Yosemite National Park

My wife and I made a short visit to Yosemite arriving at lunchtime on Tuesday 24th and leaving 48 hours later on Thursday 26th. We stopped along the creek soon after going through the entrance station and immediately found an American Dipper. It turned out that this was the only dipper we saw on the trip despite spending much time along the waterways. In part, I'm sure, was the fact that Yosemite was jam packed with people with the valley crowded everywhere we went.

On Wednesday May 25th we walked out to a swing bridge in an area, Wawona, away from the valley. This proved to be the hoped-for peaceful hike and we found both White-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers and my FOY Hermit Warbler.

White-headed Woodpecker

After spending the middle part of the day in the crowded valley doing expected things - short hikes and visiting waterfalls - we ended the day with a drive to Glacier Point for the lovely view of the valley and the surrounding area. Birds at this highest elevation included Red-breasted Nuthatch.

In the morning of Wednesday 26th we stopped at another area in Wawona for a short hike near the golf course where Hutton's Vireo was the highlight. On our way out of the park on the west side we stopped to walk down to a grove of Sequoias and found a Pacific Wren while we were by these giant trees.

Pacific Wren