[Birdtalk] Request for reports

[bcurrie100 at comcast.net]

Okay, okay I confess.  I almost never report what I see, so in an effort to better myself let me submit this boring report of an area that perhaps is rarely birded this time of year.
This past Saturday (Oct 14) my children and I went to Mirror Lake.  The temperature was a balmy 38 degrees (not counting the wind chill from the breeze)and much to my surprise there were other crazy people there just like us (though plenty of empty picnic tables).  Heavily overcast.  If it would have been sunny it would have been t-shirt weather.  Not much snow, but a lot of patches of snow.
We hiked the skyline trail.  The hills were definitely alive with the sound of...PINE SISKINS.  They won the award for the most abundant bird of the day.  We saw three flocks, each comprising about 50 birds.  I also saw a MERLIN at the large pond that is about a mile up the trail (maybe not quite a mile).  The best birds of the day were two GRAY JAYS.  My children had gone ahead of me on the trail and froze, signaling me to come quickly.  Both jays were busy inspecting my children, coming within 10 feet of them, one of them literally five feet above my daughter who is now convinced that she must be a bird whisperer since a Common Poorwill "attacked" her a few years ago when we were out with Kris Purdy.  My guess is that these jays stayed at the campground most of the summer and thought these two people would have some tidbit for them.  They were sadly disappointed and almost seemed to vanish after a few minutes.  Most birds were heard and not seen.  Heard MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES and wh
at I think was a CLARK'S NUTCRACKER.  It wasn't until I was trying to determine which bird that was that I "remembered" that I have never heard a CN before though I have seen them in UT and CA.  If it wasn't a Clark's Nutcracker then there is a Raven up there with a bad throat.  I also heard an AM THREE-TOED WOODPECKER but could not locate it.  It called just a couple of times and then went silent.  The call was coming from in or near the campground (which not surprisingly is now closed).  This was the same area that I have seen them the past two years.
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