Kelly and I saw a modest list of birds in Death Valley National Park this past week. The weather was warm and sunny, but not extremely hot. We were a bit early for the spring flowers. Generally arid conditions made the birding slow, but with occasional surprises. Highlights include the Greater Roadrunner, which posed near the picnic table at the interpretive center in Furnace Creek. We were also surprised to see Lewis' Woodpecker in such numbers in the date grove near the ranch because in Northern California the preferred habitat is more often open oak forest. Verdin, a small desert bird, was seen anywhere where desert scrub was present. Stove Pipe Wells has an apparently stable colony of Great-tailed Grackles which sang loudly among the shade trees. They were found only at this one location. It's interesting to note, that while we had a checklist of birds, it has not been updated since 1982 and many species' status have changed noticeably in that time. Birds encountered in the park were:

Mallard
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Coot
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Northern Flicker
Lewis' Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
Say's Phobe
Horned Lark
Common Raven
Verdin
American Robin
American Pipit
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
House Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow