[Birdtalk] Black & Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches at Alta

[Tim Avery]

Sam and I drove up to Alta today just for the heck of it (as if it wasn't
cold enough in the Valley).  I grabbed my binos and camera just in case and
we were on our way.  Driving along the bypass road it was apparent that the
Rosy-Finches were at the Ben Hame home as I could see birds swirling out
from the trees before we got there.  The flock numbered about 200 birds
today, and I could only see maybe 10 Black's mixed in with the Gray-crowned,
which were about 50% Hepburn's race and 50% interior, a xstrange mix for
Alta where the coastal are usually dominant.  So there I was standing out in
4 degrees icy mountain air because my window was frozen shut tyring to
photographb the birds in always terrible light at the house, when the ski
bus came by and the flock took to the air heading east toward Alta ski
resort.  There are two more private homes in that area with feeders, and my
luck would have it that about half were feeding on the feeder visible from
the bypass road where it turns back to meet the main road.  I managed to
shoot a few shots before the neighbords started to load their car to head to
the resort and the birds headed back up to the south on the mountain, where
I have heard rumors there is another feeder, albeit not viewable from public
roads.

Here are some so-so pictures:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=561

Here are shots of one flock last year, predominantly of the Hepburn's birds:

http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=403

Good Birding

Tim
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