Post by tmanson on Jun 30, 2009 16:52:46 GMT -8
Hi all:
Haven't done much local reporting lately, basically, because I haven't been around too much. Sold the house in Hope as of July 31, and am not sure exactly where the next domicile will be.
In any event, at the present time, am finishing up a road trip, mostly to Southern Oregon, Northern Nevada, and Northern California.
Although travelling with others, the main focus for me was to try, and find
Lawrence's Goldfinch, and the more difficult Himalayan Snowcock in Northern Nevada.
Actually, the Lawrence's Goldfinch was not that easy either, but after 2.5 days of looking around the foothills of interior Northern California, from Vacaaville to San Jose, finally found 3. The specific location was about 2.5 km east of a dot on the map called The Juction, which, in turn is about 40 km south of Livermore on Mines Road. Lots of looking in 90 plus degrees fahrenheit!!- good fun.
The Himalyan Snowcock was something else.
According to my research, this bird was introduced into the Ruby Mountains of N.E. Nevada in 1964, as a game bird. The hunting part, luckily, was never that successful, as the bird occupies the highest altitudes, and is generally inaccesible.
At an altitude of 10000 ft., the way up to the bird's habitat is usually unavailable until this time of year. There is a road from Elko, the nearest town, and this drive takes about 45 minujtes in good conditions. Then, there is a two mile hike up a steep trail, and like Mt. Cheam, this trail usually holds snow until the end of June. Very luckily, the conditions now are ideal. The snow has basically melted off the trail, and while the temps down below in Elko are over 90 degrees fahrenheit, the temps on the mountain are a very pleasant 50-75 degrees fahrenheit, depending on the time of day.
On the first day of trying, we really got to the best sites too late-around 7:00 a.m. Nevertheless, one member of the party got great looks at a single bird around 9:00 a.m. This was after scrambling up another 500 feet beyond trail's end over loose rock scree, and into an alpine meadow-
Gord, you would love this hike!! The rest of us were fanned out, and the bird could not be relocated.
The next day, the recommended strategy was employed; i.e.- get up to altitude by daybreak- around 5:00 a.m. This is because the modus operandi for the bird is to occupy the highest peaks, and ledges overnight, fly down at daybreak, and walk back up. So, after a 3:00 a.m wake up, we were up at the top of the Island Lake trail shortly after sunrise. This involved hiking in the semi-darkness, on a well maintained trail. As we reached trail end, the sun was just starting to shine on Thomas Peak, opposite. When I looked up I thought I saw some loose rocks, but when I trained the scope on the shapes, they turned out to be 3 beautiful snowcocks. They were perfectly illuminated in the early morning light. They posed beautifully, and five minutes later, when they started their daily flight descent, it turned out there were six of them. When they landed, they were invisible, as their colours blended perfectly with the rock. An amazing birding experience, and well worth the effort.
The Ruby Mountains are a beautiful site alone, and the hiking in the area is great.
I took a few pictures of the trip, which I will try to post, but, unfortunately, not of the birds, which were the star of the show for me. Cheers,
Thor
Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.
Haven't done much local reporting lately, basically, because I haven't been around too much. Sold the house in Hope as of July 31, and am not sure exactly where the next domicile will be.
In any event, at the present time, am finishing up a road trip, mostly to Southern Oregon, Northern Nevada, and Northern California.
Although travelling with others, the main focus for me was to try, and find
Lawrence's Goldfinch, and the more difficult Himalayan Snowcock in Northern Nevada.
Actually, the Lawrence's Goldfinch was not that easy either, but after 2.5 days of looking around the foothills of interior Northern California, from Vacaaville to San Jose, finally found 3. The specific location was about 2.5 km east of a dot on the map called The Juction, which, in turn is about 40 km south of Livermore on Mines Road. Lots of looking in 90 plus degrees fahrenheit!!- good fun.
The Himalyan Snowcock was something else.
According to my research, this bird was introduced into the Ruby Mountains of N.E. Nevada in 1964, as a game bird. The hunting part, luckily, was never that successful, as the bird occupies the highest altitudes, and is generally inaccesible.
At an altitude of 10000 ft., the way up to the bird's habitat is usually unavailable until this time of year. There is a road from Elko, the nearest town, and this drive takes about 45 minujtes in good conditions. Then, there is a two mile hike up a steep trail, and like Mt. Cheam, this trail usually holds snow until the end of June. Very luckily, the conditions now are ideal. The snow has basically melted off the trail, and while the temps down below in Elko are over 90 degrees fahrenheit, the temps on the mountain are a very pleasant 50-75 degrees fahrenheit, depending on the time of day.
On the first day of trying, we really got to the best sites too late-around 7:00 a.m. Nevertheless, one member of the party got great looks at a single bird around 9:00 a.m. This was after scrambling up another 500 feet beyond trail's end over loose rock scree, and into an alpine meadow-
Gord, you would love this hike!! The rest of us were fanned out, and the bird could not be relocated.
The next day, the recommended strategy was employed; i.e.- get up to altitude by daybreak- around 5:00 a.m. This is because the modus operandi for the bird is to occupy the highest peaks, and ledges overnight, fly down at daybreak, and walk back up. So, after a 3:00 a.m wake up, we were up at the top of the Island Lake trail shortly after sunrise. This involved hiking in the semi-darkness, on a well maintained trail. As we reached trail end, the sun was just starting to shine on Thomas Peak, opposite. When I looked up I thought I saw some loose rocks, but when I trained the scope on the shapes, they turned out to be 3 beautiful snowcocks. They were perfectly illuminated in the early morning light. They posed beautifully, and five minutes later, when they started their daily flight descent, it turned out there were six of them. When they landed, they were invisible, as their colours blended perfectly with the rock. An amazing birding experience, and well worth the effort.
The Ruby Mountains are a beautiful site alone, and the hiking in the area is great.
I took a few pictures of the trip, which I will try to post, but, unfortunately, not of the birds, which were the star of the show for me. Cheers,
Thor
Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.
