Since 2000, I've started my summer with the Raptors of Yosemite Valley class offered by the Yosemite Association. This long-weekend class covers hawks and owls who breed in the park (both in the valley and high country) and is timed for peak activity - the first weekend in June. This year, however, the course was not offered so that the instructor could use the time to conduct an intensive breeding survey.
My friend and I couldn't bear to give up our time among the birds and flowers and trees, so she booked a campsite and we planned our own class. We know the best meadows to watch the sun go down and wait for owls; we know the cliff faces to search for peregrine and eagle aeries; we know the best pullouts in the burn zone for maximum birdsong.
Alas, we don't know how to control the weather.
Grey clouds hug the rim of the valley (and make Glacier Point Road very drippy). full size version here
As the trip drew near, the usual excitement was taking hold with a few added factors. Although my friend (let's call her travel friend) and I were the only ones making the "full" trip, other friends would be joining us for varying periods. One of the friends (biologist friend) is a working on a research project in the area and knows a lot of out of the way spots to check out. Another (photo friend) was going to be seeing Yosemite for the first time. A third (recordist friend) wasn't going to be camping with us, but was stashing some food in our bear box while he spent the nights deep in the park making recordings of the evening and dawn choruses and any other interesting overnight sounds. (I don't feel comfortable using people's real names.) And then desertguy posted his photos of the "moonbow" at Yosemite Falls, so we added that to the list of things we really wanted to see.
The only complication was weather... as our departure date approached, the forecast grew less sunny. Not just the usual high-country afternoon thunderstorms, but real rainy weather... March-like stuff, in June. Our visions of picnic dinners in the high mountain meadows were becoming clouded. The night before we left, travel friend was inspired to use her REI dividend on a last-minute purchase - a picnic shelter.
We hit the road under sunny conditions - yea! In El Nido, we stopped for lunch at our favorite taco truck and were thankful for their shelter against the central valley sun. (It's our once-a-year treat, and definitely worth a stop if you ever find yourself passing through this hamlet.)
Arriving at Hodgdon Meadows, we quickly set up tents and went to fetch biologist friend from her residence just outside the park. When we got back to the site, we set up the picnic shelter before starting dinner. After years of sneering at other campers who had dining tents and all sorts of other ways to isolate themselves from the mildest of elements (we won't bring the bus-sized RVs into this discussion), it felt a little bit funny to have our own canopy. We made dinner, had a twilight walk in the meadow, a few hours of conversation and port, and then off to bed under the nearly full moon.
This is what saved our butts. My friend is a genius.
Photo friend couldn't join us for the drive up due to other commitments, but really wanted to see sunrise in Yosemite so he left SF at 2 am and drove straight through, arriving at 5:30 am... three minutes after the downpour started. We didn't hear his car pull in (the rain was that loud) and finally straggled out of our tents at 6:30. Breakfast under the shelter - no sense rushing, since we got two inches of rain by 8:30 (according to our dishpan/rain gauge).
We headed out to give photo friend his first views of our beloved park. Did I mention this was the first weekend in June? And that, actually, we hadn't expected snow at Crane Flat? And yet, that was the point that I realized it would be okay. You'll see that photo friend brought an instrument (did I mention he's also an amazing musician?) and we went through the snow being serenaded on the kora. It was a truly sublime experience. The skies began clearing slightly and we decided to head to Foresta. Within minutes, the Yosemite novice had added five birds to his life list (including a Lazuli Bunting the moment we stepped out of the car).
Two young peregrines above the Merced River (there might be a third behind the bird on top of the rock, slightly to the right... or not)
From Foresta, we headed toward the valley with stops on the way to check aeries along the Merced River. We saw nothing in the golden eagle nest (maybe they'd already fledged?), but found some near-fledge youngsters in the peregrine aerie. I think we finally decided there were three, but it was tough between lighting and atmospheric issues.
Photo friend approaches the falls for a better photo angle; biologist friend scrambles over rocks boulders closer to the cascade
Down into the valley... yeah, it's a tourist spot. But there's a reason why people flock there. It's awesome. It's easier to appreciate the awesomeness it's not covered with clouds, or if you're not being drenched. Still, we managed to dodge downpours and had a nice visit to the falls. The nicest visit happened while we were there - the couple in the center of the bridge (below) got engaged.
The rain came back again when we tried to take a walk near El Capitan, so we headed back to camp thinking that we might catch up with recordist friend and have dinner with him before he headed out for the night. The rain had slowed to a sprinkle when we got back; he thought he might be get some decent recordings after all. After dinner, he headed off for Merced Grove and the rest of us left the park to look for owls.
