Eastern Sierra: August 18,19, 2007

I just had to get out of the city and so I took a little mini-vacation to Mono Lake, Inyo National Forest, and Yosemite National Park over the weekend. I got off work early but still got caught in some pretty nasty traffic on I-580. I stopped in Groveland, CA and had dinner. Then it was so late by the time I got to the turn off for Tioga Road that I decided to stop and take a walk in Crane Flat Meadow to look for Great Gray Owl. I couldn't find one or hear one so I continued on to Mono Craters where I camped for the night.
I got up so early Saturday morning that not even the Pinyon Jays were calling yet. I drove up Highway 395 to Lundy Canyon. On the drive into the canyon I stopped at the first pond and saw a beaver. Lundy Canyon was reflected in the pond. I didn't see anyone on the trail at all until my return trip. Most of the wildflowers that were blooming in July had already died but there were still a few lingering things blooming including lots of Yampah, Yarrow, a few Monkshood and Tall Larkspur, and a little bit of paintbrush and Broad-leaved lupine. Grass of Parnassus was blooming all along Lundy Creek. A Baneberry had dropped its flowers and developed bright red berries. There weren't nearly as many birds as I was hoping. though I did get a very good look at a female MacGillivray's Warbler and an Orange-crowned Warbler. A Pine Siskin perched in a tree near me as I headed past the first waterfall. A Belted Kingfisher was working the pond. The only other interesting bird was a Dusky Flycatcher that wouldn't wait for a photo. The sole butterfly was a Mourning Cloak. I went as far as the waterfall at the scree and then turned back. I next drove to Mono County Park and walked out onto the boardwalk. There were many Red-necked Phalaropes and Wilson's Phalaropes, a few Eared Grebes, and three Yellow-headed Blackbirds (for some reason all the ones at Mono Lake have orange heads) in the lake. In the willows were some Yellow Warblers and one Lazuli Bunting. A flock of Pinyon Jays flew past. There were a couple of fritillary butterflies and one white but they never landed so I'm not sure what kind. I wanted to check a pond Dave Shuford showed us one time on a Pt. Reyes Field Seminar but I could not find it. So I ended up driving to Black Point, the remnants of an underwater volcano on Mono Lake. I walked out to the edge of the lake. There were several Blazing Stars blooming but the blooms were all closed. I accidentally flushed a Wilson's Snipe near the water's edge. There was a flock of American Avocets, a couple of Willets, and a few other things. As I drove back toward the park about fourteen Common Nighthawks flew overhead. I got out of the car to get a better look and spotted a Sage Sparrow perched on a sage brush. Back at the County Park a giant outdoor party was about to commence and there were hundreds of cars parked all along the entrance road so I had to get out of there. Some blackguard, baseborn, miscreant was taking his dog into the park right past the "no dogs" sign. My experience has been that the majority of people who own dogs are completely selfish people with a complete disregard for the rules and for nature.
Next I drove south on Highway 395 to Crowley Lake, a very popular fishing lake but also a magnet for birds during migration. I parked near the water's edge and there was a White-faced Ibis there along the shore. As I walked toward a flock of birds further along the shore I noticed about 10 more plus a flock of American Avocets and several Eared Grebes. Mono Basin hosts the largest gathering of Eared Grebes in the fall anywhere in the US. A few Eared Grebes had chicks trying to ride on their backs which is so cute to watch. A small flock of American White Pelicans were on the lake and a group of shorebirds huddled on the shoreline trying to avoid the speed boats. I saw a dead White Pelican on the shore I'm sure a victim of villianous boaters who share with dog owners a disregard for rules and nature. In the shorebird flock were Long-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Least Sandpipers, Marbled Godwits, Wilson's Phalaropes, and Red-necked Phalaropes. There were two Western Grebes bravely swimming further out. Some Caspian Terns and Forster's Terns were working the lake for fish. While studying a flock of ducks which turned out to be Cinnamon Teals I turned around and noticed a Bullock's Oriole in a willow. There were also a couple of Horned Larks on the ground. After assuring myself I was not overlooking any rarities which turn up regularly at Crowley Lake in late August, I left for Glass Creek Meadow. The wind was becoming pretty stiff and I saw no butterflies at all. There were a few Red Crossbills in the conifers; they enjoy this area it seems as I saw them there last time as well. I heard a strange bird calling and looked and looked up thinking maybe it was one of the many Clark's Nutcrackers around or a Steller's Jay. I only looked down at the ground at the last moment, just in time to see the last of a Mountain Quail before it ducked into some thick brush. Damn, I wanted a picture: I have seen so many but never gotten a picture. There was the usual assortment of mountain birds, White-breased Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Chipping Sparrow, and Cassin's Finch. However, the meadow was practically devoid of the outstanding wildflower display it held in July. The only things left blooming were a few Brewer's Lupines, one Meadow Penstemon, and a lone Lewis's Monkeyflower. At the end of my hike I found a private place for a solar shower, had my dinner at a picnic area near Obsidian Dome, and then headed back to my campsite. The stars were magnificent. The crescent moon soon set leaving the sky ultra-dark for star gazing. As I stared up at the starry sky it was as though it were a cloudy night but actually it was just the thick band of the milky way strewn across the sky. Our English word galaxy comes from the Greek word for milk. I turned into bed and fell asleep. During the night the wind picked up considerably even rocking the car at times.
Sunday morning I again got up before the first bird sang and after breakfast headed over to South Tufa Reserve. I was the first person there. Yeah, solitude! I walked down to the Mono Lake shore and there were several Sage Thrashers and Brewer's Sparrows there eating the brine flies. I watched an awesome sight as the sun came up and put the tufas in an orange glow. After walking the loop trail I drove back over to Mono County Park where mercifully the party was over. A crew had arrived to remove the trash from the party the day before. They had put a cardboard box over the "no dogs" sign and had an off-leash dog roaming around while they cleaned up their mess while a worthless reprobate state park employee stood on doing nothing. I was the first person out on the boardwalk and that turned out to be very lucky for me. As I stood at the end of the boardwalk looking at the phalaropes something ran across the boardwalk catching my eye. It popped up again between the slats pretty close to me and I could see that it was a Long-tailed Weasel! I have never seen one before. It ran fast between the slats like Pop goes the weasel. I barely got this blurry photo before it ran off. What a special treat that was. After the boardwalk I was heading back toward the car when I came upon a group of birders. Some lady told me they were looking at an American Redstart in the willow tree. I got my binoculars on it and it was a first year male or female. I left them and walked across the road to the trees there hoping for Lewis's Woodpecker. I had no luck with that species but found a Red-breasted Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, and Downy Woodpecker. Two Calliope Hummingbirds nearly flew into me. There was also a Spotted Towhee, House Wren, Black-billed Magpie, and Western Wood Pewee. Three Black-crowned Night-herons flew over. Then I decided I better start my planned hike. So I drove from Mono Lake into Yosemite National Park and parked at the Mono Pass Trailhead. I only saw about five peole the entire 12 mile hike. There were many fritillary butterflies and a few sulphurs. The trail starts out at 9000 feet and goes as high as 11,100 feet at Parker Pass which I took after Mono Pass. On the trail up to Mono Pass a White-headed Woodpecker flew into a tree right in front of me. I was surprised to see a Savannah Sparrow on the trail. There were the usual Chipping Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos but I don't know what a Savannah Sparrow was doing there. There were some more Clark's Nutcrackers, nuthatches, one Hammond's Flycatcher, and one Brown Creeper. At Mono Pass, 10,599 feet, I spotted a Sandhill Skipper. It was extremely windy at the pass so I dropped down to Sardine Lake and had my lunch there. Nearly all the great wildflowers from 4th of July were gone. Near Sardine Lake an odd flycatcher flew into a tree. I didn't get a great look but I am pretty sure it was a Gray Flycatcher. After lunch I also took the trail to Parker Pass where I was surprised to see a Northern Harrier scanning the ridge. I also saw a few sulphur butterflies. Not much flies at that elevation which is timberline but the butterflies would never land so I was unable to get a picture or identify them to species. The view from Parker Pass was not nearly as inspiring as I thought it would be so I dropped down a bit futher into the Ansel Adams Wilderness which is in Inyo National Forest and not Yosemite but it was getting late and I still had to drive back to the city so I turned back there. A flock of American Pipits flew across the barren pass. On the way back down I passed more fritillaries and another sulphur. This one I was able to photograph but it turned out to be an ordinary Orange Sulphur. Most likely the fritillaries at timberline were Mormon Fritillaries but the ones lower down I think were Great Basin Fritillaries. Who knows; those darn things are so hard to tell apart. As I dropped back down in elevation I came across some blooming groundsel, American Bistort, and Nude buckwheat but not much else but a few lupines. I got back to the car around 4:00 PM and then it was time to head back home. Heavy sigh.
Michelle Brodie
August 22, 2007

Ft. Bragg, CA Pelagic: August 12, 2007

On Sunday, August 12, 2007, I took my first pelagic out of Ft. Bragg, CA. This is billed as a "mega-raritiy" trip and there is a hefty charge to take it on Shearwater Journeys. We departed from Noyo Harbor on the Trek II boat. As we passed under the bridge out of the harbor we saw Black Turnstones, Wandering Tattler, Pigeon Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant on the rocks. As we headed off shore mostly we saw lots of California Gulls and a few Western Gulls. Finally after about two hours we came across a Cassin's Auklet and a couple of Rhinoceros Auklets. Then we found a Pink-footed Shearwater sitting on the water. There were not many Sooty Shearwaters like I expected. We drove on for a long time without seeing anything else but a few more Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters. Eventually we came into a pod of Humpback whales playing. Then a Black-footed Albatross flew in close to the boat. The birds were few and far in between after that excitement. We passed a frolicking Northern Fur Seal and then we came into a large pod of Risso's Dolphins that were showing off their high fins and sometimes leaping up in the air. They can be identified by the unique scars on their fins. One of the ones we saw had a collapsed dorsal fin. Right after that exciting encounter a Northern Fulmar landed right next to the boat.
Then the sea went calm, the sun came out, and lighting and conditions were quite nice. However, there were no birds for an extended period of time. Of course as soon as I pulled my sandwich out a Pomarine Jaeger flew by that I completely missed out on. After lunch we went way out to sea to Cordell Bank but still no rarities came by. There were many, many Red-necked Phalaropes around the boat all day long and Common Murres flew by all day as well. Finally we were running out of gas and had to head back. Not too far off shore a Sabine's Gull landed in the water nearby in perfect lighting and that was it before heading back to shore. As we proceeded back under the bridge at Noyo Harbor we saw a Clark's Grebe and some Common Loons but no rarities. Oh well, I'll just have to go back out there again soon.
Michelle Brodie
August 14, 2007

