Tweeters-

Two of us did a 5-mile loop hike (Sunrise > Frozen Lake > First Burroughs >
Glacier Overlook > Wonderland Trail > Emmons Vista > Sunrise) on
22Aug08. The birding was quite slow, but the beautiful day and sweeping
vistas made up for it. Over ~7 hours (7:30am-2:30pm), we encountered none
of the hoped-for Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, but rather the following:

Bald Eagle 1 (flyover)
Red-tailed Hawk 1 (HO)
Prairie Falcon 1 (apparently a temporary resident just N of the Sunrise
parking lot)
Sooty Grouse (female and 2-3 chicks)
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Gray Jay 7
Steller's Jay 2
Clark's Nutcracker 1
Common Raven 3
Mountain Chickadee 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
American Robin 2
American Pipit 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 20 (all Audubon's)
Dark-eyed Junco 12 (all Oregon)

Notes:
1) Per the checklist (revised 1/1/95), the Bald Eagle and the Prairie
Falcon were our best finds, both listed as "occasional: seldom observed."
2) Courtesy of the recent Blue Grouse split, the Sooty Grouse was a lifer
for both of us. Some passerby hikers referred to these as "ptarmigans" so
I suspect misidentifications may arise.

Non-avian highlights:
Black Bear 1 (sub-adult in meadow below Sourdough Ridge, halfway between
Sunrise and Frozen Lake)
Mountain Goat 1
Pine Marten 1 (ripping open a tree cavity just off-trail between Shadow
Lake and Sunrise)

Stu

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Stu Wilson
Austin, TX
Everything is connected...