Nevada - Idaho - Wyoming - Utah Trip ~ August 6, 2019

Seeing Himalayan Snowcock pretty much requires a special trip because of its range, which is restricted to the Ruby Mountains in Nevada, plus it involves a high-altitude hike to its habitat. The recent split of the Cassia Crossbill, located a little over four hours to the north, added an additional incentive to go there. I didn't want to do the hike alone in case something happened----a twisted ankle, bear encounter, heart attack, etc. I knew that my friend, Jason Horn, had already seen the Snowcock but hadn't seen the crossbill, so I asked him if he'd be interested in going along. He was willing to go as long as we also tried for "Franklin's" Grouse. I hadn't seen the grouse either, so it was real easy decision. Since all three birds are usually not that easy to find, I allotted two days for each.

At 4:00 AM on Tuesday, Jason picked me up and we headed for the Newark Airport. We boarded our non-stop flight to Salt Lake City, Utah, but wasted an hour-and-a-half at the Dollar rental car area waiting for a car because their entire fleet of cars was out on the road. Finally in our car, we made the 4-1/2 hour drive west to the parking lot at the end of the road in Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains, arriving in the late afternoon.

The Ruby Mountains

Lamoille Canyon

Our hike up the Island Lake Trail to just above the lake took about 1-1/2 hours. We climbed from about 8800 feet up to just below 10,000 feet. Many different kinds of wildflowers lined the hillsides.

Views along the Island Lake Trail

Island Lake

From there, we scanned "the bowl", cliff faces, and peaks that reached over 11,000 feet for the Himalayan Snowcock. They are so well camouflaged that you're basically looking for a rock that moves.

Himalayan Snowcock habitat

It wasn't long at all before Jason spotted one standing at the very top of the cliff. It wasn't the greatest look, because it was distant and mostly backlit, but there was no doubt it was the bird.

Himalayan Snowcock

Later, I saw two together at the top of another nearby peak. Other birds seen near Island Lake and along the trail included Broad-tailed and Rufous Hummingbird, Western Wood-Pewee, Clark's Nutcracker, Rock Wren, Mountain Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, MacGillivray's and "Audubon's" Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, White-crowned and Brewer's Sparrow, "Gray-headed" Junco, Black Rosy-Finch, Cassin's Finch, and Pine Siskin. On the way down, the setting sun lit up the peaks.

We made it back down to the car at dusk and headed for the Motel 6 in Elko.

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Nevada - Idaho - Wyoming - Utah Trip ~ August 7, 2019

Since Tuesday's looks at the Himalayan Snowcock weren't that great, I asked Jason whether he'd mind climbing back up to the spot to try and get better looks and maybe even the chance for a photo or two. We had originally figured on having to hike up in the dark to get there at first light, but since I had definitely seen the bird, we agreed that we would head up the trail at dawn instead.

We got there about the time the sun starting lighting up the peaks. We were searching for a long while with no luck. A few times, we heard birds calling as they flew from one spot to another, but it was tough to tell what direction the calls were coming from, especially for me since I have some hearing loss in my right ear, causing everything to sound like it's coming from my left. Once again, we heard some birds calling and Jason saw the section of the bowl that they landed in, which was just left of the two snow patches near the right center of this photo.

There were at least two birds. It was amazing how well these good-sized birds blended in with the rocks. It was a "Where's Waldo" situation. One of the birds is in the center and facing left in each of these photos.

Eventually, the one bird worked its way up the slope. It was a lot easier to see when it was in the grassy background.

The views that we got were definitely worth the second climb back up. On the way back down, there were hundreds of Sphinx Moths buzzing around and checking out the wildflowers.

The parking lot came into view when we got about two-thirds of the way down the trail.

Northern Flicker, Cordilleran Flycatcher, American Robin, and Lesser Goldfinch were additional birds seen in the area. More photos from Lamoille Canyon can be found at my Nevada Adventures Photo Album.

