I had a small group today (4) and the number of species(17) was not quite what it was last week (24). The number of participants is generally higher when I give a talk the night before and that didn't happen last night. There's something to be said for small groups, however. We really had to work for the "bird of the day" because it was staying way up in the Ponderosa Pines and I ended up making the call based upon voice. It is just too hard to pick out field marks on a 14 cm (5.5 in) bird when it is 80 feet up but the song was distinctive enough. We all agreed after listening to a recording that the bird that we'd found was a Warbling Vireo.

Species for today: Say's Phoebe, Violet-green Swallow, Western Bluebird, Pygmy Nuthatch, Grace's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Green-tailed Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, American Robin, Western Tanager, Turkey Vulture, Northern Goshawk, White-throated Swift, Cassin's Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Townsend's Solitaire.

Oddly enough it was some of the "gimme' species that didn't turn up that kept the total below 20 (Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Steller's Jay).