Blog Archives

LAS Volunteer Shorebird Surveyors in the News

9/26/2022

Volunteer shorebird surveyors at Carson Lake, Spring 2022 - photo by Diane Wong-Kone

Restoring Wetlands for Great Basin Shorebirds

Desert wetlands provide critical stopover sites for shorebirds flying north and south on long, annual migration journeys, but increasing drought and increased water demands diminish our wetlands. Wetland land managers need to carefully balance scarce water in the West, to supply needed stopover habitat where migrating shorebirds can rest and feed along their journey. Lahontan Audubon Society volunteers are helping to inform water management needs by monitoring shorebirds in the Lahontan Valley Wetlands near Fallon, NV. Our volunteer crews help state and federal biologists count birds in spring and fall.

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Pinyon Jay Community Science Training and Get Together

9/24/2022

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Our Pinyon Jay friends are returning to their flocks and it's time for us to get back to our surveys. This month we are hosting a gathering at Rosewood Nature Study Area to train new volunteers, answer questions for existing volunteers, and get together as a community of interested birders. Please RSVP so we can plan accordingly. If you are new to the project, we will send you some information in advance to help you with the on-boarding process.

Pinyon Jays by Jeff Bleam

RSVP to the PIJA Project Gathering Here

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Field Trip Report: Swan Lake NSA - 9/16/22

9/18/2022

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Field Trip Leader: Jeff Bleam
The weather went from hot to cool with a forecast for snow above 8000' within the next couple of days. There was a small storm a couple of days before the walk and there were new areas with just enough water to create muddy areas and push the shorebirds farther out from the shoreline. However, we did find LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS, STILTS, AVOCETS, and many KILLDEER. There were both SHORT-BILLED and LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS as well as LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPERS. We also saw COOPERS, RED-SHOULDER HAWKS, PEREGRINE FALCON and KESTRELS. Highlights were a short visit from COMMON and FORSTER'S TERNS and on the way back we found, with some help, SANDERLING. I stopped by the wetland area at Lear Road and found YELLOW, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, BLACK PHOEBE, 2 COOT, a WILLOW FLYCATCHER, and a YELLOWTHROAT. Not a bad day with 48 species.

eBird List

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Field Trip Report: Little Washoe Lake - 9/9/2022

9/10/2022

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Trip Leader: Jeff Bleam

With fall a couple of weeks away the recent heat wave didn't seem to show it; however, with the smoke from the Mosquito Fire (CA) it kept the heat down. The smoke extended the golden hour and when a flight of GREAT EGRETS flew in they had an orange tint to their white breasts. From the parking area, we saw HORNED, EARED, and PIED-BILLED GREBES, REDHEADS, WIGEONS, CANADA GEESE, and IBIS. In the Willows we saw a BEWICK'S WREN and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. We walked along the shoreline finding many KILLDEER and in the Willows there were MARSH WREN and a COOPERS HAWK. In the wetlands, there were PELICANS and a congregation of 33 Great Egrets and BLUE HERON. There was one SONG, SAVANNAH, WHITE-CROWNED, one LINCOLN'S, and back at the parking area a BREWER'S SPARROW. As it has been the trend lately, as people were leaving some of us saw a YELLOW WARBLER and a KESTREL. I was pleasantly surprised that the final species count was 56.

View the eBird Report

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LAS Volunteer Shorebird Surveyors in the News

Pinyon Jay Community Science Training and Get Together

Field Trip Report: Swan Lake NSA - 9/16/22

Field Trip Report: Little Washoe Lake - 9/9/2022

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