Cherry Grove, SC: July 28-August 4, 2007

On July 28, 2007 I went to North Myrtle Beach, SC for my annual family reunion. I arrived too late on Saturday to do much of anything but settle into my little beach front bungalow. On Sunday morning I got up early and drove to Calabash, NC and visited Vereen Gardens. There were many Green Herons and Snowy and Great Egrets but not too much else. I drove from there to Sunset Beach, NC and walked out to the north end of the beach where the shorebirds roost. There were a few Wilson's Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Sandwich Terns, Common Terns, and one Least Tern. After examining all the shorebirds I left stopping at Sunset Lake before heading back to Cherry Grove for a day at the beach. There were many Wood Storks in the trees.
On Monday, July 30, 2007, I drove into North Carolina again to Green Swamp Preserve where I heard there are Henslow's Sparrows. I didn't see or hear any but there were a few Bachman's Sparrows. I also saw a few juvenile Redheaded Woodpeckers. There were lots of pitcher plants growing and many Common Wood Nymphs and Palamedes butterflies. The only warblers were Pine Warbler and Common Yellowthroat. I saw one Blue Grosbeak.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, I went to Cherry Grove Park with John. We found some Painted Buntings in the trees there and then John told me about a new park down the road from the boat launch, Heritage Shores Nature Preserve. This park just opened in January 2007, an oasis in a sea of development that is North Myrtle Beach. It had great boardwalks over the marsh, many exhibits and picnic tables, and showed great potential as a fall migrant trap. We heard Clapper Rails calling from the marsh and saw Little Blue Heron, lots of Mockingbirds and Cardinals and Egrets. A Gull-billed Tern flew by and we saw one Seaside Sparrow in the marsh. An Osprey patrolled the canal.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007, I again checked the Heritage Shores Nature Preserve in Cherry Grove. There was a Tri-colored Heron right at the entrance. Many birds were flying up the channel headed toward Waites Island including Wood Stork and Glossy Ibis. I found a Great-crested Flycatcher in the trees and a Boat-tailed Grackle was perched across the canal. I decided to ride my boogie board across Hog Inlet at high tide when nobody esle would venture over to deserted Waites Island (you can walk across Hog Inlet at low tide). There was a large flock of Brown Pelicans, Laughing Gulls, and many tern species, Royal, Least, Common, Forster's, Caspian, and Sandwich. There were also Willet, Sanderling, Black-bellied Plover, Semi-palmated Plover, Western Sandpiper, American Oystercatcher, Great Egret, Black Skimmer. one Herring Gull, and one Great Black-backed Gull. It was tough boogie boarding across the channel at high tide but worth it for the solitude and flocks of birds.
Thursday, August 2, 2007, John and I drove all the way down to Brookgreen Gardens in Murell's Inlet, SC, only to find it closed until 9:30 AM. So we entered Huntington Beach and walked the causeway and the boardwalk. We saw Wood Stork, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tri-colored Heron, Osprey, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Least Tern, Forster's Tern, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Great Blue Heron, Lesser Yellowlegs, and one unidentified sparrow and many alligators. At the Education Center we saw two Painted Buntings and one Orchard Oriole. Then we headed over to Brookgreen. On the way out John spotted this Golden Silk Orbweaver in an oak tree. There were many Black Swallowtail butterflies. We saw one Eastern Kingbird, Brown Thrasher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Eastern Bluebird. There were some Blue Jays in the oak trees and we heard an Indigo Bunting singing. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird zipped by and one Black-crowned Night-heron. We went to the bird rehab center where we saw some Fulvous-whistling Ducks. We only saw one Zebra Swallowtail but it wouldn't land for a picture. There were many Eastern Lubber grasshoppers on the lawn.

On August 3, 2007 I again visited Heritage Shores Nature Preserve. The Clapper Rails were calling from the marsh but I never saw them. The Tri-colored Heron was still lurking about but there was not much else.
On the last day, August 4, 2007, I said goodbye to everyone and then drove back down to Huntington Beach State Park. I walked from the boardwalk out onto the beach. A roped off area contained the federally endangered species, Seabeach Amaranth. I walked all the way out to the jetty where I was shocked to see a family swimming in the marsh. Fortunately I found a flock of shorebirds just off the beach at the edge of the marsh prior to reaching the jetty, containing Wilson's Plover, Semi-palmated Plover, Western Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Sandpiper, and some other things. Obviously there were no birds where the idiots were swimming in the marsh. I went to the area behind the jetty which is roped off for nesting Least Terns. A large sign indicated no dogs allowed. Nevertheless, a man and his two kids walked up with an off-leash dog and proceeded to the "no dogs allowed" area and began swimming in the marsh with the dog. I was furious. Are people in SC completely retarded? I found a large flock of Black Skimmers and American Oystercatchers in the fenced off area. They are right to put an electric fence there. Too bad it didn't electrocute the family with the dog. When I got back to the entrance to the beach I found the sign for the endangered Seabeach Amaranth knocked over and one of the endangered plants trampled. A woman walked by and stomped a cigarette butt into the sand. It made me sad that people are so uncaring and so unaware about the world they live in. After resting at the picnic area I walked out to Sandpiper pond where I saw a Common Moorhen. I walked the Sandpiper trail and found flock of American Avocets on the furthest edge of the pond (this is most likely also where I contracted chiggers!!@) There was also a shorebird crouched on the far shore that I think was a Stilt Sandpiper but I could not see it very well without a scope. I saw a scruffy looking Carolina Satyr on the trail on my way back to the car. Then it was time to go back to civilization --California.
Michelle Brodie, August 13, 2007
Complete list of birds seen:
Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Wood Duck, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Clapper Rail, Common Moorhen, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Semi-palmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semi-palmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Forster’s Tern, Least Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Pine Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Painted Bunting, Eastern Towhee, Bachman’s Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole, House Finch, House Sparrow

Glacier National Park, MT: July 14-22, 2007

Glacier National Park: July 14-22, 2007

Our plane arrived in Kalispell, now renamed Glacier Park International Airport, on time but they lost two of our suitcases. It was 93 degrees! We had to return to the airport five times before we finally got all our bags and picked up my brother, John, and my sister, Sharon, and were ready to head to Glacier National Park. We set up our tents at Fish Creek Campground and after finishing dinner barely had time to head over to Avalanche Lake trailhead for the four mile round trip hike. In fact, we had to hike the last mile in the dark, even though it didn’t get dark until 10:00 PM. I saw a black bear run across the trail not long after commencing. There were many Swainson’s Thrushes and Varied Thrushes singing all along the trail. The hike follows Avalanche Creek terminating at the lake where it is fed by numerous waterfalls. It’s a dramatic hike but hard to appreciate in the failing light. It was still warm enough to wear shorts when we returned back to camp.

Sunday, July 15, 2007
After breakfast at our very private campsite at Fish Creek we drove to the Sperry Chalet trailhead. The first three miles of the trail passes exclusively through forest. There were few flowers blooming; the trail was dusty and full of horse piss and droppings which none of us liked at all. We could hear Snyder Creek nearby but the trail afforded no views of it. We almost turned back we were so disappointed. In one clearing I saw a Vaux’s Swift fly by and there were more Swainson’s Thrushes and Varied Thrushes singing. After the trail crossed over the creek, it began to climb steeply up switchbacks past the Medicine Falls and then through expansive views of the high country. As the trail opened up we began to pass extensive wildflowers and butterflies including Glacier's signature plant, Bear Grass, California False-hellebore, Claytonia, Twin Flower, and lots of Birch-leaf Spiraea. While stopping for a break several people on horses passed us, one of them letting the horse stop to piss elaborately in front of us. It was disgusting and stinky. Finally into the high country we were treated to mountain vistas, multiple blooming wildflowers, Subalpine Spiraea, sulphur flower, lots of singing MacGillivray’s Warblers, Pine Siskins, Black-capped Chickadess, and many butterflies, including Mariposa Copper, Purplish Copper, Purplish Fritillary, and Acmon Blue. We arrived at the Chalet too late to make the trek up to Sperry Glacier and so after enjoying the fantastic views we turned around and headed back down the smelly horse trail. We heard an Olive-sided Flycatcher singing. Dozens of people were hiking down the trail as it was Sunday and they were concluding their stay at Sperry Chalet; this must have accounted for the abundance of horse droppings. On the way back we stopped at the bridge over Snyder Creek and cooled our throbbing feet from our 13.6 round trip hike before descending back to the car. Next we drove to Inner North Fork Road and had a shower by placing the solar shower on top of the car. As luck would have it no sooner was it my turn and I was completely naked than some idiot pulled up and started sawing down trees in the forest and putting them in his truck. Some Cedar Waxwings came and landed in a tree by the car and we found a bush full of ripe huckleberries which we ate. After the thief left everyone else had their turn and then we returned to our cute little camp at Fish Creek and fell fast asleep.

Monday, July 16, 2007
We packed up our camp gear, loaded up everything in the van and headed up Going-to-the-Sun Road. This road is one of the park highlights as it ascends dramatically up to Logan Pass at 6680 feet with dramatic views of the many waterfalls including 682 foot Bird Woman Falls. Alpine daisies, Brown-eyed Susans, and Bergamot were blooming all along the road. We drove all the way past Logan Pass to Rising Sun Campground and set up camp for the remainder of the trip. The campsite was nestled in huckleberry patches that were dripping with ripe huckleberries that John enjoyed picking and putting in his cereal in the mornings. After our camp was set up we drove to Many Glacier Road where we saw a black bear up a hillside. We parked at Swiftcurrent picnic area and headed for the Grinnell Glacier trailhead which we were extremely disappointed to find closed three miles ahead. When Sharon and I went to Glacier Park in 1999 we were unable to make it to Grinnell Glacier on account of a tremendous amount of snow on the trail with a treacherous angled snowbank making passage impossible. So it was particularly disappointing to find the trail to the glacier again closed. We decided to go ahead as far as we could. It was hot again and very hazy so that the normally incredible view back down to emerald green Grinnell Lake and the surrounding mountains was dulled. There were dozens of people on the trail making picture taking of the many butterflies challenging. We finally made it to the three mile marker where the trail was closed due to bear activity which we later learned was a carcass across the trail, and were not even able to see Grinnell Glacier just a big snow bank and a hazy view of a waterfall of melting glacier. We took our time moseying back down the trail to the car. On the way back John spotted a Dusky Grouse along the trail. Near the end of the hike we stopped by the lake and dipped our feet in the water. While resting, an Arctic Blue butterfly perched on my foot and then a Pearl Crescent butterfly landed on my shoulder and stayed there part of the way back down the trail. At the pond we saw a Rubber Boa swimming across. After our hike we decided to drive back to Logan Pass and take the Hidden Lake trail. It was late in the day but there were still people on this very popular trail. This trail is so popular in fact, that the park had to build a boardwalk all the way to the pond with the famous view back across to Reynolds Mountain reflected in the pool. American Pipits were standing in the meadow with some singing White-crowned Sparrows. Our view was dampened by the haze which still lingered in the air. But we still enjoyed the flower filled meadow. Glacier lilies were still blooming there in huge swaths along with heather, paintbrush, and many others. We saw some Big Horn Sheep browsing in the meadow. At the Hidden Lake Overlook we turned around and returned the way we came.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007
A Warbling Vireo was the first thing up and his sweet song woke us up. A Western Tanager perched in a tree during breakfast and serenaded us. We again drove to Many Glacier Road where we had planned to hike to beautiful Iceberg Lake. When we got to the entrance station we were so disappointed to learn that it too was closed due to bear activity. The ranger suggested that we try Swiftcurrent Pass so we followed her advice and were greatly rewarded by doing so. We parked at the end of Many Glacier Road and started up the Swiftcurrent Pass trail. This spectacular trail starts off flat as it passes through flower filled meadows with singing MacGillivray’s Warblers, three waterfalls, and two large lakes, Red Rock Lake and Bullhead Lake, before ascending steeply up challenging switchbacks up 2700 feet to the pass. It was still hot and hazy but we were unaware as we were dazzled by the magnificent scenery. In the meadow a MacGillivray’s Warbler popped up in a tree finally giving us a look at this elusive bird. At Bullhead Lake we saw a Moose with a calf far across the lake. We had lunch on the switchbacks near one of four streaming waterfalls. Near the pass American Pipits were singing in the meadow. When we got to Swifcurrent Pass we were very tired but John insisted that we also make the 1600 foot climb up to the lookout. I didn’t want to because it was so hazy but we trrudged up the trail anyway. While taking a break Susan spotted a raptor. As soon as I got it in my binoculars it flew off and I could make out the dark axillaries of a Prairie Falcon. We huffed and gasped for air before finally summiting for a 360 degree view of the park. What a shame it was so hazy; you could see that on a clear day it would have been an incredible view something to draw you back again and again if you ever were so lucky to have that chance. After munching on some huckleberries and snacks we started back down the steep switchbacks. Half way down the steep switchbacks I was surprised to see a White-tailed Deer with a huge rack resting under a rock. Susan got mad because she was relieving herself in the woods and I didn’t yell that Sharon was coming quickly enough. She stormed down the trail not stopping at all until back at the creek. I have never seen her hike so fast. Nearly back to the car Sharon and Susan stopped at Fisher Cap Lake, a small lake before the two main lakes, and saw a very close male moose. Just as we finished our hike a light rain began to fall. As we headed back down Many Glacier Road we came upon a traffic jam. We looked up the hillside and saw a grizzly bear with two cubs. We tried to take pictures but the ranger asked us to move on. We drove back to Rising Sun picnic area across the street from our campground and had our dinner. The picnic area was empty but it stopped raining long enough for us to have dinner. After dinner John hung his solar shower up in the men’s room and showered and then I hung it up in the women’s room and showered while Susan and Sharon waited in a long line at Rising Sun for the pay showers. We slept well after our grueling 17 mile hike with a 3500 foot elevation gain, even though it rained all night.

