At 9623 feet, Sonora Pass is the second highest pass over the Sierras. I wanted to explore this area because I was told there was a store along the route with a feeding station and I might get Rosy Finches. I crossed the summit and drove downslope as far as the Dardanelle Resort. I spoke with the store owner and discovered they had only recently bought the place. When I asked about the bird feeders I was told there were none at the store. I suspect the old owners may have been putting up feeders, but the new owner had no knowledge of the past practice. Having driven 14 miles west of the pass and descended to an altitude of 5,700 feet, I felt the likelihood of finding these high elevation birds further downslope was unlikely and I headed back in the direction whence I came.
When I reached the summit, I stopped to look and listen for birds that may be in the neighborhood. After a few minutes, I found juncos, chickadees, butter-butts, Mountain Bluebirds and Chipping Sparrows.
I’ve been taking occasional scenic landscape images while I’ve been out and about on my bird explorations. In my next post I’ll share some of them. Such a post does not fit the guidelines for placement on a birding email list, so those friends who’ve been getting word about my posts on ESBIRDS and CALBIRDS may want to check in on my website is a day or two… that is IF you are interested in that sort of thing.

Chipping Sparrow(Spizella passerina) |
Description: At 9627 feet of elevation, California Highway 108 is the second highest road that crosses the Sierra Nevada Range. The pass marks the bountary between Tuolumne County and Mono County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 14:48 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: ChippingSparrow_D5X8921-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Chipping Sparrow(Spizella passerina) |
Description: At 9627 feet of elevation, California Highway 108 is the second highest road that crosses the Sierra Nevada Range. The pass marks the bountary between Tuolumne County and Mono County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 14:48 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: ChippingSparrow_D5X8924-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Falls at Deadman Creek(Scenery) |
Description: |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 15:05 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 15 mm, f/22.0, 1/250 |
File Name: DeadmanCreek_D729278-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Falls at Deadman Creek(Scenery) |
Description: |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 15:05 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 15 mm, f/22.0, 1/250 |
File Name: DeadmanCreek_D729287-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
Description: At 9627 feet of elevation, California Highway 108 is the second highest road that crosses the Sierra Nevada Range. The pass marks the bountary between Tuolumne County and Mono County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 14:47 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: MountainBlueBird_D5X8916-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Yellow-Rumped Warbler(Setophaga coronata auduboni) |
Description: At 9627 feet of elevation, California Highway 108 is the second highest road that crosses the Sierra Nevada Range. The pass marks the bountary between Tuolumne County and Mono County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 14:42 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: YellowRumpedWarbler_D5X8897-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Yellow-Rumped Warbler(Dendroica coronata) |
Description: At 9627 feet of elevation, California Highway 108 is the second highest road that crosses the Sierra Nevada Range. The pass marks the bountary between Tuolumne County and Mono County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 14:42 |
Location:
Sonora Pass |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: YellowRumpedWarbler_D5X8903-SonoraPass |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |

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