The Final Countdown?

As of last night we were at 597 birds for the year. What happened today?

We struck out all morning, driving miles and miles down bumpy dirt roads trying to find any of 10 birds reported in the Truckee area that we needed for the year. But, to no avail.

Then...at 4:15pm, we climbed 200 feet up a dusty slope in the area of a past forest fire, and after an hour of looking, stumbled upon a White-headed Woodpecker! #598!

At 6:30pm, we drove the roughest, rockiest road of the day to Sage Hen Campground because of a recently reported Calliope Hummingbird. Thunderstorms were building and the sky darkened, so we had to move fast. Reaching the parking lot, we made a beeline for the nearby creek, and within 5 minutes found a beautiful male Calliope hovering over some willow bushes! #599!!

Jubilantly, we returned to Truckee for dinner, believing our night was done but satisfied in finding two birds on the day. Then, over dinner and a glass of wine, we reviewed the list of recent sightings and found that one of the campgrounds we visited had four recent reports of a Flammulated Owl. Should we try for it? Our first instinct was to turn in for the night and resume early in the AM, but then again, how badly did we want our goal?

Driving back north, we arrived at Cottonwood Campground at 9:45pm. To a dead silence. Except for the nearly constant stream of traffic that sped by for some unknown reason (seriously, people, what is so important in Sierraville, CA that everybody in Truckee needed to go there?).

At 10pm, nothing. 10:15pm and 10:30pm, likewise. 10:45pm, we began to wonder why we wasted the gas, and started whispering about how much longer we were going to sit there.

Then, at just past 11pm on July 6, 2015, a distant single "hoot"! A few seconds later, "hoot" again! And then several more! Flammulated Owl!

Please press Play on the video below:

Not only did we hit 600, but we hit it out of the park with a Life Bird!

Tomorrow, we'll try to push our total past 600 with a few other birds near Tahoe, then back home to prep for a weekend in Carolina.

Sipping on scotch but no cigars (the hotel is non-smoking!),
Me