July 18, 2007
I wanted to hike the Belly River trail but after reading the summary John refused because horses are allowed on the trail; he didn’t want to take anymore trails with horse piss and pooh. We stopped at the brand new St. Mary Visitor Center and John asked the backcountry ranger to make a suggestion. Out in the parking lot an Osprey was on her nest with her chicks. The ranger suggested Siyeh Pass so we took her advice and drove to Siyeh Bend and parked the car. Most people walk the 11 mile hike one way ending at Sunrift Gorge and taking the shuttle back to Siyeh Bend. We intended to make it a long loop by continuing along St. Mary Lake back to the bend. We started up the trail and soon came to two large gray birds in the forest which I believe were Northern Goshawks. We were greeted with many meadows of wildflowers before starting a steep ascent up a rocky talus slope to 7750 foot Siyeh Pass with commanding alpine views. Despite the harsh conditions wildflowers were blooming along the talus slope, lousewort, St. John’s Wort, and many others. The views were amazing at the pass but it was too windy so we dropped down a bit before enjoying lunch in front of Sexton Glacier. A Gray-crowned Rosy-finch flew onto a rock nearby. After lunch we descended the pass through incredible wildflower filled fields with many butterflies, Queen Alexandria’s Sulphur, Rocky Mountain Parnassian, Milbert’s Tortoiseshell, and several species of fritillary. The views on the other side of the pass were breathtaking. As we descended three glacier fed waterfalls far below came into view. It was the kind of scene that is hard to take your eyes away from. There were many people on the trail riding our rears; I don’t know why they were in such a hurry. They didn’t stop for a butterfly, a flower, a waterfall; I don’t know why they didn’t just stay at home and ride a treadmill for pete’s sake. The end of the trail came to a redrock lined waterfall before ending at sunrift gorge where we saw a Lorquin’s Admiral right next to a White Admiral. Sharon and Susan took the shuttle back to Siyeh Bend and John and I took the St. Mary Lake Trail. John forgot his binoculars on a rock and had to run about a mile back up the trail to get them. Back on the trail first we passed uninspiring Baring Falls and then walked along St. Mary Lake with outstanding views of towering mountains in the background. We passed on St. Mary falls and continued to Deadman Falls before making the steep ascent out of Gunsight Pass trail back to Going-to-the-Sun Road where we were too exhausted to make the last 2.5 miles back to Siyeh Bend. Fortunately Sharon and Susan drove by on their way back from the store and picked us up. Sharon and Susan again stood in a long line at Rising Sun pay shower while John and I went to Sun Point picnic area and hung up the solar shower on the car. While John was completely nude a guy in a truck made two slow passes making sure to look down between the car where John was bathing. As we left we saw a man preparing to camp illegally at Sun Point. I wonder if bears were attracted by the smell of our soap and attacked the illegal camper after we left.

Thursday, July 19, 2007
I woke everybody up at 5:00 AM to give us plenty of time to drive into Canada to Waterton Lakes National Park. Shortly after going through customs I saw a Ruffed Grouse in the road so I pulled over to get some pictures. Later we stopped and saw Red-naped Sapsucker, Rufous Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Townsend’s Solitaire, Northern Flicker, and Fox Sparrow. There were many other birds but we had to go in order to catch the 9:00 AM boat across Waterton Lake to Crypt Landing where we planned to hike to Crypt Lake. Across the lake from the boat launch sits the historic Prince of Wales Hotel. The hike was horrible and I will never take it again. Because you must take a boat to get to the trailhead it basically funnels 50 people shotgun style up the trail in a long line. There is no chance to get pictures of butterflies or look at birds because if you stop to do anything 45 people will pass you and you will be stuck marching with a bunch of obnoxious people all day long which is exactly what happened. The boat company claims it is rated the number one hike in Canada but if that’s all Canada has to offer then I would prefer to continue hiking in the US. The hike made a steep ascent up past a waterfall and then through a 2.5 foot wide tunnel before ending at an uninspiring subalpine lake where we were forced to eat lunch with 40 noisy people. The only interesting thing at the lake were three species of trout, Brown, Rainbow, and Cutthroat. At the end of the hike we took a side trip to Hellroaring Canyon Falls where we again were stuck in a line of hikers on a single track trail. It was awful. Back at the boat dock we were trapped with the same 50 people waiting for the boat to pick us up. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. After the boat dropped us off we drove past the famous Prince of Wales Hotel. Susan wanted to stop inside to have high tea but then changed her mind. So we drove to the end of Redrock Canyon Road and walked out on a bridge over lovely Bauerman Creek. I had to pry everyone off of the bridge to get them to take the Blakeston Falls trail where we saw more wildflowers. We had our dinner at the picnic area there and then it was a long drive back to Rising Sun campground.

Friday, July 20, 2007
It was Susan and my fifth anniversary. I had planned a hike to Cobalt Lake in the Two Medicine Area. John was skeptical of my choice but it turned out to be the best hike of the trip in my opinion. Sharon and I had taken the hike in July 1999 but a snow storm came the night before blanketing the area and we couldn’t see much, only enough to tell that we should come back again one day. The trail started out on the south shore of Medicine Lake through wildflower-filled meadows before coming to a pond where we saw several Common Yellow-throats. Sharon and Susan stopped to look at some flowers and John was about five feet behind me when I saw a grizzly bear about 30 feet away. I had my video camera out and started filming it. It was eating something in the meadow and didn’t notice me at first. Then it looked up and looked me right in the eye. John started backing away leaving me standing there all by myself. I kept telling Sharon and Susan to come up to me because I didn’t think the bear would mess with four people. But no they just left me standing there alone right in front of the bear. Fortunately the bear decided to cross the trail instead of eating me and hopped into a pond and swam away. That is the first grizzly bear I have ever encountered on a trail; I think I would have fainted if I had been alone. There were more alpine birds along the trail, Winter Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, and MacGillivray’s Warbler. We took a side trail to Aster waterfall before crossing Paradise creek on a suspension bridge and then beginning a relatively gentle climb up past red and black towering Mount Rockwell. We came to another waterfall, Rockwell falls, where we stopped to have lunch. While eating, John spotted an American Dipper in the falls. After lunch we continued our climb a little more steeply. We found some ripe blueberries along the trail which we stopped to pick and eat. They were delicious. Next we passed through an ineffable wildflower display along the creek. There was one enormous patch of Lewis’s Monkeyflower and endless patches of other flowers all along the creek. The scene was indescribably beautiful. Finally we came to Cobalt Lake nestled in Paradise Peak. While cooling our feet in the clear blue lake John detected an animal he thought was a badger on the hillside on the far shore. Later we determined it was a Long-tailed Weasel. A Spotted Sandpiper was on the shore of the lake and two Hoary Marmots were running up the hillside being chased by a bird and pecked on the back. After resting a bit we turned back the way we came. I heard a warbler giving a chip note in some willows so I pished and a MacGillivray’s Warbler shot out and nearly flew into us. That night at camp I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting.

Saturday, July 21, 2007
We got up, packed up all our things, and left Rising Sun Campground. We drove back to Logan Pass and parked. It was extremely windy and cold in the parking area. We crossed the road and started the Highline Trail along the Garden Wall, a very famous section of Glacier Park with commanding views of the glacier filled alpine country with its many waterfalls, wildflowers, and butterflies. There were a few people on the trail but they were spread out and it wasn’t too bad. We soon came to some Big Horn Sheep right off the trail. Mountain Goats walked right past us. Not far down the trail I found a Pine Grosbeak perched right out in the open on a Subalpine Fir. Two more flew in and a Calliope Hummingbird also flew in while I was admiring the Grosbeak. The trail is carved out of the side of the mountain and passes through intermittent forests and then meadows. In the forested area I found two Townsend’s Warblers. At 6.8 miles we came to a spur trail that climbs 1000 feet in just 1 km. We stopped and had lunch before making this arduous climb. It was well worth the effort as it ended at a tremendous view down to Grinnell Glacier. Finally after eight years I saw Grinnell Glacier. It was extremely windy at the overlook but Susan and I found a crevice in the rocks where we were protected from the wind and could enjoy the view. While sitting admiring this ancient glacier that will one day be no more, two Calliope Hummingbirds buzzed right past our heads and over the pass. After everyone had his or her fill of this spectacular overlook we walked back down to the trail junction and on to Granite Park Chalet where people make reservations a year in advance to stay and enjoy the amazing views of Mount Gould and the Haystack. We were so tired hiking back to the car. Most people continue past Granite Park Chalet on the shorter, 4.4 mile Loop trail and take the shuttle back to their car, so we saw few people as we re-traced our steps. We stopped and soaked our tired feet in one of the many dripping pools along the way. After our hike we stopped at Avalanche Creek picnic area and had our last picnic before heading out of the park to Kalispell to the Outlaw Hotel where things went terribly wrong. We were so tired after hiking nearly 100 miles all week. But the hotel sent us from room to room every time only to find it already occupied. Finally after four tries Sharon and John got situated and everybody went to sleep. I was awoken at the ungodly hour of 5:00 AM by John telling me the shuttle did not come to pick him up. So I had to get up and drop him off at the airport. Then no sooner was I back in bed than Sharon came to have breakfast. After breakfast we went back into the park for a last leisurely walk to Rocky Point along Lake MacDonald where we saw a Red Squirrel. After taking Sharon to the airport Susan and I went back to the park again and hiked the Johns Lake Trail to Sacred Dancing Cascade where we saw some Gray Jays and some more Winter Wrens. We had intended to hike the entire loop but the bridge over McDonald Creek had been slammed into by trees during a violet flood. A Compton's Tortoiseshell was perched right on the demolished bridge: we ended our travels there and headed back to Glacier Park Airport where it was still a balmy 93 degrees. Our flight was delayed two hours due to an air traffic hold at San Francisco Airport on account of fog. As the plane passed over the glacier filled peaks of the Rocky Mountains I looked down at them in awe. These ancient remnants of the last ice age will one day be gone and with it too probably all the precious sacred places I treasure so much, destroyed by endless development and demands for housing for our burgeoning population. As the plane moved on and the mountains moved out of view, I looked down ruefully, sad to leave it behind but happy and satisfied that I'd had the wonderful opportunity to see this majestic place again.

Eastern Sierra: June 29-July 4, 2007

Susan had food poisoning on Thursday and still felt ill Friday, so I had to drive all the way from her office to our little primitive campsite at Mono Craters myself, June 29. We arrived around 10:30 PM and after admiring the planets Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter, that were regaling the sky all weekend, and setting up the tent, fell fast asleep. I woke in the night and heard a Great Horned Owl hooting.

