Date: 10/19/25 7:29 pm From: Carl Lundblad <carl.lundblad...> Subject: Purple Finch in Fernley
This morning I was surprised to find a female or immature Purple Finch at the Desert Gardens Memorial Cemetery in Fernley (next door to the Veterans Memorial Cemetery). I first heard its distinctive "pick" flight calls as it flew into a Siberian Elm in the cemetery's northwest corner. A minute later it flew north towards the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. This species is generally unexpected in Nevada's Great Basin and away from the Sierra Front/Carson Range, and this is likely a first record for Lyon County (it is the first in eBird). 2-3 Golden-crowned Kinglets were also at Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Later today, I found two Dunlin at Pitt-Taylor Reservoir in Pershing County, which were my first and eBird firsts for Pershing County. Another Golden-crowned Kinglet was on the Humboldt River at Lake Road west of Imlay (Callahan Bridge).
