[Birdtalk] Lack of mtn birds in mtns?

[Colby Neuman]

Hi all,

I was skiing in the Grizzly Gulch and Twin Lakes Pass (Big and Little
Cottonwood divide - Salt Lake County) area on Saturday.  The only birds seen
were these flying through the snow or at least trying to...

http://www.picasaweb.google.com/colby.neuman/GrizzlyGulch12_8_07

In all seriousness, I only heard two Mountain Chickadees the whole day.  No
flyover rosy-finches, siskens, finches, crossbills, etc..  It will be
interesting to see if the trend continues this winter.  In years such as
this where 'mountain' birds erupt into the valleys, I always wonder the
break down of birds exhibiting altitudinal vs. latitudinal migration or some
combination of both.  There are a number of obvious variables and
complications that make the problem quite difficult to solve, but I guess
the first step to trying to gain some insight is noting the abundances of
'mountain' birds actually present in the mountains here in Utah.

Colby
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