Saturday, June 30, 2007, Susan felt weak from the food poisoning so I planned an easy hike to Glass Creek Meadow in the Inyo National Forest. It is only a 4 mile round trip hike with little elevation gain. After breakfast we drove to the trailhead which is off of Highway 395 south of Mono Lake at the turn off for Obsidian Dome, a giant remnant of an ancient volcano with a large lava flow. Pumice and obsidian were everywhere. We only saw a couple of people during our hike but lots of birds, butterflies, and wildflowers. The hike has one hill to make it up right after the trailhead as it passes a small waterfall on Glass Creek. Then the trail flattens out as it follows along the creek to the meadow. As soon as we started we heard Warbling Vireo, Western Wood Pewee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Cassin’s Finch. There were Sulphur flowers and Brewer’s Lupine all along the first part of the hike. At the first forested area we came across a flock of Red Crossbills giving their kip kip call and eating pine cone seeds which they live off of in their nomadic lives. There were many Clark’s Nutcrackers giving their noisy vocalizations. After the forested area the trail opened up to a field of pumice sand before finally arriving at the flower filled meadow. The creek runs through the meadow making it lush with wildflowers and butterflies which were everywhere. A whole section of the meadow was a field of Meadow Penstemon. In the wet mud were many Blue butterflies, Melissa Blue, Western Tailed-blue, Anna's Blue, and other blues we could not identify as well as a Sulphur butterfly, Lustrous Copper, and many Western Tiger Swallowtail butterflies. We sat on a log enjoying the meadow for a while with its ring of trees and backdrop of the 10,000 foot high San Joaquin Mountain but there were too many biting flies so we decided to head back. On the way out of the meadow we heard Mountain Quail and Sooty Grouse calling from the forest. As I was admiring a Pine Siskin through my binoculars somehow an insect got between my left pinkie finger and my binoculars and stung me. It must have left a stinger in my finger because it swelled to the size of a sausage and caused unbelievable pain in my hand. Near the creek we saw a Gray Flycatcher, Mountain Chickadee, Townsend’s Solitaire, and White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatch. We only saw two people on the trail. Before leaving we had lunch at a picnic area near Obsidian Dome then we drove the long drive to the Ancient Bristlecone Forest near the tiny town of Big Pine, CA. After winding up the White Mountains where we saw a Rufous Hummingbird, we pulled into the Shulman Grove and walked the Discovery Trail which tells all about how Professor Shulman discovered the oldest tree in the world in this grove of gorgeous twisted old Bristlecones in 1952. The tree is over 4000 years old but the Forest Service won’t tell you which one it is for fear that some lunatic will cut it down. No matter—they are all gorgeous old trees fantastic to look at. There were the tiniest most minute little blue butterflies on the Discovery Trail and dozens of Mountain Bluebirds. After hiking the one mile loop we decided to drive to the Patriarch Grove further up the White Mountains. This grove is 12 miles further up and at 11,000 feet instead of the 10,000 feet we were at in Shulman Grove. The road turns into dirt almost immediately and is very bad and full of large rocks. I was amazed that people were driving their passenger cars on it and wondering why they were not concerned about flat tires. We finally got to the Patriarch Grove and walked the two short nature trails admiring the largest Bristlecone in the world and some other beauties before driving back down the awful road. As we proceeded down this horrible dirt road I heard an upsetting sound of air escaping. I pulled into the nearest pull off and was horrified to see my rear left tire completely flat. Worse than that the hatch wouldn’t open so I had to remove our cooler and all our camp gear and crawl into the back of the car to get the jack out. As we were contemplating where to put the jack two ladies in a US Forest Service truck stopped and asked if we needed help. Susan told them that she had never changed a tire before and yes could they help. I most certainly have changed many tires in my day but was not looking forward to kneeling in the sage to change one. After a couple of failed attempts at placing the jack we finally got the tire changed and the nice ladies left but not before several cars passed us, I am sure joking the whole way back about how many ladies it took to change a tire. We didn’t get back to our little campsite at Mono Craters until 10:30 PM leaving no time to do anything but crawl into the tent.

Sunday, July 1, before I even arose I could hear the Pinyon Jays on the move through our camp site. My pinkie was hurting a lot each time I used my hand the pain darting through my hand. We drove north of Lee Vining to the turn off for Green Creek which is also a dirt road. I was worried because we had a flat for a spare so I drove as carefully as possible and with the window down also listened for birds. The road passes through sage flats before arriving at the Green Creek Campground in the Toyaibe National Forest. In the sage flats we saw lots of desert birds such as Sage Thrasher, Brewer’s Sparrow, and Green-tailed Towhee and prickly poppy with its beautiful white flowers lined the road. This trail is 11.6 miles round trip to the Hoover Lakes in the Hoover Wilderness. We took our time on this beautiful trail as there is much to look at. First of all, wildflowers line the trail from the first step to the last. At first we passed through a field of Richardson’s Geranium and a lot of Swamp Onion along the creek. In addition to all the great flowers the whole trail was full of birds and bird song. We saw all the Sierra Mountain specialty birds, Pine Siskin, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush, Western Tanager, Clark’s Nutcracker, Violet-green Swallow, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Brown Creeper, Raven, and the ever present Yellow-rumped Warbler. We stopped many times to admire the many butterflies as well-- Clodious Parnassian, Pine White, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Bosduval’s Blue, some type of Fritillary (possibly Nokomis), and many others. The first lake the trail comes to is East Lake which is stocked with trout and consequently attracts a lot of anglers. We had lunch beside the lake and Susan spotted a Golden Trout near the water’s edge. We continued up the trail and I noted that the only mountain bird we had not found was a Williamson’s Sapsucker and how I wish Susan would conjure one for me. Next we came to lovely Green Lake which is actually bright blue and surrounded by gorgeous red and black mountains. After leaving this little gem we ran into a US Forest Service worker, Scott, who talked our heads off. Poor guy must not have anyone to talk to. He was hiking with a six foot saw to cut trees that were blocking the trail. I was amazed that they cut those huge trees with a saw. He had just finished cutting a huge White bark pine and was on his way to the next blockage. He told us his life story about how he backpacked for three days when he was just fourteen on the Pacific Crest Trail and just fell in love with it and has been outdoors ever since apparently not running into many people along the way with whom to converse. After Green Lake we passed Gilman Lake and little Nutter Lake before the trail opened up and we could see Burro Pass high above us before finally crossing a hairy passage over Green Creek to Hoover Lakes. At Hoover Lake we found a few Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and White-crowned Sparrows, a subspecies of which lives high in the mountains, and an Edith’s Checkerspot butterfly. We barely had time to enjoy the fantastic view before we had to turn back. As we again approached Blue Lake I saw a Williamson’s Sapsucker flying away. I thought that another one was behind a pine tree so I told Susan to wait while I walked around it. As I got to the back of the tree which was very near the trail I heard babies crying inside a tiny woodpecker hole. Susan and I sat on a rock nearby and waited for the mother to come back to feed them. Soon she came and I was able to watch her feeding her little Williamson's Sapsucker chicks which would protrude slightly from the hole. It was very thrilling for me. Scott was just a few feet away completely oblivious sawing away at a gigantic fallen pine tree. When we had our fill we waved goodbye to Scott and headed back down the trailhead. We were exhausted at times feeling like we couldn’t make it. We had taken so long standing taking pictures of the numerous flowers, birds, and butterflies that our little 11.6 mile hike was taking us a total of over eight hours. I stopped to dip my throbbing pinkie in a creek and when I bent down saw a Yosemite Toad in the water. When we finally made it back to the car my body ached from head to toe. We drove south on Highway 395 to Mono County Park where we planned to have dinner. It was very windy and unpleasant at the picnic area. We walked out on the boardwalk and saw hundreds of Wilson’s Phalaropes on Mono Lake where they congregate and breed this time of year. After dinner we drove back to our campsite and had a much needed shower with my solar shower. The owl came again during the night.

Monday, July 2, 2007, the Pinyon Jays woke me as usual with their noisy chatter. They are very gregarious. When I got out of the tent a Common Nighthawk was circling overhead. After breakfast we drove just north of Lee Vining on Highway 395 to the famous and wonderful Lundy Canyon, one of the best hikes in all of the Sierra. This amazing hike follows Lundy Creek as it meanders over three waterfalls, passes numerous wildflowers, and many birds and butterflies. I wanted to get a picture of a Calliope Hummingbird which is fairly common in the Sierra but of the six or seven we saw none would stay put long enough for me to photograph, so no pictures of this darling little hummer. After the first waterfall we walked through a field of Monk’s Hood mixed in with yarrow, stickseed, Pride of the Mountain, Swamp Onion, Monument Plant, and Scarlet Gilia. We took the trail to the last waterfall at the scree which goes up to Helen Lake in 20 Lakes Basin but we decided not to climb it this year and turned back instead. The scree was full of Colville’s Columbine, Western Rose root, White heather, Red Heather, Rock Fringe, Indian Paintbrush, Meadow Paintbrush, and Applegate Paintbrush. At the second waterfall we stopped to have lunch. As we were eating a MacGillivray’s Warbler started singing. I was thinking to myself, “hmm that MacGillivray’s is very close” when suddenly it perched on top of a pine tree right in front of us. This was pretty unusual for this elusive bird. A Calliope also zipped by. After lunch we headed back down the mountain and at the beaver pond we found a Red-breasted Sapsucker and an American Dipper. We stopped at the Mono Lake Visitor Center on the way back and saw Cliff Swallows feeding their chicks right on the side of the center. One poor baby had fallen out and was just sitting on the ground I’m sure to be eaten by a hawk or other predator later. We had dinner at the June Lake picnic area and then retired to our cute little private campsite. I was sound asleep when a pack of coyotes began to howl. I was terrified because the alpha sounded just like a crazed person. Here we were two ladies camping alone in the wilderness with a crazy person on the loose. Weird how your mind conjures the craziest thoughts sometimes—it was just coyotes.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 we drove a short way to the June Lake Loop off of Highway 395 to the Walker Lake turnoff which we took up and up 10 miles to the Walker Lake Trailhead in the Inyo National Forest. I drove slowly on the dirt road on account of the flat spare and in doing so saw a sapsucker flying. We stopped and were treated to a Red-breasted Sapsucker feeding her chicks. On this incredibly beautiful trail which is seven miles roundtrip to lower Sardine Lake we only saw two people all day. The trail first drops down several hundred feet to Walker Lake another stocked lake which attracts hordes of anglers before flattening out through a meadow. There were very few wildflowers at this low elevation. However, the trail is gruesome in its intense elevation gain thereafter gaining 2700 feet in just three miles. We were gasping for breath as we ascended but were rewarded with awesome views back down to Walker Lake and Mono Lake in the distance. As we gained elevation we started to pass through more and more wildflowers and encountered many birds. After ascending about half way we came to an aspen grove that was full of birds one of which had us stumped. It sounded like a Cordilleran flycatcher but that would be rare. I never could locate it and just held my camera up to record its strange song instead. Upon further review I can only surmise that it is some strange song of a Gray Flycatcher and not the much rarer (for this area) Cordilleran. Also in the aspen grove we saw Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, and many other birds. We were running out of gas when we finally came to a waterfall at the top of which was pretty Lower Sardine Lake. We had lunch beside the lake and then continued around the lake where a creek flowed into it. The creek was lined with willows and fields of wildflowers, Davidson's Penstemon, columbine, yarrow, paintbrush, larkspur, monkeyflower, cinquefoil, St. John’s Wort, Swamp Onion, and many others. We were tired but decided to continue up to Upper Sardine Lake. As we continued to gain elevation we saw more wildflowers shieldleaf, Labrador tea, Elephant’s Head, one lone Timberline Phacelia, Western Roseroot, Wooly Sunflower, Oval-leaved Eriogonum, Meadow Penstemon, Davidson’s Penstemon, Bridge’s Penstemon, Rydberg's Penstemon, and on and on. The flowers were attracting many butterflies as well and we saw Mourning Cloak, Northern Cloudywing, Milbert’s Tortoiseshell, Sara’s Orangetip, Western Tailed-blue, Melissa Blue, Lupine Blue, Blue Copper, Sierra Sulphur, Field Crescent, some type of Fritillary, Clodious Parnassian, and a checkerspot. After wetting our heads in the lake we headed back down the trail. We stopped at a waterfall and found an American Dipper in the water. At the end of this wonderful hike we decided to just go back to our campsite for the rest of the evening. It was very hot that day and the solar shower scalded us as we showered. We then enjoyed a relaxing evening with the Pinyon Jays, Common Nighthawks, and Violet-green Swallows, and as evening fell bats and stars and planets. During the night the coyote pack returned and howled but this time exhaustion took over and I slept through it.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007, we got up early and broke camp. We stopped at the South Tufa Reserve at Mono Lake and walked down to the water. A California Ground Squirrel sunned on a rock. There were Sage Thrasher, Vesper Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, California Gull, Common Nighthawk, and Violet-green Swallows to enjoy on the boardwalk plus the outstanding views of tufa in the morning sun. Next we drove up Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park to the Porcupine Creek trailhead on Tioga Road. We were planning to take it 14 miles round trip to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls before driving back to San Francisco. In order to expedite the hike I left my binoculars behind and only carried my video camera, water, and lunch. The trail was harder than I remembered it going down quite a bit to the falls. Along the way I saw the back side of a Black-backed Woodpecker flying away and Susan spotted a Black-tailed Deer. There were numerous fritillary butterflies wichh I merely admired in my haste but did stop long enough to get a photo of this Pine Drop plant. At about the half way mark the trail crossed over a creek which was full of flowers and many different fritillary butterflies. I was surprised to see Western Azalea still blooming and found one beautiful Alpine Lily. Near the falls we also saw another Williamson’s Sapsucker and a Red-breasted Sapsucker right on the trail. As we approached the waterfall we were treated to magnificent views of the valley and Half Dome. The granite was dotted with Stone Crop. We descended down to the falls, over the creek, and up to the viewpoint. There was still a little bit of water flowing in the upper falls but it was hard to see from the fence. It was time to hussle back anyway. It was tough hiking uphill most of the way at that clip. I stopped only to film two White-headed Woodpeckers and take a photo of a Police Car Moth at the creek. It was very hot and dusty but we made it back to the car in just 5 hours 50 minutes—not bad for an old lady. It was the hottest day of the year it turned out, topping 105 degrees in Oakdale but we soon left that behind as we returned to my home in the foggy city. I hate the fog and I can't wait to get back to the mountains which will be very soon but not soon enough.

