Description

The Overton Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located in the delta region where the Muddy and Virgin rivers flow into Lake Mead (although most visitors only see the Muddy River side). The WMA has extensive, seasonally flooded marshes, saltcedar and willow thickets, honey mesquite and screwbean mesquite thickets, a few big cottonwood trees, grassy fields, and several ponds with different depths. Much of the time spent birding here will involve trying to get little birds, hiding in the thickets, to show themselves.

The WMA is closed to birding on duck hunting days (see Hours, below), otherwise it is always open. It probably is worth a call to the WMA to check on flooding, hunting, and driving conditions before driving out to Overton. Once there, be careful driving on the dirt roads: if a road looks wet, get out and walk it to see if it is safe to continue driving. The soils are sandy silt, and they get surprisingly soft and sticky when wet: better to have muddy shoes than a vehicle stuck in the mud. I speak from experience.

There is a free campground outside the entrance to the WMA, so birders can get a late start from Las Vegas, camp outside the gate, and hike into the WMA before dawn to do a little early-morning birding. Bring your own water. An outhouse is located just inside the gate past the hunter check station.

Location

Overton WMA is located about 1.25 hours northeast of Las Vegas. The easiest way to get there from town is to drive north on Highway I-15 to the Logandale exit (Exit 93). Turn right onto Highway 169 and drive south through the towns of Logandale and Overton where gas, food, and other supplies are available. About 1.5 miles south of the Lost City Museum (south end of Overton), turn left onto Waterfowl Road (Table 1, Site 447) and pass under the Overton Wildlife Management Area entrance sign. Follow the dirt road south for about 0.3 miles to the parking area by the check station (Site 665).

If the white gate next to the check station is closed, blocking the bridge over a canal, park under the big cottonwood trees. Bird the trees and the mesquite thickets around the parking area, then walk around the gate, over the canal, and into the WMA.

If the gate is open, drive across the canal (be sure to stop at the check station if anyone is there). From there, several dirt roads diverge and lead into the WMA. A nice 2-mile loop can be driven or walked on the road that starts behind the check station outhouse and leads eastward to grassy fields, canals, ponds, and thickets. The road southward from the outhouse leads to thickets and a large pond.

There is another entrance to the Wildlife Management Area. The first road north of Waterfowl Road (the main entrance) on the east side of the highway is Wildlife Road. Wildlife Road runs east into the refuge staff housing area (Site 666), which is a great place to bird. Check the lawn and trees for birds, but please respect the privacy of the residents.

Hours

Birders can walk into the WMA at any time of day or night during non-hunting season and on non-hunt days; it is not a day-use area. The WMA is closed to birders on hunt days. Birders can drive into the area when WMA personnel are on duty.

Access to the WMA is a bit confusing and differs, with good reason, during the hunting and non-hunting seasons:

• During the non-hunting season (most of the year), the WMA is open to foot traffic 24/7 (i.e., all of the time). Vehicle access, however, is restricted to times when WMA personnel are on duty (basically Monday through Friday from about 7:00 am to 3:30 pm).

• During the waterfowl hunting season, the refuge is staffed 7 days per week for long days. Days, however, alternate between hunt days and non-hunt days. Depending on the year, hunting is on even-numbered days or odd-numbered days. On hunt days, the WMA is closed to birding. On non-hunt days, the refuge is open for birding and vehicle access.

It probably is worth a call to the WMA to check on flooding, hunting, and driving conditions before driving out to Overton.

Fees

None.

Specialties

This is the easiest place in Southern Nevada to see Wild Turkeys, and it is a great place to see waterfowl and wading birds in season.

Birding is good on the WMA. Look for waterbirds (e.g., American Coot, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Redhead, Northern Shoveler, Canada Goose, Tundra Swan, and Eared Grebe, plus gulls and terns); hawks and similar species (e.g., Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle), Sandhill Cranes; resident and migrant passerines (e.g., Brewer's and Red-winged Blackbird; Gray Flycatcher; Western Kingbird; Say's Phoebe and Black Phoebe; Black-tailed and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; goldfinches; Western Meadowlark; Western Scrub-Jay; Townsend's Solitaire; Northern Rough-winged and Tree Swallow; Brewer's Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow; Abert's Towhee; Yellow-rumped Warbler; and Marsh Wren).

Also look for migrant shorebirds (e.g., American Avocet, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Least Sandpiper), and wading birds (e.g., Great and Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron). In the upland areas, such as around the hunter check station, look for Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Phainopepla, Northern Mockingbirds, Gambel's Quail, Mourning Doves, House Finches, Rock Pigeon, and migrant sparrows.

For More Information

Call the WMA at (702) 397-2142 or write to the Wildlife Area Supervisor; Overton Wildlife Management Area; P.O. Box 400; Overton, NV 89040.