On Monday morning we started our drive back to Las Vegas. After 150 miles we pulled onto a side road in the middle of nowhere for a short break. As we stood and looked at the landscape, I remarked to Dee that it was odd we weren't seeing any flycatchers.
"Well, there are some birds over there," she said, pointing to a railroad crossing. I walked over and was immediately buzzed by a pair of Western Kingbirds. So much for there not being any flycatchers around! From the way these birds acted, I guess they had a nest or fledglings nearby.
We spent the night in Hurricane, where a fountain at our motel was attracting lots of Lesser Goldfinches (below) while a nearby yard had several Phainopeplas.
The following day, on our way to the airport, we stopped off at a wetlands area that is being developed in Henderson. We weren't able to visit all of the site because of ongoing construction but what we saw was impressive. Once the construction is completed, this is going to be an excellent birding site. As it was, we saw a nice range of birds from Great Blue Heron and Common Gallinules to Western Kingbirds and Say's Phoebes.
Best of all, though, was a bird I'd been hoping to see all trip: Black Phoebe. In fact, the small picnic area where we stopped for lunch featured no fewer than three Black Phoebes. It was a nice ending to a good trip.
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