Yosemite: June 15-18, 2007

Yosemite National Park: June 15-18, 2007

June 15, after work I drove to Yosemite National Park taking the southern route through Oakhurst on Highway 41. Just before the tiny town of Fish Camp I turned off on a dirt forest road and drove for six miles to Big Sandy Campground in the Sierra National Forest where I set up camp in an expansive camp site right along the Big Creek. All sixteen of the sites in this scenic campground were well spaced and provided a lot of privacy. A White-headed Woodpecker came and pecked at a tree just over my camp site. Willow trees lined the creek and held some Fox Sparrows and Song Sparrows and many butterflies, many of which were Boisduval’s Blues. I heard a Red Crossbill calling but never could see it. I walked around the campground and saw some Red-breasted Nuthatch chicks in a tree. After setting up my tent I drove into Yosemite Park; driving back down the dusty dirt road back to Highway 41. It was just four miles from the entrance station but then another 16 miles to Glacier Point Road. I took that road to McGurk Meadow and walked the trail to the meadow and back. I heard Mountain Quails calling from the woods and saw Western Wood Pewee, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Tanager, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Golden-crowned Kinglet but no owls. I then stopped by the Four Seasons of Yosemite at Yosemite West, where my brother, Chris, and his family would be staying but they treated me like a criminal and would not let me have the key. So I returned to my campsite which was just as well. The stars were magnificent and the camp site was very quiet and peaceful.

June 16, I took down my tent and proceeded back down the dirt road to Yosemite West to meet Chris and his family. A Hammond’s Flycatcher was singing in a tree beside the road. Yosemite West is just a few miles from the entrance to Glacier Point Road but we decided to make the long drive to Tioga Pass Road for our hike. We drove all the way to Porcupine Creek where we planned to hike to North Dome which has expansive views of Half Dome and maybe the top of Yosemite Falls too. A Williamson’s Sapsucker crossed the trail in front of us. Chris’s son, Kevin, found a black bear that we all got good looks at before it fled into the woods. A Mountain Quail called from the woods. There were lots of Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Fox Sparrows, Brown Creepers, and Steller’s Jays. A Hermit Thrush made its ethereal call. Just one mile from the dome, Chris wandered off trail and he and his family had lunch. They claimed they thought it was the end of the trail even though the dome was looming before us. While waiting for them I saw a Townsend’s Solitaire in a tree. I started down the trail to North Dome but got off trail and ended up in thick intertwined Manzanita mats before finally emerging at the Haystack, another granite dome, that parallels North Dome. No one was on the Haystack since there is no official trail to it but it actually has closer looks at Half Dome. I started back through the woods trying to get to North Dome but the Manzanita was so thick it scratched and tore at my legs and arms to the point I didn’t think I would make it. I could hear White-throated Swifts overhead as I finally struggled my way back up the slope to the official trail but couldn’t see Chris or his family so I walked back to the trail junction. There were many butterflies including many Zerene Fritillaries and lots of California Sisters. Finally Chris and family came to the trail junction and we headed back to the car deciding against proceeding to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls as we had planned.

On the way back down Porcupine Creek Jenny saw a Calliope Hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world at 3.25 inches, which still was not enough to get the permanent snarl off her face. After our hike we drove down Tioga Pass a little further stopping at Olmstead Point for the view of the valley before finally turning back at Tuolumne Meadows. There were some California Gulls in Tenaya Lake and some Brewer’s Blackbirds.

June 17, I tried to get Chris’s family up for an early start but they had trouble getting the lead out and we didn’t get to the Chilnualna Falls trailhead in Wawona until the shamefully late starting time of 9:00 AM. We headed up the steep trail where it soon came to the first fall where we saw an American Dipper in the fast flowing creek. There were a lot of birds on this trail. After passing the first falls we passed through a mixed oak, pine woodland where there were Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Warbling Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo, Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, among other things. When we crossed over wet areas there were many butterflies flitting about, Western Tiger Swallowtail, more Zerene Fritillary, Propertius Duskywing, Clodius Parnassian, Sheridan’s Green Hairstreak, Field Crescent, and many more. All along the trail Mountain Misery aka Kit Kit Dizzy covered the forest floor. After 4.2 miles we came to the upper falls where we saw Western Azalea blooming beside the creek. Many wildflowers were blooming along the trail, Sierra Fringed Gentian, Mariposa Lily, Harlequin Lupine, Sierra Onion, Pussy Paws everywhere, and lots of miniature lupine. We walked about a mile beyond the falls thinking there were more and heard a MacGillivray’s Warbler singing in the thicket. I tried to pish it out but it only popped up briefly. We stopped at the creek and had lunch and saw many butterflies including Pale Swallowtail and others. There were more flowers blooming along the creek, White heather, Blue Penstemmon, and Thimbleberry and Megan found a Sonoran Skipper butterfly. After lunch we headed back down the trail the way we came. I saw the MacGillivray’s Warbler again briefly but not long enough for a good picture. After our hike we drove to Glacier Point Road and stopped at the Taft Point trailhead. There were more Clodius Parnassian butterflies and I finally found one spread on a marsh marigold and got a picture. We walked out to the fissures which are huge cracks in the granite which you can see through to the valley floor thousands of feet below. At Taft Point we stood on the granite platforms that jut out over the valley. A Violet-green Swallow flew over. After our little jaunt we drove to Washburn Point for the amazing view of Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, and Half Dome. As I gazed out at this magnificent mountain scenery, I was reminded of why I could never really leave California. We made our last stop the crowded Glacier Point viewpoint before heading back to Yosemite West. We were very hungry and it was father’s day and Sharon’s birthday. As Sharon was cooking dinner, the evil woman, Marcie, from the front desk called and told Sharon they had been there three days and she and her whole family needed to come to the office and check in or else. Sharon asked if that included her sixteen year old and the idiotic woman said yes. I had seen this woman on the first day when I tried to get the key. She had shaved off her eyebrows and painted on fake ones. She was skinny and looked like a shriveled up miserable old cow.

June 18, I got up early but I couldn’t get Chris’s family moving so after breakfast I drove up to McGurk Meadow again to look for the owl again. As I drove up Glacier Point Road a huge black bear walked in front of the car. I walked the trail to the meadow but saw no owls. I heard the Mountain Quail again but it never came close. A Dusky Flycatcher was singing in the woods. When Chris’s family was finally ready we drove to the Valley to Happy Isles. We started up the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls and then Nevada Falls. The trail is very steep and Sharon was scared at some points crawling on all fours. A rainbow was formed by the mist from Vernal Falls. At Nevada Falls many White-throated Swifts were flying over. I also was thrilled to find two Black Swifts flying by. There were more Nashville Warblers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Cassin’s Vireos, among other birds. We had lunch at Nevada Falls and then Chris insisted we take the John Muir Trail back down because Sharon was scared to take the Mist Trail. The John Muir Trail is very scenic at first as it crosses over Nevada Falls. The trail is carved out of the granite and has views back across to the other side of the falls. Water flowed down the granite and dripped onto the trail making for lots of wildflowers and butterflies including lots of Coral Bells, maidenhair fern, columbine, and Stone Crop, and Purplish Copper, Propertius Duskywing, and Melissa Blue butterflies. After leaving the gouged out section with views of the back side of the falls the trail is mundane and dusty and full of horse piss. After our hike we drove around the valley floor to the south side where we parked and walked out on a boardwalk into the meadow at the suggestion of Megan. Oaks lining the Merced River held lots of birds. I spotted a Bullock’s Oriole in the meadow. It wasn’t a Baltimore Oriole which is rare in the west but it was Chris’s first ever oriole of any kind. There were also Yellow Warblers and Warbling Vireos in the trees. We walked across Sentinel Bridge and then to lower Yosemite Falls which was crawling with people. We saw lots of Showy Milkweed growing in the meadow. On the way back we found an Acorn Woodpecker beside the trail. Then it was time for me to go. I think Chris and his family were sad to lose their mountain guide and I was sad to leave the splendid granite wonderland that I am so lucky to live so close to.

North Carolina Pelagic & Mountains

May 31- June 6, 2007
North Carolina: Sea to Sky
I arrived at the Raleigh-Durham Airport on Thursday afternoon. In my sister’s front yard I saw a beautiful Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly. There was not much bird action though.

Friday morning I got up early and my brother John and I went to the Korstian section of Duke Forest in Durham, NC. Lots of birds were singing but they were hard to see in the thick canopy. I heard Hooded Warbler, Ovenbird, Indigo Bunting, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher as we made our way down to the creek. John pointed out a Brown-headed Cowbird. We saw a male and female Scarlet Tanager way up in an oak tree. Blue Jays were squawking overhead. At the creek I heard a Louisiana Waterthrush singing. It flew up over John’s head briefly. A Hooded Warbler also popped out very briefly and I heard a Northern Parula singing which also made an all too brief appearance. I think John was getting frustrated just hearing the birds and not seeing them. Back in the forest away from the creek there were Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Great-crested Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and Eastern Wood Pewee. Back at the open field we were able to see the birds better. There was a Field Sparrow singing and a Mourning Dove and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird zipped by. A Great Blue Heron flew over. Next we headed over to Umstead State Park in Raleigh, NC. We took a trail that followed along Sycamore Creek. It was full of birds especially many Acadian Flycatchers and Red-eyed Vireos. We heard a Wood Thrush giving its eerie call and also heard a Pileated Woodpecker and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. It was getting toward lunch and we had no food so we returned to my sister’s house. Then Sharon and I packed up and drove to Cape Hatteras.

