Message-ID: <001101c222cb$7f9b8800$0401510c@acer>
From: "John Mariani" <[[email protected]]>
To: "South-bay-birds" <[[email protected]]>
Cc: "Laurie Bechtler" <[[email protected]]>, "Amy Monbourquette"
  <[[email protected]]>, "Denise Kato" <[[email protected]]>, "Denise
  Kato" <[[email protected]]>, "Allen Frohardt" <[[email protected]]>,
  "Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society" <[[email protected]]>, "Carole
  Hutchinson" <[[email protected]]>
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2002 12:54:45 -0700
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Subject: [SBB] Weekend Trip to Yosmite National Park & Mono Basin, June 27-30
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Howdy South-bay-birders,

     Just got back from a weekend trip to Yosemite National Park and the
Mono Basin with my class from Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. It was a
great trip and I think everyone had a good time. Didn't get all the target
species, but enjoyed good weather, spectacular scenery, and great looks at
the birds we did find.
    Thursday afternoon (6/27/02) we did some birding in Yosemite Valley.
Best sighting that afternoon was of a PILEATED WOODPECKER banging on a snag
along a paved bike path that connects with the road to Mirror Lake. A BLACK
BEAR and a singing WINTER WREN were seen along the road to Mirror Lake.
    On Friday we started birding at Crane Flat, where we saw the first of
many RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS (they were EVERYWHERE this weekend). A LINCOLN'
S SPARROW was nice enough to pop up for us. As usual, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER
was calling behind the Chevron Station, but whenever we got close it took
evasive action, and we were unable to ever get a look at it.
    Along the road to the Crane Flat Fire Lookout, just a short distance
uphill from Big Oak Flat Road, we had excellent views of a DUSKY
FLYCATCHER - It was carrying food and must have had a nest nearby.
    At Hodgdon Meadow we saw a bunch of RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS, a couple of
WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKERS, CASSIN'S and PURPLE FINCHES, NASHVILLE WARBLER,
and a stunning male HERMIT WARBLER.
    After eating lunch at White Wolf we checked the corral for finches
(finding PINE SISKINS and CASSIN'S FINCHES, but no Pine Grosbeaks), and
walked up the entrance road where we had a good look at a male WILLIAMSON'S
SAPSUCKER. Farther up Tioga Road, at Olmsted Point, we saw a single CLARK'S
NUTCRACKER, a MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, and YELLOW-BELLIED MARMOTS.
    Saturday was a LONG day! We birded Tioga Road and the Mono Basin. Our
first stop was at Siesta Lake, where we heard a distant MOUNTAIN QUAIL and
saw another RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER and a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE. From there we
drove east to Tioga Pass.
    Just as I parked near the dam at Ellery Lake I saw a GRAY-CROWNED ROSY
FINCH fly in. We quickly went over to where it landed and had long close
looks at it as it fed on the flies that were swarming over the rocks near
the dam. Later we saw a few more feeding on the same rocks, and I was able
to get close enough for some good photos. We also enjoyed seeing PIKA among
the rocks. WHITE-CROWNED and FOX SPARROWS were easy to find in the dwarf
willows by the dam, but a singing WILSON'S WARBLER eluded us.
    We stopped along the road to Aspen Campground in Lee Vining Canyon, and
were rewarded with good looks at a singing BREWER'S SPARROW and GREEN-TAILED
TOWHEE. There we also saw RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, and
LEAST CHIPMUNK. There was a lot of bird activity at Aspen Campground, where
birds included more RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS, WESTERN TANAGER, and a juvenile
AMERICAN DIPPER along the creek. Campsites with feeders were attracting lots
of CASSIN'S FINCHES, PINE SISKINS, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, DOUGLAS SQUIRRELS,
BELDING'S GROUND SQUIRRELS, and chipmunks.
We had lunch at Mono Lake County Park, where the BELDING'S GROUND SQUIRRELS
competed with the chipmunks and pika we had seen earlier for cutest animals
of the trip. At the end of the boardwalk there were thousands of WILSON'S
PHALAROPES feeding along the shore, most of them in alternate plumage. We
also had a brief but satisfying look at a VIRGINIA RAIL there.
    It was getting hot, so we made an ice cream stop in Lee Vining before
going down to the South Tufa Area on Mono Lake. Walking among the tufa
formations along the lakeshore we had excellent looks at SAGE THRASHERS (at
least 4), SAY'S PHOEBE, more BREWER'S SPARROWS and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES,
SAVANNAH and SONG SPARROWS, and nesting OSPREYS (at least 6 Osprey were in
the area, with an adult and 2 young on a nest , and 3 more adults perched on
tufa towers farther out in the lake).
    From the South Tufa Area we drove east on Highway 120 to check a
recently burned area about 8 miles from Highway 395 that was supposed to be
good for woodpeckers. Just past the turnoff to the South Tufa Area, at the
edge of the Jeffrey Pine forest, we stopped for a LEWIS'S WOODPECKER that
Amy Monbourquette spotted as it flew over the road. We got out and found 2
of them in the pines on the south side of the highway.
    We did a late afternoon walk through the burned area on Highway 120. We
were unable to find the Black-backed Woodpeckers reported earlier this
spring, but there was plenty of other woodpecker activity in the area. Birds
found here included another LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, a pair of WHITE-HEADED
WOODPECKERS, HAIRY WOODPECKER, GRAY FLYCATCHERS, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH,
more MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, WESTERN TANAGER, and CASSIN'S FINCH. The area looks
pretty bleak, but there were lots of birds there. Aside from being more
comfortable, an early morning visit to this area would probably have been
much more productive. Highlight of our visit was the GRAY FLYCATCHER nest
that Laurie Bechtler found in one of the fire ravaged trees north of the
highway. We all had good looks at the bird sitting on its nest.
    Sunday morning, our last day in the park, we hiked the trail to Sentinel
Dome on the south rim of Yosemite Valley. At the base of the dome there was
A LOT of woodpecker activity, with several HAIRY WOODPECKERS, WHITE-HEADED
WOODPECKERS, and WILLIAMSON'S and RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS. We finally got
good looks at RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET there.
Although we were searching the whole time we didn't find any Blue Grouse. A
WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER nest can be viewed from the Sentinel Dome trailhead
parking area. The nest hole is about half way up in the big snag just
downslope from the parking area. The birds were frequently flying back and
forth while we were there.
    A short hike near Bridalveil Creek Campground didn't produce anything
new (another RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, etc.). We made a final stop at Summit
Meadow on the Glacier Point Road, which was covered with wildflowers and
worth the stop just for that. A beautiful ending to a great weekend of
birding--

John Mariani
[[email protected]]
www.birdswest.com