White-crowned Sparrow ((Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Description: The White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is in the same genus-"Zonotrichia" - as two other sparrows with banded or "zoned" heads, White-throated Sparrow and Golden-Crowned Sparrow. About 7-inches in length, the White-crowned Sparrow has a pink bill (yellow in one subspecies), bold black and white stripes on the head (brown and gray in the first year birds), pure gray neck and breast, fine streaking on the back, and indistinct white wing bars. The White-crowned is a year-round resident in the United States, on the West Coast and in the interior from Nevada to Colorado. In the last fifty years the bird has extended its winter range north and east so that it now encompasses much of the U.S. south of the Great Lakes. The White-crowned Sparrow also has a striking, ethereal song: 1 - 3 high, clear whistles followed by several short, buzzy notes and trills, in somewhat the same pattern as a Song Sparrow.

Las Vegas Springs Preserve - Summary Page

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This page last updated on 04/27/2018

(Fig.01)

Description of The Springs Preserve: The Springs Preserve is a 180-acre cultural institution designed to commemorate Las Vegas' dynamic history and to provide a vision for a sustainable future. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. It features the Nevada State Museum, galleries, outdoor events, colorful botanical gardens and a 3.6 mile interpretive trail system through a scenic wetland habitat (Fig. 01). An archaeological survey in 1972 by Dr. Claude Warren of the University of Nevada, found long-term human occupation of the site, and prevented it from being paved over by the transportation department's plans for an expressway. To further preserve the historic site, the Water District Board of Directors approved a plan in 1997 to develop a preserve to protect and manage the cultural, natural and water resources of the site, hence The Springs Preserve, which opened in June 2007. Entrance to the outdoor portions of the preserve is free, although visitors are required to get a pass at the ticket booth. The free pass provides access to the trail system, the botanical gardens, and the gift shop, cafe, and other common areas. Entrance to the museums and other indoor portions of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve is expensive, about $10 for Nevada residents and $19 for visitors.

04/27/2018 Trip Notes: This was my seventh visit to the Springs Preserve. Today I was joined by my friends Jim Herring and Blake Smith. We started out having lunch in the Divine Cafe. After lunch we spent several hours walking around the botanical gardens and then stopped by the butterfly habitat taking pictures. Even though I have been here several times, I always seem to come away with some nice pictures.Click here for pictures and a description of this trip ... Las Vegas Springs Preserve

04/17/2016 Trip Notes: This was my sixth visit to the Springs Preserve. This time was to attend the first of a two-day, free training class on Manual Photography taught by Sharon K. Schafer. Check out her website at http://www.skydancestudio.com/. The first day covered the many available features, modes and settings of digital camera's, concentrating on using the cameras "manual" settings for taking pictures. In addition to two classroom lecture lessons, there were two outdoor picture sessions to practice the information provided in the classroom. I divided my picture taking time between pictures of the grounds, trees, catcti and plants and inside the Butterfly Habitat enclosure at the far end of the property. I created two separate posts for the pictures I captured on this visit; a page titled, Springs Preserve - Spring Flora Blossoms, and a second page titled, Springs Preserve - Butterflies.
 

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10/18/2014 Trip Notes: Today I visited the Springs Preserve for the fifth time with my friend Marc Resnic. Our purpose for today's visit was to see the recently opened Butterfly Habitat. Located on the south side of the property next to the botanical gardens, the open air habitat has metal screen walls and can be entered through a vestibule with an inner and outer door to keep the butterflies from escaping. Upon exiting the habitat, visitors are given a visual inspection by a docent to make sure there are no hitchhikers. It will be open each fall and spring, during periods when the weather is ideal for their survival. Click this link for pictures and information on this visit ... Butterfly Habitat at Springs Preserve.


