Another excellent spot near 'Vegas is the Corn Creek Field Station north
of town ~ 30 miles. This is a verdant oasis in the middle of the
desert with a couple of year round ponds that attracts many migrants. I
was there late last September and it was teeming with migrants.

Mike Blue
Renton, Wa

Louise Rutter wrote:
> If anyone ever finds that work issues force them to travel to Vegas, I
> highly recommend a visit to the Clark County Wetlands Park at the end of
> Tropicana Ave, about 30 minutes drive east of the centre.
>
> http://www.co.clark.nv.us/parks/wetlands/Wetland's_Homepage.htm
>
> The visitor centre's open 9am-3pm, but the trails are open dawn to dusk,
> and at 8am, the entire place was a mass of birds, singing and chattering
> from every reed bed and bush. Abert's towhees, with their limited
> geographic range, were common enough that I saw three in an hour, along
> with many other local species. Even some of the familiar birds such as
> brown-headed cowbirds were much more common in there, so I got far
> better views and photos of them then I've ever had the chance at in
> Washington.
>
> Just about every desert canyon in the area seemed to turn up
> black-throated sparrows and Lucy's warblers, but the Valley of Fire
> State Park is apparently the place to go for phainopepla. Standing near
> the atlatl rock, I watched five of these glorious crested flycatchers
> darting from bush to bush, and never saw another anywhere else.
>
> Louise Rutter
> Kirkland
>