It is a long drive to Cape Hatteras from Raleigh taking about five hours. We stopped at Pocosin NWR to use the restroom and saw many Purple Martins. Then we headed over the bridge over Oregon Inlet down the thin strip that makes up the Outer Banks. I was only able to pick out a few birds from the car, Laughing Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, and Common Grackle. After checking into our hotel, the Comfort Inn in Buxton, we headed over to the Lighthouse. It was getting late and we didn’t see much but we heard a Chuck-will’s-widow calling as dusk approached.

Saturday, June 2, 2007, we got up before dawn and drove down to the marina at the very end of Cape Hatteras Island barely making it in time for our 6:00 AM departure on the Stormy Petrel II for our pelagic trip with Brian Patteson. We were so lucky to have famous birder, Steve Howell, on board to assist with spotting and identifying the birds. Steve is a fantastic birder and I have been so lucky to have had him on every pelagic trip I have ever been on. Steve has just released his latest book, Gulls of the Americas. He is also working on a book about tubenoses (the kind of birds we would soon be seeing which is why he is on so many pelagic trips) and probably the foremost authority on them in the US. The first two hours of the trip we only saw a couple of Northern Gannets and that was it. The boat sped along trying to get out to the Gulf Stream where we would see all the fabulous birds. There was no time to stop even if we had seen something. I like that Brian drives the boat himself because he could spot birds and then quickly get the boat turned around so that everyone could see them. He also gave the spotters walkie-talkies so they could let him know when they saw something. The only gulls I saw were Laughing Gull and Great Black-backed Gull, and those were close to shore; there were no gulls further out. In the first part of the trip I also saw Royal Tern and Least Tern. Finally we made it to the Gulf Stream. The water turned from a soupy green to a brilliant clear blue. The Gulf Stream is where we would have our best chance to see something rare. A Cory’s Shearwater flew by and the people on the boat hardly even noted it even though it was a first for me. It was the first of many we saw but I never was able to get a photo because most were far from the boat. I also saw a distant Sooty Shearwater, the only one of the day. Soon we came across a few Wilson’s Storm Petrels which are very common on the east coast but not the west coast so again it was a first for me. Someone yelled out bird and a Greater Shearwater flew by the boat. It looks very similar to a couple of other birds and it took me a while to identify them. I was positioned perfectly at the back of the boat next to one of the spotters, Chris Sloane, when someone yelled out. I got my binoculars on the bird and noted the white belly and white under wings. I thought it was a Black-capped Petrel. I asked Chris what it was and thought he was mad when he said, HERALD PETREL! A Herald Petrel is very rare off the Outer Banks. They nest off of the coast of Brazil and this would likely be the only one I would ever see in my life. But I was not convinced. Later I asked Steve Howell if he had seen the Herald Petrel and he said yes. I said was there a Black-capped Petrel next to it and he said no and then when he described it I knew I had seen my first ever Herald Petrel. Sibley says that most US records of this species are the dark morph so I was expecting it to look like a Sooty Shearwater. But Steve showed me a picture of the light morph and it was exactly what I had seen. Yes! As we proceeded along the Gulf Stream we threw chum out from the boat trying to attract birds. Soon a Black-capped Petrel flew in, another first for me. In fact, everything we saw was new except for the Sooty Shearwater. Steve said there might be a flock of hundreds of Wilson’s Storm petrels behind the boat and I should study them to get used to their flight pattern so I could tell them from other birds later on. The big flock never materialized but I was able to study them in great detail. While watching the Wilson’s Storm-Petrel you look for other petrels that are slightly bigger. Soon a couple flew in and Brian could spot them even while driving the boat and called out big storm petrel. There was a Band-rumped Storm-Petrel flying by. I got a good look at it. Steve happened to be nearby and made sure I got on it. They fly faster than the Wilson’s and are a little bit bigger but otherwise look incredibly similar. Soon a Leach’s Storm-Petrel flew by. They are also bigger but a little easier to pick out because they have a very notable carpal bar across the topof the wings. Then I Pilot Whale swam by the boat. Brian said not enough birds were coming to our little chum slick so we moved further out to sea and started another one. Soon we had a small flock of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels with some Leach’s and one or two Band-rumped’s There were also a few Audubon’s Shearwaters flying around, all new to me and so exciting to see. Then a Pomarine Jaeger started circling the boat over and over. I have never seen one so close. It went around and around terrorizing the other birds. Jaegers like to harass other birds and steal their food. We had quite a flock going with the Pomarine Jaeger, Audubon’s Shearwaters, Black-capped Petrels, and Great Shearwaters along with the storm petrels but Brian said we had to go because it was getting late and we were 30 miles from shore. So we reluctantly turned back to shore. On the way back we saw a Manx Shearwater but there was no time to stop even for that. Back near the shore I saw a Brown Pelican, Glossy Ibis, Parasitic Jaeger, and on the shoreline a Black Skimmer. When we got off the boat Sharon and I drove back toward the Lighthouse. As we proceeded down the road we saw a female Wood Duck with ten chicks. I got out to get a picture which would have been so cute but a redneck zoomed by right in between me and the ducks and scared them off into the bushes. There are some little seasonal ponds before the beach that we checked and saw some American Black Ducks. On the beach we saw only a few Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, and Common and Least Tern.

Sunday, June 3, I had planned to check Cape Point for Roseate Tern. Unfortunately a fierce storm had moved in and it was raining and the wind was howling. I could barely walk up the beach. Sharon had sprained her ankle on the boat and could barely walk so she waited in the car. We drove to the Buxton Woods Nature Trail since it is wooded and protected from the wind. The only bird we saw was one Green Heron. However, there were hundreds of dragonflies and I heard a Common Yellowthroat singing in the pond. The storm began to die down so we drove to Cape Point. We didn’t have a four wheel drive so we had to walk to the point. There were dozens of fishers in their trucks driving up and down the beach which is so annoying. It is just inconceivable how the National Park Service can justify allowing this criminal behavior where birds nest. On the beach were some Ruddy Turnstones, Black-bellied Plovers, and one Red Knot. I checked the salt pond for the tern colony but there were very few birds and they were mostly huddled on the inaccessible side of the pond. I had not brought my scope because it was raining when I started out. It was hard to make out the birds on the other side of the pond but I was able to pick out Black Skimmer, American Oystercatcher, Royal Tern, Least Tern, Common Tern, and Dowitcher sp. It was clearing up and turning nice but we decided we better go. On the way back to Raleigh we stopped at Alligator NWR. We heard dozens of Prothonotary Warblers singing along the entrance road but we never did see one. I also heard a Louisiana Waterthrush and Prairie Warbler singing. We took the boardwalk to the end of the nature trail and heard a Barred Owl calling from the woods and a Pileated Woodpecker. Sharon’s foot was swollen and it looked like it might rain again so we decided to head back to Raleigh. About 30 miles outside of Raleigh, this ferocious storm with torrential rain descended on us. We could barely see the exit signs but people were driving like nothing was happening. Soon we saw numerous cars in single car crashes in the ditch, in the median, in the guardrails and all along the roadway. People are so dumb.

Monday, June 4, I got up early and drove east toward the mountains. I decided to make a detour and headed north to the tiny town of Jackson, NC to New River State Park. I entered at the Highway 2311 entrance and took all the trails in that section. I saw many more Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies plus some Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Little Yellow, Cloudless Sulphur, and a Red-spotted Purple. I heard Wood Thrushes singing in the wooded trails. There were lots of Eastern Towhees and Indigo Buntings. I also heard Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Northern Parula and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I was not able to find any Black-billed Cuckoos though. After hiking all the trails I drove along the river on some dirt roads and heard a Willow Flycatcher singing. I saw some Tree Swallows and one Northern Rough-winged Swallow. I drove to the Wagoner Entrance and took all the trails there. There were most of the same birds as the other entrance but also Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Wood Pewee, Brown Thrasher, Yellow Warbler, and Eastern Bluebird but no Black-billed Cuckoo. I drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway and got on it. I got off at Linville Gorge and took the short trail to the Linville Falls. There were a lot of people even though it was a week day. I heard mountain birds in this area. I had definitely left the piedmont. I heard Red-breasted Nuthatches calling from the trees and I saw Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Northern Parula, Ovenbird, and Veery. I saw the first Dark-eyed Junco of the trip and one Ruby-throated Hummingbird and one Brown Creeper. I heard lots of Golden-crowned Kinglets. I drove to Davidson River Campground in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, NC and set up camp for two nights. There were two separate families one in front and one behind with gigantic tents as big as my house in which the entire family slept. They were very noisy and I was concerned I would never get to sleep. Around 9:30 PM the family in front began singing kumbaya to a drum accompaniment. I was horrified. But right on queue at 10:00 PM when quiet hours begin the place went dead silent so I was happy.

I got up at 5:00 AM on Tuesday and tried to be respectful and quiet since the others had been. I got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed south stopping briefly at Black Balsam where I easily found a definite Alder Flycatcher singing away near the parking area. I drove much further south on the parkway enjoying all the blooming mountain laurel, rhododendron, hibiscus, and numerous wildflowers before turning off on the Heintooga Spur Road which starts out in the Blue Ridge Parkway but ends in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I took the 5.2 mile Flat Creek Trail. It was lush with growth and green and full of bird song. It was a great trail and I was so happy to have it all to myself. There were many Blue-headed Vireos, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and Black-throated Green Warblers. I also heard a couple of Winter Wrens giving their lengthy song. I found one Least Flycatcher along the trail. This species is at its southern most limit in this location. So that was a good find. I saw four Elks that had been tagged and one White-tailed Deer. At the end of the trail I found my only Pine Siskin of the trip. After my hike I walked along Heintooga Road looking and looking for a Black-billed Cuckoo in vain. I did see a Wild Turkey and a Broad-winged Hawk flew right past me. In the Great Smoky Mountains I saw many butterflies, more Red-spotted Purple, Little Yellow, Hobomok Skipper, Orange Sulphur and some others I could not identify. While looking for the evanescent cuckoo I heard a warbler singing loudly and looked into a tree to find a Chesnut-sided Warbler singing his cute little head off. After thoroughly exploring Heintooga Road I had to drive to the nearest town, Cherokee, NC, the tackiest town in North Carolina, to get gas as I was nearly out before heading back north on the parkway to Pisgah NF. It was a long drive and I didn’t get to Pink Beds Loop Trail in Pisgah NF until nearly 8:00 PM. I walked the trail until it came to a bog where I found the Louisiana Waterthrush we had seen on my previous trip in April. The bog had diminished greatly and I was able to get across it to the other side and film the bird as it foraged for food. I spent too much time and barely made it back to my car just before 9:00 PM with it nearly dark. The pink mountain laurel for which the trail was named was blooming all along it.

