A house finch divebombs a female as they scrap over seed left out for them at the River Fork Ranch on Saturday.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Monday was the last day to participate in Cornell’s Lab’s Great Backyard Bird Count, where participants reported the number of birds they saw over a 15-minute period Feb. 14-17.
As of Tuesday morning, the website at www.birdcount.org indicated 62 different species of bird observed in Douglas County.
On Saturday, a few bird enthusiasts gathered at the River Fork Ranch, where there were plenty of birds fluttering about, though mostly Canada geese and magpies.
Birder Doug Stinson, who was there on Saturday, reported seeing two bald eagles on Saturday at the ranch. He also estimated seeing 35 magpies, the second most popular sighting there after 200 Canada geese. He also reported 23 house finches and 17 mallards.
Saturday’s 42nd annual Ducks Unlimited dinner has been sold out for a week.
Organizer John Larson said that the dinner often sells out and encouraged folks to visit www.ducks.org to find out other ways they can help.
It has been nine years since Ducks Unlimited participated in the first Lahontan Valley – Western Nevada Wetlands North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant at the River Fork Ranch.
The project was completed in 2016 as part of the group’s mission to restore and enhance wetlands habitats across the nation.
“Work included recontouring wetlands, constructing new low levees, and installing water control structures to develop a new wetland management unit,” according to Ducks Unlimited wildlife biologist Amelia Raquel. “This work enhanced 9 acres of wetland and 11 acres of associated uplands.”
Waterfowl like ducks and geese rely on Nevada’s wetlands in migrating across the country, and there’s a lot of wet land in Carson Valley.
The ranch gets its name from the confluence of the east and west forks of the Carson River and is home to numerous marshes.
The ranch, located below Genoa, also hosted the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 28, 2024.
That event saw a 42 percent decline in the number of birds spotted, from 14,000 the year before to 8,000, though it was a stormy day.
Tahoe Institute for Natural Science Outreach Director Sarah Hockensmith reported 200 participants spotted 15 eagles and eaglets in the Tahoe Basin on Jan. 10.
“This marks the lowest count we’ve seen since 2013, when we also recorded 15 individuals,” she said. “There are several possible reasons for this apparent dip at Tahoe: with a relatively mild winter so far, perhaps more open water sources near Tahoe have kept the eagles more spread out this year. Another possibility is that the calving season in nearby valleys seems to start earlier each winter, which could be drawing eagles away from the Lake sooner.”