Birding 2-13- 2011 : Willow Creek: Pahrump: (Nye County)

February 13, 2011 turned out to be a wonderful birding morning.  Full of excitement. The tree's were full of birds this morning. There were calling Red-winged Blackbirds and Crow's waking everyone up.But the most beautiful sound this morning was the clear rich warble of the Western Meadowlark. I started out with the idea of wanting to get a picture of every bird I saw today. The first bird was a White-breasted Nuthatch, and he was way too quick for me with his flying from tree to tree. I did get other pictures as I relaxed with the camera, and found a new excitement at being able to get pictures of birds in flight.

I arrived at 10a.m. at Richard and Carol Cantino's. The Hooded Warbler had just come in and was back out again in the middle of the trees. Richard, had beautiful pictures he had taken this morning of Burrowing Owls. We spent time preparing for the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count through Cornell.

Richard subscribed to Birds of North America Online and we spent time studying the Red-tailed Hawks. What beautiful pictures! This is definitely something every birder should look at. The Great Backyard Bird Count is Friday February 18 through Monday February 21. I encourage everyone to get out and count the bird's It's great to have birding friends. Carol, reminded me today as she was looking at the male House Sparrow and female House Sparrow how exciting and wonderful it is to be in the presence of a
new birder as we went through the descriptions of what to look for in identifying these birds. I also learned that I need to brush up on my identification skills of Red-tailed Hawks.



Birds seen today on Willow Creek:

Canada Warbler
Mallard
American Wigeon's
Northern Shoveler's
Cooper's Hawk's (2)
Red-shouldered Hawk (1)
American Kestrel's (2)
Gambel's Quail
American Coot's
Mourning Dove's
Eurasian Collared Dove's
Rock Dove's
Anna's Hummingbird
Ladder-backed Woodpecker's (2)a male and a female
Northern Flicker's (3)
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Common Raven
American Crow's
Horned Lark (1)
Verdin
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
European Starling (1)
Cedar Waxwings (13)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Hooded Warbler (1) male
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco's (Slate-colored) and (Oregon)
Western Meadowlark's
Red-winged Blackbird's
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow's

Submitted by
Darlene Feener
Pahrump, Nevada