My last day, June 6, I got up early to the sweet song of the Whip-poor-will. Before day even breaks the Eastern Towhee starts to sing, next comes the Eastern Phoebe, and then the Robins. So that by sunrise there is a symphony of song. Unfortunately I had to go. I drove toward Ashville and then north on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Craven Gap to again look for Black-billed Cuckoo but it was fruitless. There were lots of birds just no cuckoos. I saw Hooded Warbler, a very close Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Ovenbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Carolina Chickadee, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and White-breasted Nuthatch. Then it was time for the grueling drive back to Raleigh to catch my flight home.
Total species =128
Life birds = 9
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Cory’s Shearwater
Greater Shearwater
Audubon’s Shearwater
Black-capped Petrel
Herald Petrel
Alder Flycatcher

Pt. Pelee & Eastern Michigan

Pt. Pelee & Eastern Michigan
May 12-20, 2007

May 12, 2007
I flew into Detroit Airport which is actually in Romulus, MI, then drove west 19 miles to the nearest Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor, MI, even though it was the opposite direction from my final destination. Ann Arbor looked like a tidy town. In fact, all of Michigan seemed very neat and tidy; I saw little to no trash anywhere and most of the homes were well kept. I drove back east from Ann Arbor, through Detroit, across the Detroit River, onto the Ambassador Bridge and into Canada to Wheatley Provincial Park in the tiny town of Wheatley, Ontario where I planned to camp for several days. The customs agent grilled me. When I said I was going camping in Wheatley Provincial Park, he said, “come on, you drove all the way from San Francisco to camp at Wheatley?” I said I was just camping there and planned to go birding at Pt. Pelee. Then he said do you have any alcohol? I lied and said no. I was not about to turn over $25 of special Michigan craft brew I had bought specially in Whole Foods. I didn’t know it was illegal to even possess alcohol at Wheatley. They must have a big problem there. As I entered the town the first thing I saw was a big sign that said, “Crime Stoppers call ….” It didn’t make me feel secure. As I set up my tent at Wheatley an American Woodcock began to give its “peent” call. After a few peent calls it began to display to attract a mate by flying high into the sky while making a wing whir and then fluttering back to the ground. It was spectacular to watch as I had never seen it before. Unfortunately they only do the display at dawn and dusk so it was difficult to film. It didn’t get dark until 9:30 PM and after that I fell soundly asleep in my tent. Almost everyone there was tent camping with just a few campers and very few RVs. During the night some hoodlums made some noise but they left after the weekend and the rest of the time it was quiet.

May 13, 2007
I got up at 5:00 AM and other birders camping in the park were already up and at ‘em. It was a chilly 42 degrees. From Wheatley I drove about 10 minutes to Kopegaron Park and walked a boardwalk through a virgin forest. Pink and white trilliums were blooming in huge patches, though the trees were not nearly leafed out. It was quite chilly and the sun was not warming the tree tops yet and I only saw Ovenbird, Gray Catbird, White-throated Sparrow, and Red-bellied Woodpecker here, all things I could see in NC. So I headed another 15 minutes south to Pt. Pelee National Park, which is the southern most point in mainland Canada in the tiny town of Leamington, Ontario. I drove as far as I could to a large parking area at the visitor center and walked the rest of the way to the tip. Except for two weeks in May when the park is inundated with birders you can drive all the way to the tip but because so many people come to Pt. Pelee to see the spectacle of the amazing spring migration there everyone must either walk or take a tram to the tip. Pt. Pelee is a 15 kilometer triangular-shaped piece of land jutting out into Lake Erie. It sits at the crossroads of the Atlantic flyway, the park's protected forest and sand spit (eroding rapidly) offering a much needed respite to weary birds making their long spring migration northward across Lake Erie.

There were people everywhere I looked. I took a trail behind the visitor center and started walking. I have never seen such a collection of Baltimore Orioles which nest in the park. They were everywhere I looked with their black heads and bright orange bodies making a splash of color in the nearly leafless trees and making them easy to spot. There were also many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. On the ground sweet cicely was blooming in huge carpets as were more trilliums, red columbine, fairy bells, and jack-in-the-pulpit. On the woodlands trail to the tip I saw a Wood Duck in a tree, a Carolina Wren, and Black-and-white Warbler. I walked to the tip where hordes of birders were surrounding a Chuck-will’s-widow that was asleep on a log beside the trail. This species should not be this far north so most people were thrilled to see it; indeed it was probably a life bird for many people there. A Mourning Warbler was singing away in a bush nearby but this shy bird never revealed itself to me. Somebody told me about an Eastern Screech-Owl in a tree and I went and looked at it. Then I walked back up the woodlands trail. There were ten people ahead of me and 20 behind. The place was just crawling with people. I don’t know if there were more birds or birders. On the return trip I saw Black-throated Blue Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Nashville Warbler, many more Baltimore Orioles and some Orchard Orioles. There were literally thousands of Yellow Warblers in every tree. Later I walked the Tilden’s Woods trail and saw Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Wood-pewee, Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Least Flycatcher, and Wilson’s Warbler. In the afternoon I took the woodland trail again and found one Worm-eating Warbler which is very uncommon in the park and much sought-after. I saw Swainson’s Thrush, Veery, and Hermit Thrush and American Redstarts were plentiful. Out over Lake Erie there were Common Terns and Forster’s Terns and Bonaparte’s Gulls. Very late in the day I stopped at Hillman Marsh and was surprised to find yet more people. There weren’t many shorebirds to study just Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Scaup, Spotted Sandpiper, Bufflehead, and Blue-winged Teal. I heard a Ringed-neck Pheasant calling.

5/14/07
I got up at 5:00 AM and went to Kopegaron Woods again where I saw Lincoln’s Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler. Then I went back to Pt. Pelee. There were many birders. The Mourning Warbler was still at the tip and this time I actually saw it for about two seconds. There was a photographer trying to get a picture; he was the first and only black birder I have ever met. There are three kinds of birders at Pt. Pelee—serious birders who are looking for that rare bird that gets blown across Lake Erie into Pt. Pelee, bad birders who don’t know anything and have just heard about Pt. Pelee, and photographers. These are not just your ordinary photographers either; these people are crazy. They walk around chasing around these poor tired birds with these five foot long cameras with giant flashes and diffusers all sitting on massive tripods that they lug around for miles on the trails. Most of them have camouflaged hoods on the end of their enormous cameras. Someone would report a bird and seven photographers with seven foot long cameras would surround the bird and snap away. I found a Philadelphia Vireo in the trees, a Sandhill Crane flew overhead, and I found a bright red male Scarlet Tanager at the Dunes trail but I could not find a Cape May Warbler anywhere. I asked everyone but they all said they were on the Sanctuary trail the day before, a trail I had not taken. I drove to Sanctuary and walked the trail but only saw more Black-throated Blue Warblers, Northern Parulas, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Ovenbird, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American Redstart, and one Blackpoll Warbler. Even though I was not finding my target bird the sheer numbers of warblers I saw was astounding. That night at Wheatley campground the Woodcock was displaying and it was not nearly as cold as the day before.

5/15/07
I got up at 4:30 AM to try to get to the tip at day break. Birders were already in the parking lot waiting for the first tram ride. I started to get on and someone said there was a warbler in a tree: I looked and there it was my first ever Cape May Warbler and what a beauty! I took the tram to the tip. There were warblers dripping from the trees. It was going to be a good day. All day long I saw warblers everywhere including many beautiful Cape May Warblers. As the day progressed it warmed up to 80 degrees—the only day I wore shorts and the only day I saw butterflies which were 99% Red Admirals except for one Morning Cloak. Large crowds of people would swarm any tree where a photographer set up. Someone yelled out Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and I saw it in the trees. Any time more than two or three people stopped to look this would attract even more people so that huge crowds would gather around various warbler filled trees and of course the photographers with their ten foot long camouflaged cameras were swarming the birds as well. I wish I had filmed the photographers just because it alone was a spectacle to behold. After lunch somebody said there was a Golden-winged Warbler on the Shuster trail so I went over and there it was in the thicket. I also heard a Northern Waterthrush in the swamp. I looked for birds all day long until my feet were so tired I felt I could not go on. I ended up seeing 22 species of warblers in just this one day – amazing! In California if I see more than four it’s a miracle. As I was resting at a picnic table two people pulled up and peered into a tree. They left and I dragged myself up and there was a Common Nighthawk perched in a tree asleep. A crowd gathered around a willow tree. I practically crawled over to see what the fuss was about and they were excited about an Orange-crowned Warbler (whop-te-do—they are common as mosquitoes in San Francisco) and a Willow Flycatcher—why couldn’t it be the incredibly similar Alder Flycatcher that I have never seen before? Alder and Willow Flycatcher look nearly identical except Alder has a slightly more noticeable eye ring whereas Willow has nearly none. The vocalizations are similar but distinguishable and unless they vocalize often they cannot be distinguished in the field. Some “expert” birder called this one a Willow (Willow Flycatchers migrate through San Francisco in the fall and are fairly easy to see) even though it never vocalized. I left Pt. Pelee exhausted as it closed at 9:30 PM and crawled into my tent. I didn’t sleep well though as a storm descended and pelted my tent all night long. It rained and the wind blew the tent flaps constantly.

5/16/07
I got up at 4:00 AM and drove a long arduous drive east of Pt. Pelee around Lake Erie three hours to Toronto and then another hour and a half to Carden Plain a Nature Conservancy site. It was a hellish drive. I had to get directions from Susan who did a google search to find it. I ended up on a single lane dirt road in the middle of nowhere in Canada. It was drizzling steadily. I parked at a bridge where a local birder named Roger told me I could find Sedge Wren, a bird I have been looking for a long time, Yellow Rail, and Upland Sandpiper. As I got out of the car an American Bittern began to gallump. If you have ever heard one you know it makes this sound like water coming out of a jug. I did not hear or see any Sedge Wren. I drove to the end of Wylie Road and parked. It continued to rain so I just left my camera in the car. What a mistake! As I walked up the road I saw Vesper Sparrow, Grassshopper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Savannah Sparrow. Four male Bobolinks perched right in front of me on a fence. Wilson’s Snipes were displaying everywhere. They also make a wing whir as they end their display and descend to earth. Then there they were four Upland Sandpipers flying across a field making their strange call. I walked all the way back to the bridge and nearly there I found another Golden-winged Warbler. This one perched on a branch in plain view. I was supposed to meet Ken at the Visitor Center at 5:00 PM. It was a five hour drive back. I wanted to stay and go back and get my camera since the rain had stopped but there was no time. So I sadly had to leave with no video or pictures of this mysterious bird I will probably never see again. It was a hellish drive back and I didn’t even get to the VC until 6:00 PM anyway. Around 6:30 PM I found Ken and he said he never told me to meet him at 5:00 PM. We walked around and saw many of the same birds I had seen the two days before. Then Ken headed for his camp site at Wal-mart parking lot and I headed to Wheatley with the Woodcock for company.

