Wetlands Park Friends

2nd Annual NFL Green Event
2023-02-01 08:00 - 11:00 UTC | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
We’re looking for adult volunteers to assist the NFL Green organization in the planting of some perennial stock! If you are interested, please contact us at friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

"Wetlands Park Navigator" Launch Party
2022-12-03 11:00 - 13:00 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
Come join Clark County Wetlands Park and Wetlands Park Friends in the launch of the new Wetlands Park Navigator app. The Park app is free and was created in partnership with Friends, with funding provided by REI Co-op through their community grant program that encourages everyone to enjoy the outdoors. Come to the Park Nature Center, download the app, and try the Navigator out in the Exhibit Gallery and trails. Visit the app launch table and receive prizes and refreshments!

"Life in the Desert" Exhibit and Sales Event
2022-11-23 10:00 - 2023-01-07 16:00 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
Just in time for the Holidays! Purchase an original piece of artwork depicting iconic Clark County Wetlands Park flora and fauna and donate the proceeds to a good cause! Wetlands Park Friends is hosting a sales event in conjunction with the “Life in the Desert Exhibit” featuring the artwork of artist and long-time Park volunteer Marsha Gladding.
The artist, a founding member of Wetlands Park Friends, has graciously donated this collection of “Wetlands Park” artwork for sale to benefit Wetlands Park Friends, the all-volunteer, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to promoting conservation, awareness, and appreciation of the Park through its educational programs and activities.
To learn more, please visit the exhibit located in the Park Information Kiosk during regular operating hours through January 7th.

Lake Las Vegas Sports Club Presents "A Morning with Friends: A Peek at the Park
2022-11-12 11:00 - 12:00 | Lake Las Vegas Sports Club, 101 Via Vin Santo, Henderson, NV, 89011
Water… in the desert? What’s that “strip of green”? Adjoining the Lake Las Vegas Community to the west is a 2,900-acre managed wild area known as Clark County Wetlands Park. With four unique habitats straddling nearly eight miles of the Las Vegas Wash and a 45,000-square foot, LEED Gold-certified, state-of-the-art Nature Center on its west end, the Park is one of Southern Nevada’s hidden gems.
Come join members and guests and get an “insider’s peek” at Wetlands Park from special guest speaker Chris Leavitt, who’s been associated with the Park from its earliest days. In 1995 she was appointed to serve on the Park Master Plan Committee, charged with safeguarding the natural balance of this magical place. She went on to develop and manage the Park’s volunteer and educational programs, retiring from the position in 2014.
Ms. Leavitt’s forty-year career includes positions at the Barrick Museum of Natural History (UNLV), Clark County Museum, and Clark County Wetlands Park. She was involved with place-based education and museum collection management (including live animal exhibits), exhibit research and design (including the exhibits at the Wetlands Park Nature Center); and volunteer management (including establishing and managing the Wetlands Park Volunteer Program). She currently serves as President of Wetlands Park Friends, the all-volunteer, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to help preserve and support the Park.
As a child in elementary school, Ms. Leavitt’s teachers often referred to her as “the kid with something in her pockets,” usually something alive! She has a lifelong passion for all kinds of animals. She has kept many different pets, including dogs, cats, horses, turtles, lizards, toads, a hamster, a tarantula, and even a praying mantis. Ms. Leavitt’s appreciation of wild natural areas has made County Wetlands Park the place of a lifetime for her, personally and professionally. She holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology with a minor in Earth Science and a master’s degree in Anthropology with thesis in Museum Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Wetlands Park Friends Annual Meeting
2022-11-05 13:00 - 14:30 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
Wetlands Park Friends members are encouraged to attend and participate in the organization’s 3rd Annual Meeting. Location is at Clark County Wetlands Park’s Meeting Room, located behind the Auditorium in the Nature Center. For more information, please email: friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

An Afternoon with Friends: A Peek at the Park
2022-10-22 13:00 - 14:30 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
Wetlands Park Friends President, Chris Leavitt, will lead an engaging presentation about the development and features of Wetlands Park, followed by refreshments and conversation! This event is open to existing Friends members and the public. The location is the Clark County Wetlands Park Meeting Room (behind the Auditorium), 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas 89122
Ms. Leavitt was instrumental in the formation and operations of the Park since its inception in the mid-1990’s. Upon her retirement from Park operations in the mid-2000’s, she has actively volunteered in Park programs and the archiving of its historical records. She was also a mastermind behind the creation and founding of Wetlands Park Friends, the all-volunteer, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to support the programs and activities of the Park. For more information, please email: friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

Lake Las Vegas Small Business Expo
2022-10-07 17:00 - 19:00 | Lake Las Vegas Sports Club, 101 Via Vin Santo, Henderson, NV, 89011
Friends representatives will be on hand to “chat up the Park” and encourage memberships and donations. If you’re a Friend and you’d like to be a part of this tabling effort, please drop an email to: friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

Clark County Wetlands Park: Fall Gathering (& Potluck)1 PM
2022-09-23 13:00 - 15:00 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
Wetlands Park Friends representatives will be on hand at the Clark County Wetlands Park “Volunteer Potluck” event to be held at the Park Nature Center on Friday, September 23 from 1 PM-3 PM. Hope to see you there!

