Las Vegas, NV - 2/14/2024

     When we were booking our hotels prior to our trip to California my daughter suggested a side trip to Las Vegas for a couple of days.  I had never been to Las Vegas, or Nevada for that matter.  At first I was concerned about the cost of both getting there and staying there.  My daughter is good at finding getaways and she found a round trip flight to Las Vegas from San Diego for less than $115 total for the three of us, plus two nights at a hotel on the strip that was less per night than any of the hotels we booked in California.  My wife and I agreed that this would be the best opportunity to cross off Las Vegas from our bucket lists.  Flights from home would be much longer and cost much more.  We booked it.  Now I had an opportunity to add Nevada birds to my list.

On  Valentine’s Day morning, while my wife and daughter were preparing to head to the airport, I roamed around outside close to the hotel to look for any more birds to add to my trip list.  I didn’t add much.  I got nice photos of Anna’s hummingbirds and had a Say’s phoebe fly barely over my head.  The only new trip bird was a white-throated sparrow, which eBird flagged as rare.  I did get a document photo to add to my list.
Male Anna’s hummingbird, San Diego.  © S. Weiss

We arrived in Las Vegas in midafternoon.  My wife and I joked about going to one of the famous Las Vegas Strip wedding chapels to renew our vows by an Elvis impersonator for Valentine’s Day but knew there were probably many people visiting those chapels on lovers’ day.  By the time we got to our hotel, my wife and daughter had to make their way to the Sphere for a show.  I did not go to the show with them, but from the outside the sphere is quite a spectacle.  Like a giant round television, images move about it in the highest definition found anywhere in the world.  Afterwards, they told me it was kind of like the 4-D Soarin’ Around the World experience at Disney World’s Epcot.
View of Nevada mountains from our plane.  © A. Weiss

View of Las Vegas from our hotel.  © S. Weiss

While they were at the show, I went out to explore my new environment.  Before the trip, I researched the area for eBird hotspots and lists of possible birds to find.  Las Vegas and Nevada can be very good places to bird, if you can get away from the Strip.  The closest hotspots I could find were at least five miles away from where we were staying.  A one way trip by cab or ride share was probably over $50 and at least half a hour driving time.  Not worth it this late in the afternoon since I would have little time to explore before dark.  I set out walking to the closest park I could find which was a mile-and-a-half away.  The part between the strip and the residential area was a little shady, but I managed.  The only birds I spotted before the residential zone were typical cosmopolitan, urban birds like house sparrows and pigeons.  The residential area was nicer with homes and landscaped properties.  The park was very small with not much more to offer than some Anna’s hummingbirds and Eurasian collared-doves as highlights.  My walk back was at a much quicker pace since I wanted to make it back to the strip before the sunset.  

I made it back fine and met up with my wife and daughter along the strip for dinner.  I had to come to terms that since we did not rent a car, I was not going to see the birds and wildlife that I wanted to see while in Vegas.  We still had one full day yet in town and we had another tour booked for it.  This would be my best chance to see natural Las Vegas and Nevada, at least on this trip.


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