Utah County Birders  Field Trip Report
23 Aug 2019 Mirror Lake Highway Field Trip   Report and Photos by Suzi Holt
Wow what a trip! We had 6 birders show up at bright eyed at 6:30 am. We got to the Mirror lake hwy around 7:30 am. We passed a few Black-billed Magpies on our way to our first stop.
Stop 1 was Soapstone Basin. The first thing we saw was a fly by welcome from a Belted Kingfisher. We saw Mountain Chickadees, Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrows, Downy Woodpecker, Western Wood Pewees, a Mallard and a House Wren. We also ate a few wild raspberries...YUM!	Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow	Western Wood-Pewee
Soapstone Basin -- Wild Raspberries
Bald Mountain
Stop 2 Bald Mountain Pass and Hayden peak lookout. I love this place! We saw Cassin's Finches, Pine Siskins, White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Then Amanda heard drumming. Sometimes you just have to stop and listen. Then flew in the culprit a American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had two birders get a lifer! We got great looks and then we heard a Hairy Woodpecker and saw a Wilson's Warbler, another great bird!
female Cassin's Finch	American Three-toed Woodpecker
Hayden Peak
Stop 3 Mirror Lake. We headed straight to the horse camp ground. I don't remember which campsite but we quickly found two Canada Jays in the same spot as last year!!! Kristen also pointed out a animal on a log. We got pretty excited when we realized it was a Pine Marten!!! A lifer for most of us!. We saw a few more White-crowned Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos and a Robin.
Mirror Lake -- checking out the Canada Jays
Canada Jay
Stop 4 Butterfly Lake. While searching the boulders along the highway where Jim and Kay had previously found a Pika, we found no just one but 3 Pika!!!! Another lifer for 3 of us! What cute little guys! We also had 3 Clark's Nutcrackers fly over!!! 3 was the lucky number for sure!
Jim Strong and Kay Stone
	Clark's Nutcracker
Fireweed - [also Willowherb or Epilobium]	Fireweed at Bald Mountain Pass
Moosehorn Lake
Stop 5 Trial Lake. We didn't see anything new but we got excited watching a flock of Mountain Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Cassin's Finches. We also saw another Canada Jay. On the way out we saw Turkey Vultures and Brewer's Blackbirds.	Provo River Falls
A quick stop at Provo River Falls
A beautiful day! Lots a good birds. Some great animals and a great time!
E-mail: ucbirders@utahbirds.org