Nick Komar’s “Biggest Year” in USA Birding - 2023

The Ruby Mountains of Nevada rise dramatically to over 12,000  feet above sea level. They are home to one of the most bizarre and exotic species on the North American checklist: the Himalayan Snowcock. This is a peacock-sized gallinaceous bird from the Himalayas of Nepal that was introduced into the Ruby Mountains for hunters and has become established there. Seeing it requires a predawn two-hour uphill hike to a volcanic lake, and a good amount of luck. Viewing these birds from a helicopter is another option.   On the morning of August 22, 2023, I picked up my one tour participant Dana Hiatt in Loveland, Colorado. Dana has been a regular Quetzal Tours participant this year, having joined me in Puerto Rico, California, Minnesota, and now Nevada. Dana had her own target list and especially wanted to see Pinyon Jays and several Grouse/Quail species. We found our first one, Greater Sage-Grouse, in a field west of Coalmont in Jackson County (North Park).   August 23, 2023 We picked up Forr

I knew I would have to return to Arizona for Mexican species that only reach the sky island areas of southeastern Arizona during the summer breeding season. I gambled and waited until the monsoon season late in the summer to take advantage of post-breeding dispersers from Mexico. I would be accompanied by five tour participants from Aug 7-12: Cliff Hendrick of Colorado, Joe Burns of California, Alf Wilson of Massachusetts, Bud Younts of North Carolina, and Eric DeFonso of Colorado was our driver. We assembled at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix at 8 AM on August 7, 2023. It was already a scorching hot 95F. Temperatures in the Phoenix desert had been reaching 115-120F by late afternoon. At our advanced ages (58-78 years old), I didn’t want to bird in temperatures over 100F, so we made one significant stop near Phoenix at Red Mountain Park in Mesa, AZ. In just over an hour here we found Gambel’s Quail, Harris’s Hawk, Vermilion Flycatcher, Curve-billed Thrasher and Bendire’s Thrasher. These

I began my USA and Territories Biggest Year effort in January, 2023, with a goal of finding 40-50 ABA Code 3+ birds as part of my quest for 900 species. These are mostly true vagrants to the USA or very rare breeding birds. As July was nearing its end, I had already observed 36 of these, with 15 of them in Alaska.   My son Nick was finishing up a vacation in the Florida Panhandle so I invited him to join me in searching for an ABA Code 4 American Flamingo that had taken up residency at St. Marks NWR south of Tallahassee. This bird showed up following Hurricane Michael in 2018, is unbanded and presumed to be of wild origin. Birders have named it Pinky.  Nick picked me up at the Pensacola Airport the morning of July 29. Four hours later, we arrived at the National Wildlife Refuge and followed recent eBird reports to locate Pinky, the American Flamingo (Biggest Year-Bird number 728). Our photos of Pinky and other birds are here:    https://ebird.org/checklist/S145931601  . The location al