Discovery Day
2022-07-09 09:00 - 12:00 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
***Cancelled Due to Covid Concerns***Get out of the summer heat and get a morning’s dose of nature at Clark County Wetlands Park! A wide range of naturalist knowledge and information available, including fun activities for the kids. Visit the Friends table to learn more about the organization and how you can help the Park. To learn more, contact us at friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

BioBlitz
2022-04-30 09:00 - 13:00 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
You are the scientist at BioBlitz, held at the Clark County Wetlands Park Nature Center. Discover as many species of plants, animals, and insects as you can! Add your findings with other amateur scientists! Event is free — see Wetlands Park Friends here, too!

World Migratory Bird Day
2022-03-19 09:00 - 13:00 | Clark County Wetlands Park, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, Las Vegas, NV, 89122, United States
Join amateur and professional birders in identifying — and celebrating — the countless bird species that fly through Clark County Wetlands Park every year. The event is open to the public and is free. Friends will also be on hand to support the effort. For more information, please visit: https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/departments/parks___recreation/wetlands_park/events.php,

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2022-02-28 08:00 - 17:00 | NV
WHICH “GRAY BIRD” BEHAVES LIKE IT’S HAD TOO MUCH CAFFEINE?”

Birders often say that “little gray birds” are notoriously hard to identify (especially without binoculars), but it is even more difficult when the bird is an acrobat in constant motion – the eye just won’t focus quickly enough to see who you’re dealing with! The ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula) is such a bird. At just over four inches long, this small, quick-moving bird is hard to identify unless it happens to be a male and he happens to be agitated or excited and is showing his fiery red crest!

Ruby-crowned kinglets are common in lowland areas like Clark County Wetlands Park in the winter, but the spring migration finds them on their way to their colder breeding range in coniferous forests from the mountains of the western United States north into Alaska and Canada. There, the tiny birds nest and raise their young among the spruce and fir trees.

Biologists have described the ruby-crowned kinglet as a “fussbudget without rival,” “hyperactive,” and a “worrywart.” Kinglets have a jerky, undulating flight style. When perched, they continually flick their wings open and closed, hop from branch to branch, twist and turn, chatter, and generally seem to be endlessly “bustling” around among the branches.

All that activity does have a purpose. Ruby-crowns eat mainly insects and other small invertebrates they pluck from the outer foliage of trees and shrubs. They will jump up from a perch, fluttering their wings to reach a prime gleaning spot, or hover in front of leaf clusters and snap insects right out of the air. They occasionally supplement their diet with some fruits and seeds, and they enjoy drinking tree sap. They often join mixed foraging flocks of other “gray birds” like titmice, nuthatches, creepers, and warblers in the winter, making them even harder to pick out and identify. At my backyard watering place they often show up to drink in the company of white-crowned sparrows and dark-eyed juncos.

Active birds the size of ruby-crowned kinglets have very high metabolic rates. David Allen Sibley has written that kinglets have a resting heartrate over 600 beats a minute, which doubles to over 1200 beats a minute when the bird is active. They routinely lose 10% of their body weight just sleeping overnight and gain it back the next day. Closely related golden-crowned kinglets wintering in the far north actually need to eat the equivalent of at least 27 large pizzas per day! How’s THAT for eating “like a bird?”

If your eye catches flicking wings and constant motion in the branches along a Wetlands Park trail, stop and raise your binoculars. A closer look may reveal a “little gray bird” with a red Mohawk head stripe, very visible pale eye-ring, wide dark eyes, and a black bar below the white bar on its wings – if it will hold still long enough for you to see!
Please enjoy these YouTube videos!
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Tiny Bird with a big Song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYCEiDXgEM
Fast-moving Ruby-crowned Kinglet
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMPYW8ejw4c
Ruby-crowned Kinglet feeding
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDaEoeZaRLO

– By Chris Leavitt, President; photo by David Walker.