We drove back out of the canyon, grabbed lunch in Elko and then headed north towards the South Hills of Idaho. We drove through rain on the Nevada portion of Route 93, but it stopped when we got into Idaho. Birds seen along the highway included Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Western Kingbird, Tree, Cliff, Barn, and Violet-green Swallow, Black-billed Magpie, Common Raven, and Brewer's and Lark Sparrow.

In the late afternoon, we reached Diamondfield Jack Campground in the Sawtooth National Forest and found a pair of Cassia Crossbills perched atop a dead pine.

Cassia Crossbills

We continued the short distance over to Porcupine Springs Campground. Just beyond the campground, Jason spotted another crossbill pair in a pine that allowed me to get a little better photos than what I got at Diamondfield Jack.

Male Cassia Crossbill

Female Cassia Crossbill (Note the blue band on its right leg.)

Other birds found in the area included Sharp-shinned Hawk, Common Nighthawk, Northern Flicker, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, "Audubon's" Warbler, "Oregon" Junco, and Pine Siskin.

We stuffed ourselves at the Golden Corral in Twin Falls and stayed overnight at the Amber Inn Motel near Hansen.

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Nevada - Idaho - Wyoming - Utah Trip ~ August 8, 2019

We had found two of the three target birds in the first two days of the trip, so we had five days left to find our final bird, the "Franklin's" form of Spruce Grouse. Earlier research revealed that the areas around the town of Stanley seemed to be one of the better places to look for it. This whole area is at well over 6,200 feet in elevation. We drove north on Route 93 to Shoshone and picked up Route 75. Birds seen along the way included Swainson's Hawk, American Kestrel, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Black-billed Magpie, Mountain Bluebird, and Brewer's Blackbird. After passing through Ketchum, the highway weaved up and over Galena Summit at 8,700 feet.

The north side of Galena Summit

The Tin Cup Hiker Trailhead at Pettit Lake provided our first try for the grouse. Soon after heading up the trail, we came upon a nice-sized group of birds comprised of Western Wood-Pewee, Willow and Dusky Flycatcher, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Western Tanager, Lazuli Bunting, White-crowned and Chipping Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, and warblers that included Nashville, Yellow, "Audubon's", Townsend's, and Wilson's. Unfortunately at the same time, rain moved in and became heavy at times. We continued up the trail for about a half-mile and then headed back to the car. A Horned Lark was seen on the way back out to Route 75.

As we continued north into the town of Stanley, the rain was reduced to light showers. Most of the clouds lifted, revealing the taller Sawtooth Mountain peaks.

The Sawtooth Mountains

All of Stanley's motels and cabins were booked for the night, but we managed to secure a cabin about 20 miles farther down the road. That problem out of the way, our next spot to try for the grouse was the Iron Creek Trailhead, southwest of the town. We hiked about a mile up the trail through prime habitat but couldn't spot any grouse. On the way back, Jason decided to go partway into the woods and walk parallel with the trail. When we were about a tenth of a mile from the parking lot, he spotted a "Franklin's" Grouse about ten feet ahead of him. I slowly walked in and we both had excellent looks at a stunning male! I retrieved my camera from the car and, as I worked my way in position for a photo, the sun came out as if on cue and helped light up the bird.

"Franklin's" Spruce Grouse

This wider view shows how well this grouse blends into its surroundings, closely matching the colors of the logs.

Other birds seen in the area included Hammond's Flycatcher, "Audubon's" Warbler, Western Tanager, Lincoln's Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, Red Crossbill, and Pine Siskin.

All the stars and planets had aligned, allowing us to see all three "usually difficult to find" target birds in the first three days of the trip, something I never expected to happen. With all the success, we now had four whole days to play with. It was getting late in the day and in the book, "A Birder's Guide to Idaho", it mentioned that some of the nearby meadows might have Great Gray Owls. A few miles farther west on Route 21, we stopped at the Park Creek Overlook. Soon after we got out of the car, Jason heard what he thought were young birds calling. We hiked the hillside along the meadow and soon found a Great Gray Owl perched atop a tree in the meadow. We got to see it make several attempts to catch prey.

Great Gray Owl

In the woods far across the meadow were two young Great Grays calling to the parent that I managed to get a documentation photo of.

