On Friday, July 26th at about 4 PM Kathy Parker and I found a female Blue Grouse with 2 young just below Oldsted Point in Mariposa County on Tioga Pass Road in Yosemite National Park.

On Saturday, July 27th, we took the first boat at 7:30 AM across Saddlebag Lake in Mono County just outside the park. This cuts out 4 miles of the round-trip hike. We hiked up 3 miles from the north end of Saddlebag Lake, past Stealhead Lake, to Secret Lake (called so because it is always covered with snow and ice) where we found one Ptarmigan foraging the tundra above the lake, and later heard a second bird calling from the rocks north-west of the lake. There were a few Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches here as well and two more about mid-way on the trail on the return trip. Also on the return hike there were four Pine Grosbeaks that quickly flew out of view. We met George Peyton's group on the descent, but the rain that followed cancelled a further pursuit of Ptarmigans.

If that wasn't enough, we followed up Joe Morlan's earlier report of Broad-tailed Hummingbirds at Tom's Place in southern Mono County. Sure enough we had 2 Broad-taileds at the feeders (one juvenile male and one juvenile female), 4 Calliopes, and one Rufous. This is the first time we have ever seen feeders filled with "green" juice. What is the latest theory on the danger of feeding hummingbirds colored sugar water? The feeders can be found by parking at the Tom's Place store in Tom's Place just off of US 395 and crossing the road and following the creek about 100 yards to a trailer with the name "The Mallons".

Also, the cafe and boat rental place at Saddlebag Lake is for sale. The owners would like to retire.

I have been asked about the location of Secret Lake for White-tailed Ptarmigans in the Hoover Wilderness since it does not appear on all maps. It does appear on the Topographic Map of Yosemite National Park and Vicinity (between the letters 'a' and 'k' of McCabe Lake and appears (unlabled) on the Trail Map of Yosemite High Country. Both of these maps are available at REI. Also, the resort at Saddlebag Lake sells a simple map of the area on which Secret Lake is shown.

Mike Feighner can be reached at:
Mike Feighner, Livermore, CA, pac_loon@pacbell.net (home)
Mike Feighner, Sunnyvale, CA, mike.feighner@lmco.com (work)