Just got back from a long weekend with relatives in Nevada. We weren't planning for much of a birding weekend but it turned out to be a fantastic trip. We added four new species to our life list and got some great photos of birds we didn't have previously. The place we stayed is rather rural with some very nice riparian habitat. California Quail were rampant in the area. We also got some shots of Western Tanager and Bullock's Oriole. The shots of these two are not the greatest and I only keep them now because we have no other shots of these birds. The Tanagers were especially difficult as they stayed very high up in the cottonwood trees and rarely showed themselves. They also refused to acknowledge calls.

On the other hand, you'll find numerous photos uploaded of Western Wood-Pewees. We saw and photographed several but one in particular was very cooperative. He stayed on his perch or in the general area for a long time allowing us to get photos of his in many different poses.

We also got many good shots of Yellow-headed Blackbirds at the wildlife area at the south end of Washoe Lake. There were also Red-winged Blackbird as well as Tri-Colored Blackbird. A Wilson's Snipe displayed magnificent winnowing behavior but, despite many tries, defied all my efforts to get a single usable photograph of him.

Female Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) Heide got some photos of an unidentified sparrow. Upon arriving home and studying them closely it looks like it's a Brewer's Sparrow. She also got a photo of an unknown bird in a rather odd pose (see photo above). When I saw the photo my initial reaction was "What the hell is that?" Further investigation has revealed that it is merely a female Red-winged Blackbird. It was a case of the unusual position of the bird in the photo made it look like something it wasn't! If someone thinks it is something else please let me know.

Well, June is a busy month for us so we probably won't get much new shooting done. I hope to find time to continue going through old stock and getting the photos moved over to the Zenfolio site. I think I'll concentrate on species that are not yet represented. All for now.

-Randy