Two young Great Gray Owls

The area where the Great Grays were also produced Sandhill Crane, Common Nighthawk, Sage Thrasher, and Brewer's and Vesper Sparrow. The area south of the parking lot had burned in recent years and looked like a good place to try for Three-toed Woodpecker, so we figured we drive back in the morning and give it a try. We ate at a restaurant in Stanley, watched a Broad-tailed Hummingbird at a nearby feeder, and celebrated our good fortunes with ice cream.

While staying the night in a nice little cabin at Torrey's Burnt Creek Inn, we discussed what would be the best way to spend our four "free" days. Jason mentioned that Yellowstone National Park wasn't that far away and that he'd like to try and see the Gray Wolves there. I had just been there last year with my wife, but we never had the time to look for the wolves and had never seen Grizzly Bear in the park, so we agreed that we'd bird the Stanley area in the morning and head towards Yellowstone in the afternoon. Since it's practically impossible to book anything last minute in and around Yellowstone, I booked the Motel 6 in Rexburg, Idaho for the next two nights to make sure we had a place to stay.

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Nevada - Idaho - Wyoming - Utah Trip ~ August 9, 2019

As planned, we drove back up to the Park Creek Overlook to search for Three-toed and possibly Black-backed Woodpecker. Once again, we saw Sandhill Crane, the Great Gray Owls, Common Nighthawk, Sage Thrasher, and Brewer's Sparrow, but the only woodpeckers present were Hairy, Pileated, and Northern Flicker. Belted Kingfisher, Clark's Nutcracker, Mountain Bluebird, White-crowned Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, and Pine Siskin were also noted there.

Since Stanley Lake was also mentioned as a woodpecker spot and was on the way back, we drove into there. A stop along the road to the lake produced Olive-sided Flycatcher, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Warbling Vireo, "Oregon" Junco, and Red Crossbill, but it was about to get much better. As Jason stepped over one of several fallen trees, two Three-toed Woodpeckers popped up onto one of them! It was a female and a young male. We watched the female feed the young one so close that I had to back up to keep them in the camera frame.

Female Three-toed Woodpecker (Yes, they have three toes.)

Young male Three-toed Woodpecker

As if that wasn't good enough, a Williamson's Sapsucker flew over us and landed on a nearby trunk just long enough for me to get this mediocre photo.

Young male Williamson's Sapsucker

We continued on to the lake and walked along the west end of it. There, we found Great Blue Heron, Ring-necked Duck, Common Merganser, Belted Kingfisher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, and Yellow Warbler.

We headed back through Stanley, followed Route 75 all the way down the Salmon River to Chalis, and headed south on Route 93. Just south of Chalis, a small reservoir held Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, American Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, and Black-billed Magpie. Farther south, a Trumpeter Swan was in a little wetlands near Chilly. We stopped in the town of Arco and got something to eat at Pickle's Place.

From there, we headed east on Route 20 to Idaho Falls and north on I-15 to the Camas National Wildlife Refuge, arriving in the late afternoon.

Camas National Wildlife Refuge

Birds seen at the feeder area by the headquarters included Eurasian Collared-Dove, Rufous Hummingbird, Western Kingbird, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Lazuli Bunting. A large list of birds seen along the Auto Tour Route included White-faced Ibis, Trumpeter Swan, Green-winged, Blue-winged, and Cinnamon Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed and Swainson's Hawk, American Kestrel, Virginia Rail, Sora, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Solitary, and Least Sandpiper, Willet, Wilson's Snipe, Wilson's Phalarope, California and Franklin's Gull, Common Nighthawk, Eastern Kingbird, Cliff and Barn Swallow, Marsh Wren, Savannah and Vesper Sparrow, Red-winged, Yellow-headed, and Brewer's Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, and American Goldfinch.

Eared Grebe

We left the refuge and drove the remaining distance to Rexburg. Swainson's Hawks were pretty numerous along Route 33.

Swainson's Hawk

At the motel, we set our alarms for 3:30 AM in order to get into Yellowstone by first light.

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