Mt. Charleston Field Trip
Saturday 9-10-11, Christiana Manville
Despite the overcast weather and cooler temperatures, seven participants travelled with me to Mt. Charleston. Marilyn Mackett had the newly updated Birds of Mt. Charleston brochure to hand out to folks. We had one participant from as far away as Victoria, British Columbia. Our first stop was Harris Spring Road at about 5,000 feet in elevation. Bird activity was slow here but we saw a flock of Pinyon Jays. The only other birds at this location were some Black-throated Sparrows.
Our next stop was the visitor’s center where Joy from Mt. Charleston joined us. On the drive to this stop and at this stop we saw a Northern Flicker, Western Scrub Jay, and Dark-eyed Junco (gray-headed race). Next we traveled to Joy’s house where we got to see the following birds bathing in her yard water feature: American Robin, a flock of migrating Lark Sparrows, and a Western Tanager. We got awesome views of Steller’s Jays and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds.
Near the library we spotted the following species: Rufus Hummingbird , Common Raven, Orange-crowned Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak and Lesser Goldfinch. Our final mountain stop was the Deer Creek Picnic Area. We saw the following species and could have seen more but the rain finally started at 11:30 am and everyone was chilled: Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Cassin’s Finch, and Pine Siskin.
We finished the field trip at Gilcrease Orchard where we saw two burrowing owls in the new artificial burrows. The owls were standing with their wings extended in the rain. At the Orchard we also saw Mourning Doves, Western Kingbirds, and a Northern Mockingbird. We finished the day with a total of 27 species.
