On October 3rd, nine of us went for a walk through the trails at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. Most of the participants were beginner birders, and this is a great place for just that. Because they won’t be overwhelmed with a ton of species in one morning, it gives everyone the opportunity to really learn the ones they keep seeing.
We experienced numerous mockingbirds, house finches, white crowned sparrows, verdins, gambel’s quail, and lesser goldfinches; a kestrel, a lone barn swallow, a couple of phainopeplas, four western meadowlarks, an unidentified sparrow, and the best find of the day – a sora! It’s the closest I’ve ever been to one – not even 10 feet away and totally oblivious to all of us on the nearby bridge quietly watching it forage through the cattails. And because the trails had so much activity, we ran out of time to go check out the gardens. Everyone had fun and were all given RRAS info and invited to attend our general monthly meetings. Come join us next time – the next two are November 7th and December 5th, 8:00 am – 9:30 am.
