Team Snowcock

The Ruby Mountains rise abruptly from the eastern Nevada prairie. Their similar appearance to the Pakistan/Kashmir Himalayan range led someone to believe that this would make a good second home for the Himalayan Snowcock.
The Himalayan Snowcock is an early riser. They come down the slopes of the mountain sides before dawn, then work their way back up as they feed. When I say "come down", I mean that they leave the dizzying, precipitous heights of the peaks for the dizzying, precipitous, sheer cliffs of the alpine cirques. 
Finding a Himalayan Snowcock in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada can be a team sport, and I put the planning in Chris Hitt's able hands. Chris has an ABA list of 800+ birds, the snowcock being the single "heard only" left to see. Doreene Linzell, while not enamored with adding an introduced species, could bump her expanding ABA list to 771. Bert Filemyr is experienced at this sport, and Marty Riback is always game for group shenanigans. Our friend Adrian Binns would not be present but had done reconnaissance the previous week and provided valuable input. We all met at the Salt Lake City airport for the drive across the Utah salt flats to Nevada. I had seen Himalayan Snowcock on a previous visit, with the help of my husband Dave who has an uncanny knack for spotting birds when he wants his vacation to proceed. With some sunlight remaining we took the opportunity to look for birds in the nearby Powerhouse Picnic Area, sighting a pair of Lewis's Woodpecker.
Early the following morning with headlamps glowing we met John Weigel, who had seen and heard the bird for his big year list but wanted to capture an image. The guys made good time and as Doreene and I reached Island Lake they were calling from the hill above. Chris had spotted some birds...close...HURRY!!! As much as I desired to bolt up the hill, as someone who normally lives at 860 feet above sea level (even with an acclimatizing climb to see White-tailed Ptarmigan in recent weeks) I was unable to sprint very far up the incline. We proceeded the remaining distance as the guys kept watch on the birds with a bit of agony, hoping they would stay in sight. We arrived to instant scope views of four Himalayan Snowcock slowly feeding about 300 yards away!

We took group photos and John, finally satisfied with his photos headed off for his next big year target.

Team Snowcock

Big Year rivals!

We continued to watch the snowcocks for another hour, and then focused on other birds in the area. Bert pointed out a dark bird in the distance. His experienced eye told him it was a Black Rosy Finch; correct color, size and flight. It was joined by a few others, but they were very distant, and I tried to get a good enough look to count for not only my year list, but my life list! I snapped photos hoping for clarity, but needed a better view to count and I would have more opportunity later in the year.

The next project was Juniper Titmouse. We checked out a few areas with great habitat in Nevada during the drive to Salt Lake City but all was quiet. The following day found us hiking up Yellow Fork Trail located one hour south of Salt Lake City, a location with eBird reports. It took some patience, but about a mile up the trail we located a pair of Juniper Titmouse!

It was a fun relaxed day birding with friends. We proceeded to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge an hour north of Salt Lake City and then Antelope Island SP. There were no year birds to search for, but a plethora of species to enjoy. We parted ways the following morning, after this great trip with wonderful supportive friends, good food and good birds!