Before I first visited Reno some 30 years ago, I thought it would be like Las Vegas. A landlocked city in the middle of the desert.
Reno surprised me. While it has a dry high desert climate, it contains some of the run-off from the Sierra Nevada mountains. And while Nevada consists of less than 1% wetlands, Reno has more than its fair share.
My older son and his wife live near the city’s Damonte Ranch Wetlands. While it’s a developed area, it contains flowing water and many ponds, with rushes and grasses. The scene is nicely framed by the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east. It’s a great place to hike, bike, and also for bird-watching.
Here are some of the birds we saw on a spring hike:
(Egret)
(American avocet)
(Black necked stilt)
(Red-winged blackbird)
(Cinnamon Teal)