03/03/2013 Trip Notes: On my forth and most recent visit, I took the opportunity to visit the recently opened 13,000 square-foot Nevada State Museum. Its many interactive exhibits interpret the history of Nevada dating back millions of years to the early flora and fauna that roamed this once great sea to the pioneers, early settlers, miners, railroaders, ranchers and entrepreneurs that made Las Vegas the resort capital of the world. I then walked around some of the desert hiking trails and the 110 acre botanical garden. Unfortunately, as is evidenced by the barren branches of the black and white tree in (Fig. 02), it was still way to early in the season to see much of the greenery or spring blooms that you can usually find here. I did capture several pictures (Fig. 03) of Mark White’s kinetic art display titled, “Art in Motion” that graced the botanical garden area. Balanced to respond to the lightest of winds, yet strong enough to withstand 100-mph gusts, the quiet whimsical movement of these kinetic wind sculptures are designed to encourage self reflection. Always early bloomers, I was able to capture some pictures of daffodils (Fig. 04) and a dwarf peach tree in full bloom (Fig. 05). [My thanks to Mr. Tracy Omar, Science and Gardens Supervisor at the Springs Preserve Botanical Gardens for helping me to identify this tree] The pictures in the slide show at the bottom are from all of my visits here.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

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The Springs’ History: Prior to the 1800s, the Pueblo Peoples, Patayan (ancestors of the Yuman groups) and Numa (Paiutes) used the Las Vegas Springs and Las Vegas Creek, leaving behind remains of their campfires, stone tools, clay pots, houses and foodstuffs. In 1829, New Mexican merchant Antonio Armijo led an expedition along the Virgin River to find a new trading route between New Mexico and California. During the trip, a group of scouts set out to find water and camp sites. A teenage scout, Rafael Rivera, discovered the springs and meadows, returned to his caravan and led the party to the lush area. The route they followed became known as the Old Spanish Trail. The area Rivera discovered was named Las Vegas, meaning "the meadows" in Spanish.

Between 1847 and 1858, the Las Vegas Springs became a major campsite along the Mormon Road. During the 1840s, hundreds of wagon trains moved through the valley and camped by the springs; thieves drove livestock through the valley and wagon trains drove thousands of sheep and horses across the Mojave Desert to California. The livestock quenched their thirst at the springs and fed on the surrounding meadow grasses.

In 1852, Mormon mail contractor George Chorpenning built the first non-Native American structure in Southern Nevada. Circa 1855, Mormon missionaries a fort, known as the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort, downstream of the springs near Las Vegas Creek. They planted fruit and shade trees and established friendly relations with the Paiutes. The Mormon missionaries used water from the Las Vegas Creek to help smelt lead from Mt. Potosi, Nevada's first lode mine. The lead contained so much silver that it did not make good bullets, and the mine was abandoned in 1858, along with the fort, when the missionaries were called elsewhere.

From 1867 to 1905, the abandoned Mormon Fort gained new life as "Los Vegas Rancho" when Octavius Decatur Gass of California restored the fort and developed small "ranches" near it. With a steady source of water from the Las Vegas Springs, the ranch produced grain, vegetables and fruit. Los Vegas Rancho became a way station for people traveling to and from Southern California and Salt Lake City.
               
Circa 1900 to 1928. In 1902, Senator William Clark, owner of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (later known as Union Pacific), purchased 1,864 acres of land and water rights from the Las Vegas Springs to provide water for his steam locomotives. The railroad created the Las Vegas Land and Water Company to operate the first water distribution system in the valley, and in May of 1905 auctioned off land, creating the town site of Las Vegas (Fig. 06). Six years later, the City of Las Vegas was officially incorporated in March 1911.

(Fig. 06)

To supply the railroad and the new town with water, the company laid redwood pipes and constructed protective houses over the springs to keep people, cattle and other polluting factors out of the water supply. However, due to drought, increased demand, waste and improper control, the water system was nearly depleted within just a few decades. In 1935, Las Vegas Creek, which flowed from the springs, dried up in the summer and water was no longer available to irrigate the Stewart family ranch.

Even after the completion of the Hoover Dam in 1936, continued growth, invention of swamp coolers and air conditioners, continued periods of drought have plagued the valley’s need for water by creating a demand that exceeded nature's ability to recharge the groundwater aquifer naturally. The Las Vegas Springs flows, once a hallmark of the valley's geography, stopped altogether by 1962.

(OPTION 1) Each show is designed to run automatically in place, without leaving the current browser window. If the show is not already running, just click the large "Play" button in the middle of the picture and let it run. (OPTION 2) Running the cursor over the picture being shown will PAUSE the show and bring up a navigation bar at the bottom of the slideshow window with Pause, Forward and Back buttons, allowing you to start, stop or manually forward or back up pictures one at a time.

