[EBB Sightings] Yosemite

 Just returned from 2 days of hiking/biking around Yosemite Valley (a 
non-birding trip), but I managed to record 20 bird species despite not 
having binoculars. (The snow had recently melted and it was already in the 
mid-to high 80's in the Valley!)  There were all the usual commoners like 
Brewer's Blackbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Robins, 
Stellar Jays, Crows and Ravens.  A lonely-looking male Common Merganser and 
a Mallard duck were seen paddling around the edges of the Merced River. 
Flitting around the mixed forest near the river, I confirmed the following 
species (these are just the confirmed sightings of the many unconfirmed):

Townsend's Warbler, male
Western Tanager, male
Northern Flicker
Dark-eyed Junco
Mountain Chickadee
Acorn Woodpecker
Bewick's Wren (in ground shrubbery next to water's edge)

On Monday I hiked up the Panorama Trail to Illouette Fall and observed:

Great Horned Owl (I heard its deep hooting nearby but didn't see him)
White-breasted Nuthatch
Townsend's Solitaire (he seemed more curious of me than vice versa!)
Mountain Bluebird
more Juncos

So, all-in-all an interesting trip but I did not see any Clark's Nutcrackers 
this time around, maybe next time.


Bob Hislop
Walnut Creek