We headed out at dawn to the corner of Petroleum Club Road and Kerto Road. There, we birded the desert sagebrush northeast of the intersection, getting great looks at the “canescens” form of Bell's Sparrow (a ‘lifer’ for both of us), and LeConte’s Thrasher (a ‘lifer’ for me and much better looks for Babe than the one she had seen on her previous trip with Bucks County Audubon). The sparrow was seen singing from the top of the sagebrush, and the thrasher was seen singing from the top of a metal post. Other birds found there included a few Burrowing Owls, Northern Mockingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Brewer’s Blackbird, and Common Raven. As expected, ravens were seen practically everywhere during the trip.
After an excellent breakfast at Tina’s Restaurant in Maricopa, we made the long, steady climb toward Mount Pinos. Along the way, we saw a Prairie Falcon, Western Kingbird, Cliff Swallow, Western Scrub-Jay, Western Bluebird, California Towhee, Lark Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, Brewer’s Blackbird, and Lesser Goldfinch.
When we reached the end of Mount Pinos Road, we hiked the gated road from the parking lot to the summit. We were surprised to find that we had the whole place to ourselves. There was no one else around. There, we heard Mountain Quail and Chipping Sparrow, and saw “Red-shafted” Flicker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Violet-green Swallow, Steller’s Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Western Bluebird, American Robin, “Audubon’s” Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, “Oregon” Junco, Brown-headed Cowbird, Cassin’s Finch, and the “Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow.
A stop at McGill Campground produced White-headed Woodpecker in addition to some of the species seen at Mount Pinos. We checked out the area at the back of the campground since we would be returning later that night to listen for owls. A quick attempt to find Northern Pygmy-Owl came up empty. As it turned out, we would be unsuccessful in finding this elusive owl.
We headed down Frazier Mountain Park Road and stopped at an elongated pond lined with tules. After carefully studying the blackbirds that were there, we determined that they were “Bicolored” Blackbirds. California Quail and American Coots were also noted there.
We checked into the EconoLodge in Gorman, ate at the adjoining ‘Sizzler’ (we did eat once in a while), and then took a nap before heading back up to McGill Campground. At the campground, we heard a few soft ‘toots’ at dusk, but struck out beyond that. At the Mount Pinos parking lot, we checked out the constellations and saw some 'shooting stars'.
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