Field Notes: Dipping on a Bird in the Ruby Mountains

Himalayan Snowcock Male illustration, Illustration by Norman Arlott, via Birds of the World

The Ruby Mountains, in northeast Nevada, are just one of the dozens of basin and range systems in Nevada. Oriented north-northeast to south-southwest, they top out to over 11,000 feet. The Rubies are unusual in that they feature a paved road running up into the middle of the range, reaching an elevation of 8,800 feet in the stunningly lovely, glacier-carved Lamoille Canyon (“la-moil,” rhyming with “soil”).

At least the road is supposed to run up to the end of the canyon. Multiple thunderstorms poured out some eight inches of rain and generated flash floods July 31 – August 1, 2021 and washed out parts of the road and covered other stretches of the upper road under landslides. It was open for a while, but vandalism over the Labor Day Weekend caused the Forest Service to close the road beyond Thomas Creek Canyon.

What makes the Ruby Mountains important to birders like WC is that it holds a unique species for North America: the Himalayan Snowcock. The Rubies are the only place in the Western Hemisphere to see the species. The Snowcock, an Asian alpine species, were introduced there by the Nevada Fish & Game between 1963 and 1979. The introduced species has prospered. It’s now accepted as a breeding North American bird. WC and two of his birding buddies, Dave and Jeff, determined to attempt to see the Snowcocks. The best place to make the attempt is Island Lake, a glacial cirque lake 1,200 feet above the end of the canyon road, accessed by a decent if steep trail. But the road closure made the impossible.

Thomas Creek Trail at Dawn, looking downhill, about one mile along the trail

So WC and his buddies took the best alternative available: Thomas Creek Canyon Trail. It’s a longer, steeper climb, and still doesn’t get as high as the elevations the Snowcocks prefer, but it was the best of the poor alternatives. We made it about two miles up the trail and an elevation gain of 1,200 feet.¹ Despite very intensive scanning and listening – it’s a very vocal species – we didn’t find the bird. As an example of our scanning effort, we located a mountain goat, white fur against a white quartzite background, on a ledge 2,000 feet above us, several Red-tailed Hawks and a Golden Eagle, but no Snowcocks.

The birder slang for missing a target species is “dipping.” We dipped on the Himalayan Snowcock. It’s tough to see under any circumstances, and we were doubly handicapped by the road closure.² But maybe WC is just making excuses.

Still, WC will very likely go back. When the road has been fully repaired.

¹ As WC and his buddies were descending, we met four different groups headed up. All were from Nevada communities around Lake Tahoe; all had driven east to get out of the wildfire smoke there.

² The other handicap was not one but two flat tires, which severely cut into the time available for birding. Pro tip: if a tire gets cut, not punctured, just replace the tire, even if the tire shop tells you it can be patched. Trust WC on this. On the upside, WC and his buddies have gotten pretty good at changing tires on a Toyota Highlander…