Observers: Justin Hite
Email: justinhite@gmail.com
Verification: sierra
Remote Name: 209.221.223.103
Date: 10/11/2006
Time: 02:35 PM -0400
An immature Golden-crowned Sparrow was with a large flock of 150+ sparrows in the snow-covered bitterbrush just north of Mill Creek and along the county road that parallels the creek west of 395. The other sparrows were mostly Gambel's White-crowneds and Oregon Juncos, with a few Chipping, Song, Lincoln and one Vesper. Also, there are now hundreds of thousands of Eared Grebes on Mono Lake. When the sun is low in the early morning, you see dozens of back-lit spashes from their divings every second. And three of the last seven times i've driven by the lake on 395 I've seen EAGRs flying. I don't think i've ever seen a grebe fly anywhere but here. If you haven't been up to Mono in a while, this is one of those great avian spectacles that's fun to see.