Uintas and Mirror Lake

["Betsy Beneke" <bbeneke at brigham dot net>]

Hi All -

I set out on Friday morning for a "little jaunt" to look at colors, AND
celebrate my one year anniversary since moving from Minnesota to Utah.  I
arrived back home 11 hours and 300 miles later!  I drove the Mirror Lake
Scenic Byway and back to Ogden on Hwy. 39.  The colors were really awesome.
I only recorded 24 species of birds, but a couple of spots found loads of
activity, which was fun to watch.

Many of the junipers on the way to Mirror Lake are loaded with berries, and
in one spot the robins and solitaires were dripping from the branches - they
were feasting up a storm.  At Mirror Lake, I pulled into the trailhead
parking area and hiked for a ways down the Highline Trail.  White-crowned
sparrows and juncoes were common and I kept pushing them along the trail as
I walked.  Several of the juncoes were the gray-headed species, with rusty
backs, which I still enjoy seeing.  Not far from the parking area, I ran
into a feeding flock of 10 or 12 mountain chickadees.  They were softly
calling to each other while foraging.  I watched a couple of birds pulling
insects out of spider webs in a spruce.  There were also ruby-crowned
kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers, pine siskins and a lone female Cassin's
finch in the same general area.  I was happy to find both red and
white-breasted nuthatches here also.  A fun stop to stretch the legs!

I hadn't driven the Hwy. 39 byway before - it was really gorgeous too - the
wide valleys full of yellow-orange aspens mixed with the dark green of
spruces and pines was eye-catching.  The winding road down into Ogden Canyon
allowed the opportunity for viewing the colorful trees at different angles,
as the sun was intermittently blocked out.  I'm ready to go again!  It was
one of those trips that fed the soul - the birds were just an added benefit.

Betsy Beneke
Perry, Box Elder County

_______________________________________________

"Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
     BirdTalk:
To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
_________________________________________________