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Just got back from my annual hike up the
Henry's Fork to the King's Peak area in the Uinta Mountains in search of
White-tailed Ptarmigan. 26 Ptarmigan were seen in three days. The flock
looks as good as last year (23 were seen). Approximately half of the birds
appeared to be young of the year. The
birds are about 50% white. This time of year the hawks and falcons have them
very nervous. Find a hawk or falcon up the
Henry's Fork above 11,300 feet in elevation and you will find a Ptarmigan
nervously clucking away hiding in the boulders under the raptor. They are a
funny bird. You can almost pick them up in July. But in September they are
spooky.
Also a small flock of beautiful Townsend's
Warblers were seen on the trail 3 1/2 miles from the Henry's Fork trailhead.
Maybe they are the same ones I encountered September 1st east of Cokeville
Wyoming in the Bridger National Forest.
Some other birds of note from the
hike:
Northern Goshawk
Peregrine Falcon
A big falcon showing Gyrfalcon behavior but too far
away for a positive I.D.
Ruffed and Blue Grouse
Semipalmated Plover
Three-toed Woodpecker
Rock Wren
American Dipper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Pipit
MacGillivray's Warbler
Lincoln's Sparrow
Black Rosy-Finch
Tim Gorman
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