Recordist friend grabs a bite. Note the newly-discovered streambeds that appeared in our campsite that day. In the morning, it was a shallow creek running directly under biologist friend's tent.
Around the time that he was supposed to start recording, the rest of us found ourselves standing under clear (!) skies, trying to discern owl-shape from tree-shape. A great grey had nested here - on privately owned land - but the area had been logged in the spring, to within 50 feet of her nest tree. After several minutes of staring, we saw motion - YEA!! She's still there! What a great end to the day.
Very wet mama owl (Great Grey)
Our biologist friend headed home, but the remaining three of us planned an ambitious day in the high country for Saturday. At least, until we woke up to more rain - not quite as torrential, but still a steady rain. Leisurely breakfast, then off to the burn zone for birdsong, wildflowers and general wonderfulness. It was quieter than usual but there were still birds there... just very hard to see them. Well, off to Glacier Point Road, our main destination. Stop for a picnic lunch at the end and take in the incredible view of Half Dome:
Awesome!
Can you see me now?
Take our word for it, photo friend - the view here is spectacular
Screw it, let's go to Sentinel Dome for a few hours, then we can head to McGurk's Meadow for our picnic dinner and owl stakeout. A nice walk out to the base of the dome, a relaxing stop slightly off trail (were those Clark's Nutcrackers we heard?) and a skazillion Mountain Chickadees for company. And then the rain started. A mile back to the car dodging drops. Temperature says: 46 degrees at 4 pm, and overcast. It's not gonna get warmer tonight, so scratch the meadow.
Hike forecast: Succulent. We were inside a cloud like this.
So what do you do in Yosemite when it's too rainy to play outside? Drinks at the Ahwahnee. Ni-i-i-ice. Properly fortified against the cold, we make a new plan: We'll make quesadillas for dinner back at camp and try the owl site again. Lo and behold, the weather cooperates again - at 6 pm, it miraculously clears thus making recordist friend happy, and the rest of us too.
We get out of the car, walk to the vantage point and see a bit of Mrs. Owl. Great! After a few moments, we're discussing what to do when we hear a hoot. Vocalization!! Another hoot! Cooler still! She's looking up, looking around... and he flies in with a prey delivery! O.M.G. I can't believe we're seeing this. The flutter (yes, flutter) of enormous wings, the dance at the edge of the nest... and then he leaves to the intact portion of the woods while she starts tearing up a meal for the kids.
The male Great Grey flew so close we had a hard time focusing the scope.
Travel friend and I watch her, photo friend has his eye on him (we thought he'd flown, and didn't realize he was within view). As the feeding session winds down, the male leaves his post and flies closer to check us out. After staring at us for a moment, he flies out above us and heads down the road a short bit. Photo friend follows briefly and gets an amazing picture. What an incredible night.
At last, we wake up to a clear, sunny morning. On the day we have to leave. Recordist friend joins us for breakfast, sharing a bit of spotted owl call that he snagged. We listen to his other recordings and try to sort the robins from the grosbeaks from the tanagers. Around us in the campsite, we're getting real time comparison samples. We make our plans - no point in going to the high country with our limited time, so we decide to check out a new area - Carlon Falls, just outside the park on the way to Hetch Hetchy.
White-headed Woodpecker by Walter Kitundu (photo used with permission)
A very short walk yields a few more new birds for photo friend, including the delightful MacGillivray's Warbler. Almost as soon as we start down the trail, I heard peeping and found a nest at the river's edge... White-headed Woodpecker. Some birders come to Yosemite for Great Grey Owls, or Blue Grouse, or Goshawks, or Rosy Finches (okay, I'm one of them). But White-headed Woodpecker is one of my favorite birds in the park, and I'm always happy to see yet one more. Seeing a nest (with some very-close-to-fledging kids within) was a real treat.
That is a lot of ladybugs, is all I'm saying.
We had a few more fun sightings on the walk - ladybug clusters on some small trees in an open spot (so dense that they were flattening the grass below the trees). I've read about these clusters, but have never seen one before. A little bit up the hill, there were groups of lady's slipper orchids at the sides of the path. We heard from some other hikers that there was a huge group further up the trail, but we were running short on time. We savored what we could see, and then turned back to start the journey home.
Starting next weekend, Dawn Chorus will be moving to Sundays. Between Saturday schedule complications from banding, and the difficulty of putting together a diary during the week, I think it will allow me to do better work. See you on the 19th!