With lousy to non-existent backcountry skiing, I've been rock climbing
a bit in recent weeks. I've seen a few birds worth mentioning, I
suppose:

Pie Shop - this is the big pile of granite in South Lake Tahoe on the
west side of Hwy 89, just north of the Upper Truckee River and the
golf course. On 14th January, there was an adult Peregrine Falcon
there in the morning. On this last Sunday (5 February), there were
two Varied Thrushes (one male, one female) in the chaparral of the
southern slope leading up to the rocks. They seemed to just be moving
through, but it was weird habitat for that species! I managed to pull
the male out into the open for a minute or two by imitating its song.
Not surprisingly, there are lots of Spotted Towhees in that chaparral.

Sugarloaf - this is the massive plug of granite on the north side of
Hwy 50, just west of Kyburz. On Saturday (4 February), there was an
immature Northern Goshawk soaring and circling overhead mid-day. I
know goshawks are supposed to like to work heavily-burned areas like
that, but it's always surprising to see one out in the open.

I should also mention that there has been a White-throated Sparrow
coming to a feeder in Meyers for several weeks.

Will Richardson
Truckee, CA

____________________
T. Will Richardson, Ph.D.
Co-Executive Director,
Tahoe Institute for Natural Science
530.412.2792
www.tinsweb.org