February 10 -- A Bird Outing With Friends, And A Near-Disaster

It seems like I only need about 5 hours of sleep these days along with a little nap in the afternoon --- I certainly can use the extra "awake time"! I was to meet with fellow photographers and full-time RVers James Hager and OP at a park in Boulder City, Nevada (about 90 miles one-way from Overton) in the morning so I picked up an oatmeal cup (with fruit and raisin bits) along with a two-burrito breakfast meal from the MacDonald's here in Overton, then headed down the scenic Northshore Drive along the north side of Lake Mead. The colorful mountains were lovely in the early-morning sun, particularly the spectacular Bowl of Fire --

I met with James and OP at Veteran's Memorial Park in Boulder City.  The park has two artificial ponds and is a great spot to photograph ducks and cormorants -- and an occasional Osprey flying overhead -- up-close and nearly at eye-level. Here are a few of the ponds' visitors -- 

Male Ring-Necked Duck

 

Male Wood Duck

Male Redhead

Double-crested Cormorant (love that eye! )

An Osprey overhead

The meet at Veteran's Park was suggested by "Nevada Birding" (her Facebook name), a top birder in the SE Nevada area along with being an excellent photographer. She's a friend of OP and James, and I've occasionally corresponded with her back when she was known as "Lazy Photographer" at the photo site Onlinephotographers (she liked to shoot from vehicles, hence the nickname). After the park NB took us to a residential area in Boulder City where Harris' Hawks had nested in recent years (here's an online photo of them, taken in January 2012) ; they're rare for the area. After lunch and a haircut I headed back to Overton -- and nearly had a disaster.  I wonder about my mental health sometimes... I did a left turn on Hwy 93 onto the Lake Mead shore road -- and for some reason I ended up on the WRONG SIDE of the road! I lucked-out as there was no oncoming traffic and got into the correct lane when the concrete center divider opened up. The lane started out large enough for 2 vehicles then narrowed to fit only one for about 300 yards before I was able to move onto the correct lane. And if a car would have come along... WHEW! I just hope that kind of mental lapse doesn't happen when I'm pulling the trailer. So back go Robbin's Nest RV Park and Discovery, a light dinner, 5 hours of sleep -- and now it's February 11. There's another full day planned for today, stay tuned...