Slideshow Description: The slideshow above contains 73 pictures that were taken during my four visits to this place.

Our Day With Patrick Adams

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(Fig. 01)

Trip Notes: On 03/29/2013 we were expecting the arrival of our friends Jim Herring and Patrick Adams for another one of their week long vacation visits to Las Vegas. Having arrived a day earlier than Jim, Connie and I got to spend an entire day with Patrick. After a lovely lunch at Matteo's, the restaurant inside the historic Boulder Dam Hotel, we headed over the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge at Hoover Dam for a drive into Arizona. (Fig. 02) Our goal was the ‘almost’ ghost town of Chloride (Fig. 02), Arizona, situated between Kingman, AZ and Boulder City, NV, just a few miles off US-93. At an elevation 4,009 feet, this once vibrant mining town of over 1,500 people, is now a small village of less than 250 people with 1 motel, full service restaurant & bar, 1 convenience store and several gift shops. Today it is most known as the site of the Roy Purcell Murals (Fig. 04). Roy Purcell, now of Tubac, AZ, formerly of Chloride, AZ and Henderson, NV, is best known for his innovative etchings, though in his later years he used sculpture, watercolor, oil, pastel, glass, wood, paper and many found objects for his art. People around Chloride know him for his murals on the granite faces in a canyon in the Cerbat mountains just east of Chloride. (Fig. 03) The artist, labeled these murals, “The Journey: Images From an Inward Search for Self” and has said that too understand the murals, "you need to read them right to left." Originally painted in 1966, they were vibrantly repainted by Roy and his son in 2006, in honor of his 70th birthday. They are richly colored and full of recognizable objects but portrayed in contexts not easily understood unless you were able to go back some 40 years ago into Purcell’s mind at the time. The first mural depicts the Tennessee Mine (Fig. 03) and is enjoyable, yet the one immediately to the left depicts a large claw that seems to be destroying the mine. The Tennessee Mine was the largest in the area and produced $7.5 million in gold, lead and zinc before it closed in 1947.   After taking the rough drive out to the murals, we stopped the old abandoned two-room jail (Fig. 05) built in the 1890s, and pictures in the collage above (Fig. 01). After a stop at the the original train depot (Fig. 06) which served the spur line of the Santa Fe Railroad from Kingman and was used from 1898 to 1935, we drove back into the center of the town past the oldest post office in Arizona (Fig. 07) for a stop at Yesterdays Restaurant (Fig. 08), which used to be the famous Butterfield Stagecoach stop from 1868 to 1919. After some cool refreshment and desserts of cheesecake and chocolate mouse pie, we made the drive home. On our way out of town we passed a really cool truck (seen in Fig. 01). Click here for a Polytech collage of this unique vehicle. When we got back home, we all went up to GVR and got in a little gambling before Patrick and I headed to the airport to pick up Jim.

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(Fig. 05)

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Spotlight on Harvey Smith

(Fig. 01) Over the past several months, I have failed to keep up with a project that I started last year to begin spotlighting some of the people that I have the opportunity to hike with on a regular basis. As I started to get back into this project, I began to realize that I would be extremely remiss if I didn’t take the time to highlight my good friend and hiking partner, Harvey Smith (Fig. 01). Due to his generosity in sharing the use of his four wheel drive truck, off road vehicles and camping trailer, we have taken several camping trips (Fig. 02) and dozens of daytrip hiking excursions that I would otherwise never have had the opportunity to experience. We have climbed several 7,000 foot mountains, roamed numerous desert ghost towns, explored dozens of old abandoned mine shafts and hiked more than a half dozen state parks and national wildlife areas. We have uncovered several “rusty” treasures, rocks with embedded fossils, rock art left by ancient cultures, and have been privy to some of the area’s most unique geology and absolutely gorgeous views. All of which has allow me to capture hundreds of wonderful pictures, many of which I get to share with you. The collage below (Fig. 03) covers only a handful of the places we have visited and hiked in the past year. He makes it easy; I do the research on places to visit and how to get their, he does the driving. All I can say it that it has been a pleasure Harvey, and I look forward to many more adventures in the coming year.

