BIRDS OF BRYCE CANYON, UTAH

Heading home.  Leaving the Mojave Valley along the Colorado River we ascend into the mountains of Utah and find the high altitudes (7,799 ft.) have a dragging effect on our bodies.  I hear it takes a few days to acclimate to higher elevations.   We over-nighted near Bryce Canyon and found a bonanza of new birds for lifer-ID’s

The nights are dropping to near and a little below the freezing.  Snow is still on the mountain tops. One evening/early morning our water froze and a kettle of hot water was needed to thaw the intake hose…..Kept the faucet active every ten minutes after that.

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD

CASSIN'S FINCH

MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE

CLARK'S NUTCRACKER

(Jay family)

AMERICAN KESTREL

(Sparrow Hawk)

PYGMY NUTHATCH

VESPER SPARROW

(Fuzzy pic but the white around the eye is a dead giveaway)

And now one last bird.  This guy was spotted on the shores of Glen Canyon Dam on

our way to Bryce Canyon

FRANKLIN'S GULL