Wetlands Park Appreciation Dinner
2022-02-26 15:00 - 17:00 | NV
Friends will be on hand to recognize Park volunteers and share latest news about its organization. Location: Neighborhood Park. Open to Park volunteers and invited guests. For more information, email friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

Lake Las Vegas Small Business Expo
2022-01-28 16:00 - 18:00 | Lake Las Vegas Sports Club, 101 Via Vin Santo, Henderson, NV, 89011
(click title to view)
Friends will be on hand to meet community residents interested in knowing more about what the area has to offer on January 28 at 4:00 pm. For more information, please contact email us at friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.

December Event Location
2021-12-01 08:00 - 2021-12-31 17:00 | NV
TBD Nothing scheduled. Please check our site periodically for updates!

"Nevada's Native Plants Are So Much More Diverse & Incredible Than Most Nevadans Know."
2021-11-05 18:30 - 20:00 | NV
This is the second program in the Wetlands Park Friends Wetlands Wednesdays Quarterly Lecture Series. Learn more than you thought you’d ever know about the incredible variety of useful and interesting native plants in Nevada from naturalist Dr. Don Deever.
Dr. Don Deever is an Assistant Professor and Extension Educator, Lincoln County for the University of Nevada, Reno. The former National Geographic adventurer & current Extension Educator,
Deever, doesn’t just talk about the amazing edible and medicinal qualities of wild plants. Wherever he lives, he lives the life of a modern-day beachcomber. In the mid-80’s, Dr. Deever sold everything he owned, quit a good paying job, and moved to a small island in the Fiji group, where he lived the existence of Robinson Crusoe on a small desert isle. As in love with the plants of Nevada as he is with the plants of the South Seas.
This program is open to Wetlands Park Friends Members. For more information or to apply for membership, please contact Suzann Pruitt at friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Live Stream by Invitation

"Outstanding Hikes In Southern Nevada"
2021-11-05 08:00 - 17:00 | NV
Due to the current surge of the Covid-19 pandemic in our area, the Friends Board is postponing this program. Stay tuned for updates!
This is the third program in the Wetlands Park Friends Wetlands Quarterly Lecture Series. Southern Nevada is a mecca for incredible hikes offering rich geologic, biological, and cultural experiences for those who choose to “follow the trail,” or “follow no trail at all.” Learn more from naturalist and educator, Jim Boone, the creator of BirdandHike.com, which has become a must read for outdoor enthusiasts at all levels.
An outdoorsman since before birth, Jim camped and backpacked throughout the western US with family and did month-long summer backpacking trips with friends when 15 and 16 years old. Jim worked a dozen seasons in western National Parks, and with his wife Liz, attended Humboldt State University (B.S. in Wildlife Management, 1987) and the University of Georgia (M.S. in Forest Resources; Ph.D. in Ecology, 1995). Jim’s dissertation involved the morphology and genetics of rapid evolution in field mice, which required months of time hiking and camping in southeastern hardwood swamps.
Arriving in Las Vegas in 1995, Jim did ecological research on the Nevada Test Site, spending 11 years with the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Project. In 2002, he began building BirdAndHike.com, a website that helps people to find peace and solitude in wild places and thereby gains public support for protecting these places for future generations. In 2006 Jim started an environmental consulting company primarily engaged in desert tortoise surveys and enforcing environmental laws on construction sites. Now retired, Jim and Liz hike, camp, watch birds, work on the website, and agitate for land conservation issues.
This program is open to Wetlands Park Friends Members. For more information, please contact Suzann Pruitt at friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Clark County Wetlands Park, Nature Center Auditorium

"The Boulevard Mall: Back To School Event"
2021-07-31 11:00 - 14:00 | NV
Come support Wetlands Park Friends volunteers who will be on hand to give out much needed supplies to students going back to school this Fall. For more information, to volunteer, and to donate supplies, please contact: Suzann Pruitt at friends@wetlandsparkfriends.org.
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
The Boulevard Mall (3528 South Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas)

"Altar'd State Mission Mondays."
2021-04-19 11:00 - 2021-07-05 20:00 | NV
Altar’d State (www.altardstate.com) – a nationwide retail chain that has a local boutique in The Forum Shops at Caesar’s (located next to the iconic Tourneau Watch Store on the main floor of the shopping complex) – has selected Wetlands Park Friends for its water conservation-themed “Mission Monday” campaign starting this Monday, April 19 through July 5!!!
During that timeframe, the store will donate 10% of its Monday sales to Wetlands Park Friends! Friends is very thankful for their generosity as the pandemic has really limited our ability to perform outreach and fundraising activities.
Please come shop at the boutique on a Monday through July 5th!
11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
The Forum Shops at Caesar’s
