“My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather.” Terri Guillemets
Himalayan snowcock -- Wikipedia photo
Chasing Birds
While the recently released movie, “The Big Year,” hasn’t been a top box-office hit, I thought it was a great film. Of course I’m a passionate birder and could relate to the chase to be best North American Birder of the Year.
The record number of species seen between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, by the way, is 745 species. I won’t tell you who holds the title, however, because that might spoil the movie for one of my readers who hasn’t yet seen it.
One of the scenes in the film, which shows just how crazy we birders can get, depicts a wild helicopter chase of Himalayan snowcocks in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
Chukar on Antelope Island ... Photo by Pat Bean
Boy I wish I had such a conveyance at my convenience. I’ve never seen this pheasant species, and these days am not up to the rough hike, which unless one is extra lucky, is the most likely way of spotting one.
I may still give it a try next year, however. Like a lot of other birders, “The Big Year” inspired me to step up my birding game. And my curiosity about snowcocks inspired me to see what I could find out about these birds. The Internet, which I have come to love, turned up a couple of interesting blogs from birders who have seen the Himalayan snowcocks in the Ruby Mountains.
I noticed, when looking at pictures of the birds on a couple of Web sites – http://tinyurl.com/3uya55p and http://tinyurl.com/3w6edbx– that the snowcocks look a lot like the chukars I have seen on Antelope Island in Utah’s Great Salt Lake.
The chukar, however, is not a difficult bird to add to one’s life list. It can be seen in at least nine western states, whereas the snowcock can only be found on this continent in the Ruby Mountains. And it wouldn’t even be there except that Nevada Fish and Game thought the bird would be a good game bird for hunters – and in the 1960s, transplanted about 200 of them there from Pakistan.
There may be 500 or more of the birds today roaming around the mountains near Wells, Nevada. Yes, I am for sure going to have to visit the Ruby Mountains soon. The snowcocks are calling to me.
Pat Bean's blog 
Beautiful birds and beautiful post!
I’m not a birder, but you’ve inspired me to add The Big Year to my Netflix queue. Woo hoo!
I’m not a birder, possibly because I was so nearsighted I didn’t see a bird until I was eight years old and got glasses. But The Big Year has just gone to the top of my must-see list. Sounds like a good date movie for this weekend. With my husband, of course.
Hope you enjoy it. Let me know. Keep writing … Pat Bean https://patbean.wordpress.com
I would highly recommend the books to those of you who are interested in birds and birding. I enjoyed it very much. I’m waiting for the movie to get to the $2 theater!! 🙂
I’m afraid I wouldn’t be hiking up mountain trails for birds. Instead, I will be an armchair birder and check them out on Arkive.org. More than just birds, it’s a very educational site about nature. Last night I was in the Mediterranean Basin and the Wisconsin Northlands without even leaving my office!!
That’s the great thing about birding — You can do it anywhere, even simply by watching out your back or front door. I saw more birds in 1999, when I got hooked on them, than I did in the first 60 years of my life. Before that they were just part of the scenery. Now I can’t not see them. It’s sort of strange when I think about it.
I have yet to see “The Big Year,” but you may have inspired me to check it out, along with the Ruby Mountains… Nevada isn’t so very far away… Thanks for sharing this Pat
Mother Nature never disappoints me with her wonders so I expect you to enjoy your visit to the Ruby Mountains, which by the way were named for the garnets mined from them. And I hope you enjoy the movie.
I’ll have to check out that movie. Sounds like a great family fun night with the kids and some popcorn. Thanks for the promo! These types of films never disappoint.