(Fig. 02) Mt. Charleston Campgoung

(Fig. 03) Click to Enlarge

Lakeshore Drive (Part I)

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This page last updated on 02/18/2018  

(Fig. 01)

09/23/2015 Trip Notes: My friend Jim Herring, Connie and I took a trip out to Lake Mead for a picnic lunch at the 33-Hole Overlook. (More on this area below) Even though a little overcast, it was very hot and so windy, it was trying to blow our lunch off of the picnic table.  I’ve certainly had better days out here. Jim and I tried to hike down to the water’s edge, but before reaching it we decided it was too hot to be out here hiking. Most impressive was how low the water line was as compared to my first visit here more than 10 years ago. The exposed landscape is quickly becoming a surreal landscape turning into more and more desert with every passing day. As a result of the roughly 15-year drought, today's water level is at 1,079-feet, down another 40 feet from just two years ago and more than 135 feet from the 2000 level of 1214-feet. At the present time, lake Mead is only at 38% full and hasn't been this low since they were filling it in the 1930s. Every day it is drawing closer to the 1,075-foot level, below which officials would declare a water emergency and begin rationing water allotments to Nevada and Arizona. The more the water level drops, the greater the chances that Hoover Dam's hydroelectric output might be seriously affected. Federal forecasters originally predicted that the Colorado River would flow at 71% capacity this summer, but they now say the figure could fall to 50% or lower. This summer, officials will make their projection for Lake Mead water in January 2016. If the estimate is below 1,075 feet, rationing kicks in: Southern Nevada would lose 13,000 acre-feet per year and Arizona would lose 320,000 acre-feet. California's portion would not be affected. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials say there is a 21% chance of Lake Mead plunging below 1,075 feet by January. The odds increase to 54% for 2017.

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03/21/2013 Trip Notes: This was the Heritage Park Senior Facilities’ first hike here for the 2013 season. As noted on the previous page, there are several pull-offs along this 11-mile stretch of road, and I think we hit them all. The last time our group visited here was on 01/19/2012. This post includes pictures from both visits. Note: The slide show on the [Previous Page]  includes pictures from all of my visits here.

Las Vegas Bay Overlook: Heading north to south, this is the first stop. It provides views of the Las Vegas River that emanates from the Las Vegas Wash (Fig. 04) as it winds it way towards Las Vegas Bay (Fig. 05) and into Lake Mead. Driving past the Las Vegas Wash Campground, that looks like an isolated oasis lost in the vastness of the Nevada desert, you come to an area where you can hike down to the river at the mouth of the bay. There are a half dozen trails at lake level that wind about this area. It is sad to see how much this lake has receded in just the past 10 years. Today’s lake level is 1,119-feet, down 95 feet from the 2000 level of 1214-feet. Changing rainfall patterns, climate variability, high levels of evaporation, reduced snow melt runoff, and current water use patterns are putting pressure on water management resources at Lake Mead as the population depending on it for water and the Hoover Dam for electricity continues to grow. The minimum power pool elevation for producing electricity by the dam is 1,050-feet. When we moved here in 2003, about 85% of what you see in (Fig. 05) below was covered by water.

(Fig. 05)

Three Island Scenic Overlook:  As you can see from the picture below (Fig. 06), this stop is know for its view of three large islands. Of course these days, with the current lake levels being so low, one can now see several more islands that never existed a few short years ago.

(Fig. 06)

Rocky Point Scenic Overlook: Here, you can take a short walk out on the promontory for yet another nice view of the lake. I believe the picture below (Fig. 07) from last year’s visit was taken from this location.

(Fig. 07)

33 Hole Outlook: There is no information anywhere as to what the title of this outlook refers to, however, it is one of the best stops along this stretch of road. This turnoff splits into three separate parking areas, each of which lead to what is known as “Pitch Fork Cove”. From the middle parking area, there is a medium length trail that leads all the way out to the end of a long peninsula (Fig. 08). Several of us (Fig. 09) hiked all the way out to the end on a trail that goes around the point and returns on the opposite side. Not only did we encounter fishermen in more than one spot along the base of peninsula (Fig. 10), we got to observe a variety of birds and water fowl (Fig. 11). This turned out to be one of the nicest walks I have taken along the edges of the lake. (be sure to view the slide show on the previous page for more pictures)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)

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Lakeshore Drive (Part II)
Lakeshore Drive (Part III)