May 6, 2023
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Back in 2011, this was one of my favorite locations, where I saw a lovely Brown-crested Flycatcher. So, I’d given my students a head’s up that, as soon as we arrived, I was going to wander off on my own to look for birds, and that they should PLEASE not start calling my name unless I’d been gone more than half an hour.
We had a couple of great sightings before we even made it to the campground. On the road, on the way up, we spotted not one, but TWO Great Plains Gophersnake. So pretty! I also caught a glimpse of a Black-throated Sparrow.
I wandered into the Singleleaf Pinyon and California Juniper woods, and soon heard a few bird sounds, and caught glimpses, but it was difficult for me to actually get any of them in sight. I also amused myself with taking photos of various flowers and other plants. Some favorites included Distant Phacelia, Turpentine Broom, Cold Desert Phlox, Heath-leaved Chaetopappa, and Fluffgrass (which sounds like a name I would make up, but it’s the actual common name of this plant).
Eventually I caught sight of a couple of birds: a lovely Ash-throated Flycatcher, and an Empidonax flycatcher – either Hammond’s or Pacific-slope, I think.
As I headed back in the direction of the place where we’d parked the vans, I spotted a couple of birds perched in a bare tree. My first thought was that they were Kestrels, but when I saw them in profile, the beak shape was all wrong, and they were somewhat too small. Maybe California Towhee? The size seemed right, except the tails looked too short, and the posture was a bit too upright. I alternated between snapping photos, and slowly moving closer to the tree (hoping not to cause them to fly away). I was doing great until one of my students came over and asked me a question. When I looked up again for the birds . . . they were gone. The good news, however, is that I got some reasonably good photos – good enough to identify these as Cassin’s Finch. (OH YEAH). My sense of them being relatively large would also point to Cassin’s, over House Finch.
As I wandered in the direction of the facilities, I also pulled out my phone to see if I could pick up any calls on Merlin. A Black-tailed Jackrabbit ran across the trail (the first and only lagomorph I saw on this trip), and I saw a flock of small birds that were probably more Cassin’s Finch. Then a larger bird flew into a tree not hugely far away from me. A kingbird of some sort, and Merlin gave me the ID: Cassin’s Kingbird. I followed the bird around for a while, taking photos. None of them are amazing, but they are good enough to confirm the ID – white on the face, and a darker, more contrast-y cap. This also seems to be the more common kingbird at this location. I was happy to see this lovely bird (even if it did fly away just out of good range of my lens every time I started to come close, haha).
As I walked back toward the vans, some of my students called out that they’d found an arboreal Western Fence Lizard up in a tree. It was still visible by the time I arrived, although it had climbed quite high up.
A few minutes later, I was chatting with one of my students when we noticed another spiny lizard, this one running on the ground. I think it’s a Western Fence Lizard, although Sagebrush Lizards are possible at this site. Either way, we were able to view it for several minutes.
We were hoping to have some time to rest up back at the Desert Studies Center before we went out for our night drive, so we headed back down the mountain a bit earlier than I would have liked, but it was all right – between the Cassin’s Kingbird, the Fence Lizard, and loads of gorgeous flowers, I was happy with what I’d seen. Plus, as we were driving away from the campsite area, several Cassin’s Finch flew into a tree at the side of the road, allowing me to snap a quick photo.
We still did have one more fun new species for this trip. My van was in the lead, and we spotted a very pale-colored Colubrid in the road: A gorgeous, delicate Patch-nosed Snake. A few minutes further down the road, we found another Patch-nosed (again in the road, and we’d worried that we might have run over it, but no worries – the snake was unscathed).
Coming down this road, I also had my best view yet of a White-tailed Antelope Squirrel, as it scurried along the edge of the road for a bit, before veering off into the vegetation out of sight.
Once we made it back to Kelbaker Road, I amused myself by looking out at the desert vegetation as it rolled past. I realized that I’d been seeing something unfamiliar . . . something yellow-ish/orange growing across the top of many of the plants. At first, I thought it might be some sort of cactus in bloom, but that didn’t seem quite right. After a bit of research I discovered that it was some sort of Dodder (maybe Small-tooth) – a parasitic non-photosynthetic plant. Cool! And also a bit icky, because, parasitic.
Species List
Red-shanked Grasshopper (Xanthippus corallipes), Great Basin Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola), Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata), Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), Empidonax flycatcher (Empidonax sp), Cassin’s Finch (Haemorhous cassinii), Cassin’s Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans), Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), Western Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis), Western Tent Caterpillar Moth (Malacosoma californica), White-tailed Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus), Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia), Southwestern Mock Vervain (Glandularia gooddingii), Apricot Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), Bristly Fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata), Desert Bitterbrush (Purshia glandulosa), Chia (Salvia columbariae), Mojave Kingcup Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus mojavensis), Distant Phacelia (Phacelia distans), California Juniper (Juniperus californica), Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla), Whitemargin Sandmat (Euphorbia albomarginata), Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata), Tall Tumblemustard (Sisymbrium altissimum), Birdnest Buckwheat (Eriogonum nidularium), Plains Pricklypear (Opuntia polyacantha), Redstem Stork’s-Bill (Erodium cicutarium), Nevada Jointfir (Ephedra nevadensis), Green Ephedra (Ephedra viridis), Blue Dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus), Hairypod Pepperweed (Lepidium lasiocarpum), Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), Flatspine Bursage (Ambrosia acanthicarpa), Apricot Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), Colorado Four o’Clock (Mirabilis multiflora), Turpentine Broom (Thamnosma montana), Desert Bitterbrush (Purshia glandulosa), Fluffgrass (Dasyochloa pulchella), Cold Desert Phlox (Phlox stansburyi), Rough Jointfir (Ephedra aspera), Frémont’s Phacelia (Phacelia fremontii), Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), Heath-leaved Chaetopappa (Chaetopappa ericoides), Hairypod Pepperweed (Lepidium lasiocarpum), Narrowleaf Goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolia), Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa), Dodder (Cuscuta sp), Small-tooth Dodder (Cuscuta denticulata), Mesquite Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum), Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa), Desert Broom (Baccharis sarothroides) Cheesebush (Ambrosia salsola)
Let me know what you think!