strip of Las Vegas (although I got hummingbirds in the habitat in our hotel at the Flamingo). If you are in Vegas for a visit, a quick Uber will get you here to get some great fun birds, that change with the season. I have gotten my 2018 list up to 100 birds, and I wish I could have gotten more but, I can't knock it- especially with a few life birds in the mix.
What a great trip, Birds, Birthdays, Football, and an Engagement! Viva Las Vegas!