By Ben Zyla of Bird Las Vegas

I wanted to recap on our day out ( 13 Sep ) at Lake Mead. Specifically, go over the Gulls we saw and discuss them by species and age class. Jeanne amd Cathy took some fantastic photos that day and allowed me to use them in this email for all of us to enjoy. Thanks ladies!

I am going to break this up into 2 parts because of all the context.  I am also going to include Alex in on this in case he wants to add to the content with his Larus wisdom. 

​My Audubon Journey.
I started birdwatching when I was ten years old; innately drawn to and determined to identify the Slate colored Juncos and other birds around our Pennypack Park-area home. In the sixth grade, I knew so much about birds that the Daily News even took notice when they came to my elementary school to do a story on a special program of which I was a part. By 13, I had securely decided what I would do “as a grown up.” Despite the razzing I took from friends, all I wanted to do was study birds and become an ornithologist. And nothing was going to stop me.
Well…

Andrea and I yesterday took our annual January drive to Pahranagat to view the bald eagles. This was a better year for us. We spotted 3 juveniles and 2 adults.

The visitor center, with the government shutdown, was closed. However the restrooms at the center and on the upper lakes were clean and spotless. The camping sites were closed, but otherwise the preserve is open.

​We were there over 4 hours and saw a total of 3 other cars visit that whole time. The eagles were flying and perched off the east side of the lake, and at times were within 20 feet of our vehicle. They were more relaxed and accessable with greatly reduced human activity. We as well hiked the east side and had many sightings during our walk.

 Jim Nelson