5/17/07
I got up at 4:30 AM and met Ken at the VC. We took the tram to the tip but there was not much activity compared to the previous days. Everyone said there had been many cuckoos the day before. Ken was dying to see a Mourning Warbler or Connecticut Warbler. All day long he surreptiously played bird song tapes, even though this is verboten at Pt. Pelee, trying to draw in either of these two highly sought after warblers. He did manage to call in four Black-billed Cuckoos one of which landed just inches from his right shoulder at one point. These are very cool birds with a very unusual underside of their tail. I have seen Yellow-billed Cuckoos in southern California and South Carolina but never the much more sought-after Black-billed Cuckoo. We wandered around for hours seeing many great birds but not the ones Ken wanted. Ken complained bitterly out loud if any birders passed us. I was wondering the first day I got there why he even liked the place when there were so many birders. He yelled at a couple of people and grumbled a lot. It was overcast and quite chilly so there weren’t even that many people compared to the previous three days. I suggested we try the De Laurier House which had been a hot bed two days ago. We walked out to a cemetery but there was nothing really there. Ken just wanted to rest because his video camera weighs about 20 pounds and he carries a heavy tripod too. I said we should go over to the pond where I saw all the Cape May Warblers on Tuesday. We started seeing some warblers at least but Ken was disappointed that none of them was a Connecticut or Mourning Warbler. We stopped to go to a look out to see an alleged eagle nest, which we never saw. While we were resting a Mississippi Kite snatched a swallow out of the sky and took it to a tree to eat it. I was amazed. This was very far north for this species. As it ate, a Common Grackle or Red-winged Blackbird repeatedly swooped at it once even pecking its back. I thought it was pretty cool but Ken was unimpressed because it was too far for videotaping it. He only cares about birds he can videotape. Ken is working on a project to videotape all the species in North America. So far he has probably about as many as I have on my life list. But the project seems so massive to edit when he takes about nine or ten hours of video on every trip he takes, that it seems inconceivable he would ever be able to complete the task without professional help. I wanted to stay longer but we had a five hour drive ahead of us to Mio, Michigan in Huron National Forest where we were to take a tour at 7:00 AM the next day. So we reluctantly left Pt. Pelee National Park. At first I was following Ken but he refused to go even one kilometer over the speed limit and it was a painfully slow drive. An 18 wheeler truck even passed us which has never happened to me before. So eventually I passed Ken too. At the border the customs agent asked me what I did in Canada and I said looked at birds which they must hear a lot given how famous Pt. Pelee is. But he wanted to tell me about flying squirrels they have in the east. I did see some Eastern Black Squirrels in Pt. Pelee but no flying squirrels. I was so long at the border that Ken got ahead of me and I lost track of him. I stopped at two rest stops and got gas and still found Ken puttering along Michigan Highway 33 around 11:00 PM with five cars behind him. After they all passed him I followed for a while but when I saw a forest service campground I decided to camp there and turned off Hwy 33. Ken went ahead to the ranger office. I slept soundly at a nearly empty quiet little forest service campground on Wagner Lake. I got up at the late hour of 6:00 AM to 25 degree weather! It was so chilly in upper Michigan. After breakfast I drove to the ranger station which had moved to McKinley Avenue in Mio. Ken was already complaining about how many people were there and how he wasn’t going to go, etc, etc. I just went in and paid my $5. They had a video playing in the visitor center with ultra close up shots of the endangered species we came to see, the Kirtland’s Warbler, feeding chicks in a nest which they build on the ground. Before we started our tour to find one, the forest service had us watch a short video. It’s good that it was dark because I almost started to cry when they said in the video that there are only 2000 breeding pairs of Kirtland’s Warblers left in the world, a species that is sure to go extinct in our life times. Michigan is very pretty in a subtle way. It doesn’t have the gorgeous cliff lined coasts or majestic mountains or even a real beach but the trees stretch for miles, everything is very clean, it is surrounded by the incredible great lakes, and it has the last remaining breeding pairs of the endangered Kirtland’s Warblers. After the video Ken tried to get the forest service to give him a private tour but they said no. So he had no choice but to join the others. Chris with the Huron National Forest Service which oversees management of the Kirtland’s Warbler sites, led us to a spot where we would look for one. We drove to a managed Jack Pine forest. Kirtland’s Warblers are going extinct because they only breed in Jack Pines that are 4-10 feet high. Jack Pines get higher than that but historically there were many the right size for the warbler because of naturally occurring fires. The cones of Jack Pines will only release with fire. Fires have been suppressed for many years by the Forest Service and this along with loss of habitat by development caused the Kirtland’s Warbler numbers to decline dramatically. Now the forest service sets proscribed burns and replants the Jack Pines to keep these few remaining Kirtland’s Warblers alive. We started down a trail in some pine trees with a few scattered Pinoaks. Within five minutes one flew up right in front of us. Unfortunately it was right in the sun making for bad photos and video. I got a good look at my first ever Kirtland’s Warbler with its bright yellow breast, black face, and eye arcs. He perched in a pinoak and sang away. After everyone had satisfying looks we headed over to an area where they capture Brown-headed Cowbirds. These birds are native to the central US but their numbers have increased dramatically with the dramatic increase in the cattle industry. Now Brown-headed Cowbirds occur in large numbers throughout the US. The problem is that they are obligate brood parasites. This means that they build no nest. Instead the female lays her eggs in another bird’s nest and lets that bird raise her chicks. This causes the other bird’s chicks to starve. It is illegal to kill any native bird but the forest service has special permission from Congress to euthanize these cowbirds in order to help the Kirtland’s Warbler which would otherwise be parasitized by the Cowbirds. The number of nests which are parasitized by Cowbirds has been reduced to 6% since the introduction of the capture project. While looking at the cowbird pen we saw four more Kirtland’s Warblers and some Clay-colored Sparrows and one Vesper Sparrow. Two Trumpeter Swans flew overhead and a Scarlet Tanager flew into a tree. As I stood in front of the Jack Pine forest planted by the US Forest Service and intensely managed by it, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Kirtland's Warbler would go extinct. I could imagine 20 years into the future when the demands of overcrowding and overpopulation would cause the government to turn the land over to developers. I could imagine the argument the developer would make: "The Jack Pine wood is only good for particle board and this real estate could be put to better use as a housing development with condominiums and a golf course..." My picture of the Kirtland's Warbler is not very good but I think I will keep it as it may be the last Kirtland's Warbler I ever see. After the tour we went to a burn area to look for Black-backed Woodpecker which we did not find, just one Red-headed Woodpecker. Then it was time for Ken to head north for Minnesota and me to head south closer to the Detroit Airport. I went into what’s known as the Thumb Area of Michigan, an area surrounded by Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron, to the Minden State Game Area. I walked out about two miles but didn’t see anything but very common birds but it was interesting nevertheless as it is a peat bog. As I walked along I flushed a Wild Turkey out of the bog which was strange. After I left the bog I headed south along the shores of Lake Huron. There are many picnic areas and public parks along the shore but I didn’t see any suitable campgrounds. I was debating driving back to Pt. Pelee but dreading crossing the international border again. It was getting late and I was ready to go back into Canada when I found a state park campground, Lake Port. It was $31! And when I got to my campsite which the ranger made sound like it was huge and private there were hundreds of RVs! And not only that but they were bunched together like an RV condominium. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like a shanty town. I wanted to go back and get my money back. Instead I just crawled into my car not even putting my tent out and fell fast asleep in the car. I got up before anyone and was out of there by 6:30 AM. I drove to Port Huron, MI which is along Lake Huron but at the base of the Thumb region. I went to the Port Huron State Game Area and spent the entire day there at various spots looking for birds. At the first stop on Vincent Road there was a sign which made it amply clear that the area was made possible by the money extracted from hunters. This is a story I have heard many times before—that birders do not support their sport and that hunters do and that’s why we have to bird in dangerous areas with crazed hunters. Fortunately for me it was not hunting season. I was the only person there the first two hours. I started down a well worn trail past the spent shotgun shells in the parking area. Immediately I began to see many warblers including four Golden-winged Warblers. This is another prized warbler. Their numbers are threatened by hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers. The problem is that where the two species’ ranges overlap as in Michigan the Blue-winged will edge the Golden-winged Warbler out (if they continue to hybridize it threatens by definition the existence of the species). I did not see any hybrids but I did see a fair number of Blue-winged Warblers. A Cooper’s Hawk was perched in a tree but took off. I heard a Hooded Warbler which is uncommon this far north and I saw two more Cape May Warblers and one Palm Warbler. I next stopped at the Black River and was dismayed to see several cars and a table set up. Some people were walking the trails with binoculars but it was obvious they were rank amateurs. I stepped onto a flooded side trail and there in a tree was a male Mourning Warbler. Before I could even get my camera turned on it flew into the tangle which is so typical of this shy bird. I met a man and asked him why so many people were there; he said it was a mist netting and banding event (what this actually means is a time for amateurs to come and torture birds by capturing them in nets making them vulnerable to prey and then putting on an uncomfortable piece of metal on their little leg). I asked him if he had seen any Alder Flycatchers and he looked at me like he didn’t know what it was. He said he wanted to see a Golden-winged Warbler. I told him about the previous spot and told him it was at the end of Vincent Road. He left and within two minutes I heard and then saw a Golden-winged Warbler. He obviously did not know the bird’s song. What a moron. I ended up seeing four more at the Black River. I walked the trails around the Black River for about two or three hours and eventually found an empidonax flycatcher that was singing which I think was an Alder Flycatcher. There were a few Baltimore Orioles and a lot of eastern species like Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Least Flycatcher, and Great-crested Flycatcher. Later at another location on the Black River I heard a Mourning Warbler singing but it never popped out. Next I drove to Bruce Road which was just incredible. I saw a Mourning Warbler right in a tree over the trail, Magnolia Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler (very common it seems in MI), more Golden-winged Warblers, Hooded Warbler (rare here) American Redstart, Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, and the only Tufted Titmouse of the day. Unfortunately it began to rain. I ran back to the car and got my raincoat and continued my walk seeing more warblers and one Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I stopped at Kingsley Road and found a Veery and Nashville Warbler and in a weedy field Field Sparrow and Bobolink. It was getting late in the day and I still hadn’t found a definite Alder Flycatcher. I drove to Graham Road and parked in the parking area. There were a few cars. A sign said Firing Range Closed but I heard gunshots anyway. I walked up Graham Road listening for Alder Flycatcher. I stayed in the middle. A car came tearing down this dirt road about 60-65 MPH. Some brat teenager was driving some rickety old car with a broken side mirror dangling. It was getting hard to hear between the gunshots and racing car. Then some jackass started driving his lawn mower down the dirt road for about one mile. It was so noisy. Do you have any idea how loud a lawn mower is on a dirt road? I glared at him and after he passed I turned my camera on him and called him foul names. I could not find an Alder Flycatcher. A kid walked up in fatigues and asked if I had seen anything interesting which was amazing for a teenager. I said it was too noisy and he said they were playing paintball but somebody came and tore down the Firing Range Closed sign and began shooting so he quit. He walked home and I turned back to my car as it was getting too dangerous here. These people living out in the country are crazy; South Carolina has nothing on them! A few minutes later the jackass in the car with one mirror pulled up. He was some pimple faced impudent obdurate child and the churl that was driving the lawn mower in the road was in the passenger seat. The driver said impudently what are “you guys” doing? I thought maybe in Michigan they don’t know that “you guys” is plural just like in Texas they don’t know that y’all is plural. I glared at him with a withering look and said I’m not doing anything. I’m looking for birds jackass. He said something I couldn’t hear; I think they were worried I was videotaping him riding the lawn mower on the road. The little morons I’m sure will grow up to be full blown criminals. I found another parking area said to be good for Alder Flycatcher in the Birding Michigan book. I walked out into a muddy weedy field. I played the Alder Flycatcher tape and an empidonax flycatcher flew into a nearby tree. Sing I yelled, sing! But no, it would not sing and I still don’t know if it was a definitive Alder. Why wouldn’t it sing? I deserved for it to sing after putting up with those crazy Michigan red-necks. It was getting real late. I walked a very scenic woodland trail but it just had Red-eyed Vireo and Wood Thrush. I had one last stop and that was Wadham Road for Upland Sandpiper or possible Sedge Wren neither of which were in the field. Good thing I made that long drive to Carden Plain in Ontario and saw the Upland Sandpiper. The Sedge Wren will have to wait for a winter visit to SC or NC. There was a Bobolink in the field and a Cliff Swallow. Then it was time to drive back to Detroit for an early flight back in the morning. I really enjoyed my day of birding in Michigan. It had superb numbers of warblers without all the big crowds of Pt. Pelee. But every birder must make the trip to Pt. Pelee at least once in his or her life time just for the sheer spectacle of both man and bird and beast.

5/20/07
At the airport security the agent took my ticket and identification and said, “what happened to your hair?” I said Michigan happened to my hair.

Total number of species = 167
Total number of life birds = 4 maybe 5
Cape May Warbler
Upland Sandpiper
Black-billed Cuckoo
Kirtland’s Warbler
Possible Alder Flycatcher