Birding in Vegas

You would not think birding and gambling have much in common, but they mix together quite well.  On a recent trip to Las Vegas we took time  to do both.  We rented a car and headed for Henderson, Nevada and a well hidden bird refuge.  Tucked in behind the water treatment buildings is the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.http://www.cityofhenderson.com/parks .  This small but important140 acre preserve provides a critical stop-over for migrating birds and home for hundreds of resident water fowl. 

We were hoping it would provide enough variety for us to log at least 4 more birds for our life list to gain 100 different birds.  The park has a small welcome/gift center where visitors must sign in and get a quick overview of the nine ponds the preserve consists of.  A black-chinned hummingbird buzzed us just outside the welcome center door, an auspicious beginning to be sure.  We had a great time exploring the various ponds and identified several ducks like the Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Green-wingedTeal, Bufflehead and the Ruddy duck.  Of those the Green-winged Teal and the Ruddy duck were new.  Further on we saw several Gambel's quail skittering across the trail and a Lesser Yellow legs shorebird wading in the shallows, both new additions to our list.
We took several pictures of birds and ducks to identify later, hoping we caught more new birds.  Egrets, gulls and Black-crowned Night Herons slept or rested on small islands in the ponds.  As we returned to the welcome center we caught a couple more pictures of a Eared Grebe floating low in the water and showing off her wings and a few more shots of some elusive unidentified brown birds and headed back to our hotel in Vegas.

 That night we grabbed our cameras and our laptop to check out the birds we had yet to identify.  After exhaustive research we added a Common Gallinule or Moorhen, a Say's Phoebe and a Great Tailed Grackle to our list.  But the two highlights for me were the Olive-sided Flycatcher and the Loggerhead Shrike.

Thanks Henderson we logged more than enough birds to make 100! 

Bergen Peak

Friday a friend of mine and I headed up for a hike out of Evergreen's Elk Meadow Open Space park to Bergen Peak.  We got a good early  start from the upper parking lot, anticipating the 10 mile  round trip hike.  Just a few hundred feet from the parking lot  three mule deer bucks still in velvet crossed our path and  meandered through the tall grass.  It was picturesque with the dew and the fog still hanging on the air from last nights rain.  We covered the first 2-21/2 miles at a good pace admiring the wildflowers as we went.  Bergen Peak trail does have 3 caches along it's route but I  logged them on a hike a couple years ago so was not planning to log any today. At about this point the trail has a pretty steep section with no switch backs to give tired legs a break.  I had not planned going past this point as I have not done much hiking yet this season.  I said as much to my hiking partner telling her I would wait for her here, take some pictures and just hang out.  She had a goal of reaching the top so off she went. As I snapped some pictures of the wildflowers that were benefiting from the earlier spring rains, I decided to give this section a bit more effort and headed up.  Before I knew it I was past the worst of it,and as the rest of the hike is not that bad, with some ups and downs and long switch backs, I gradually made my way on up. Past  the climb is the reward for the earlier effort.  The tall pines here are unaffected by the pine beetle that is ravaging parts of the Rocky Mountains are still green and cool providing much appreciated shade.  The trail is wide and smooth and birds flit thru the trees.  Despite my enjoyment of the day I was still very happy to see the long left hand turn that took me to the peak, having climbed way past my initial goal.  There is 1 geocache at the peak which I had found several years ago but as there were several people at the top I did not alert them to the location of the cache.

After a brief rest near the top we headed back down felling satisfied with our effort of the day.  We identified a yellow-rumped warbler mocking our terrestrial bound travel and a quieter junco as we traversed the switchbacks back to the car, the noise, and the heat.  I was deeply satisfied and inspired to increase my commitment to hike  these beautiful mountains I am so lucky to live near.  Viva Colorado!!! 

 

Geocaching?

In my last blog I mentioned geocaching a couple times but did not really explain what exactly geocaching is.  Geocaching is a real world outdoor  treasure hunting activity using gps enabled devices.  Started in 2000 with one cache it has grown to over 1 million caches around the world and over 5 million geocachers.  Basically, someone leaves and object, usually a tupperware container, with a log and small objects to trade then registers it on line,at http://www.geocaching.com for example.   Other cachers look online for caches nearby enter the coordinates in their gps device and go off on a hunt. But be careful, geocaching can be quite addictive!  How many caches can you find in a day, in a week, in a year?  Or can you be the first to find( FTF) a newly placed cache? Can you find a cache in every state? On top of a 14er? Sometimes it is just the  satisfaction you feel after hunting and hunting and finally finding that cleverly hidden cache that has been staring right at you for the past 20 minutes.  Whatever it is I know I will hike higher and walk longer and explore further just knowing there is a cache nearby.
 Some of the best moments on recent trips have been finding a cache placed by a local cacher in a unique or historical location that I would of never thought to look for if it weren't for the cache.  We felt like old world explorers when we  found the ruins of a remote castle along the western coast of Ireland.  Geocaching has taken me many places, where will it take you?

If You Are Lucky Enough

The saying "If you are lucky enough to live in Colorado, you are lucky enough, is so true.  We decided to drive up to Mt. Evans on a whim yesterday and even though it was a bit overcast the scenery was still so spectacular you don't even mind. We headed for our favorite stop on the way to the top where we have been so lucky to see several Rocky Mountain Sheep.  What do you call the young'uns, calves, lambs, kids or what? Anyway, we got some great pictures of them hiding in the rocks and such.
 Of course I had planned on doing a geocache or two along the way as I knew there were some up there but I assumed, wrongly, that I would be able to get cell coverage and use my handy-dandy geocaching app on my IPhone.  No such luck.  So no geocaches on the mountain for us today.

 On a road trip with the two of us you have to be prepared for lots of stops along the way, if it's not me wanting to stop for geocaches and historical markers it's Chris' amazing ability to spot wildlife from a speeding car.  Today was no different.   We made several of those roadside stops to catch a few clicks of the sun bathing Marmots and more amazing views. All in all another great day in the mountains, finished off with some mountain pie at Beau Joe's in Idaho Springs and yes, a geocache!  Yes, we are lucky enough. =)

My first blog

So I have really just discovered blogging, yes I know where have I been?  Under a rock evidently, but here it is anyway.  Right now I can't stop thinking about ants.  Ants!  Ants are not cute. Ants get in your food and on your furniture and in your carpeting and they bite!  I am sure they serve some useful purpose in the overall scheme of things, but right now I just want them gone! We have a giant ant colony under our patio.  The pest people come out and spray the cracks and all around the house foundation, and the next day there are literally thousands of dead and dying ants on the patio. Everyday I sweep their tiny carcasses off the cement. The next day there are more ants back to work building their little mounds of dirt, we call the exterminators and they spray some more and drop little granules down there and the next morning is a repeat of the last.  I am beginning to believe that our house is built on a giant ant hill and is slow sinking into the ground, or the ants are excavating all the dirt out from under us.  Now we have a colony out front as well.  The other day we saw a dark patch on the grass that turned out to be thousands and thousands of ants! I only hope they were moving out and not into the area.  We of course sprayed them and left thousands dead.  I am sure we have thoroughly pissed off the ant community with our non-stop persecution of their little lives.  And yet with all our chemical warfare the colony still survives to fight another day.  It's not that I have anything against ants per say, I just don't want them  all over my patio or in my house.  So the struggle continues, who will win?  Too early to say.