Into the Fire

My morning started in earnest around 4:45, when Sue and I started driving to her birding area in the Muddy Mountains near Valley of Fire, in southern Nevada.  I dropped her off just as day started to light the hills around us, and I headed east to the Valley of Fire Wash, and started walking northward, as the sun started to rise.

It was BEAUTIFUL.  Not a lot of birds, to be honest; a lot of Black-throated Sparrows, parents and kids.  I was watching a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher family foraging in a small catclaw acacia, when a Loggerhead Shrike flew up to perch on the top of the shrub, taking an eager interest in the goings-on.  Interested, but obviously not overly hungry, since the male gnatcatcher flew at the shrike, scolding loudly, persuading the latter that it really did have an elsewhere it wanted to be.  A few Cactus Wrens, Mockingbirds, and a thrasher made the walk even more fun.

After scoping out a nest on a nearby rock outcrop (no one in it), I headed up to the Visitor’s Center, hoping to take some photos of their native plant garden (I so appreciate it when other people have done the hard work of keying out the plants!).  Sadly, they’d built over it when they expanded the center, so I was out of luck.  But I decided to head up into the Fire Canyon area, and I’m so glad I did.  Beautiful!  A couple of years ago, I played in here, and had explored the short jaunt to Mouse’s Tank. 

The area was filled with tour busses, so I decided not to head back, and continued on up to Rainbow Vista.

Saw some gorgeous rock outcrops, of course, like these at the top of Fire Canyon:

 then I stopped to take some photos of some plants.  I was just taking a photo of these evening primrose and shrub penstemon, 

 Shrub Penstemon, Penstemon ambiguus(?)

 Evening primrose

when Min and Cash started barking from the truck – I looked up, and saw:

BIGHORN!

So beautiful.  I headed back down to the truck for my good-but-not-particularly-portable camera, and the ewe just stayed there until I got back, perched on the top of the rock outcrop, so I was able to get a little bit of a closeup. 

 I turned around with a sigh, and saw

10 more bighorn ewes and lambs in the small valley nearby!

After gawping for a good while, I looked at my watch, and realized it was time for me to go pick up Sue.  But what a wonderful day!

It's now a few days later, and I'm still psyched about my visit there - wish it could have been longer!  But it's been a fantastic morning today mucking about in the riparian area along the Muddy River, being serenaded by Summer Tanagers and Vermilion Flycatchers and Willow Flycatchers and Blue Grosbeaks -- not to mention getting bitten by flies and a couple of very wet feet!