[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.105″ custom_margin=”|0px||0px” custom_padding=”|0px||0px”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” parallax_method_1=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_margin=”0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Outing Description” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ text_font=”||||” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”10px||10px|” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” use_border_color=”off” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
Today Don and I drove to the\u00a0Martis Creek recreation\u00a0area which is near Truckee in north Tahoe, just south of the Martis Creek Dam.\u00a0 We joined the Tahoe Institute of Natural Science (TINS) led bird walk, which was led by naturalist Will Richardson.\u00a0\u00a0It was a group of about 20 folks which seemed large for birding, and a cloudy cold day, but we did see a few interesting species.\u00a0 A fairly rare species identified by the naturalist was the vesper sparrow<\/strong>.\u00a0 This bird was singing exuberantly, but was observed at quite some distance, so I apologize for the poor quality photo (taken with 300mm lens but no tripod).\u00a0 We saw a number of Audubon warblers<\/strong> (which I’ve learned is the western version of the yellow-rumped warbler which I’ve already observed for TBY.)\u00a0 We also saw a number of song sparrows<\/strong> and several ducks.\u00a0 A good find was the double-crested cormorant<\/strong>.\u00a0 Apparently this is a fairly unusual sighting for Nevada (though I’ve seen them commonly in the SF bay area).\u00a0 We also saw two types of swallows: the tree swallow<\/strong> which is blue-gray on top but white on the bottom, and the cliff swallows which have orange on the tails and head.\u00a0 These swallows dart around so quickly, it was a challenge to get clear shots of them.\u00a0 While looking for killdeers (which are common and were observed by other birders on this field trip) we saw a spotted bird that acted like a killdeer, but didn’t have the correct coloration.\u00a0 The naturalist confirmed this to be a spotted sandpiper<\/strong> in its breeding plumage.\u00a0 Cool!\u00a0 Afterwards, we had lunch in a caf\u00e9 in Truckee, which is where I took the shot of the house sparrow<\/strong> for the TBY list.<\/p>\n Today I added\u00a06 species to my Tahoe Big Year\u00a0list.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.judyduffyphotography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/JDP-TBY-8189-20180429.jpg” title_text=”Click to zoom in.” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|” custom_padding=”170px||5px|” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Image Caption” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ text_font=”||||” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px|” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” use_border_color=”off” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n We saw this lone coyote roaming near the Martis Creek Dam, just as we pulled up to park the car.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”on” background_color=”#ffffff” parallax_method_1=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Gallery Container” _builder_version=”3.0.105″ text_font_size=”20″ link_text_color=”#000000″ background_color=”#ffffff” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” background_layout=”light”]