Cheam Mtn October 19th

[Chris]

Myself, Dave and his sister in law hiked Cheam Mtn yesterday. Awesome day to hike it. On the drive up we saw lots of Varied Thrush. At the parking lot was a flock of Evening Grosbeaks. We would see a lot more on our hike. There was a Black Bear feeding on blueberries. He was one fat bear! Birding was slow which is to be expected for this time of year. Picked up Robins, Juncos and two Fox Sparrows. As we got further up in elevation we spotted a female Mtn Bluebird.We would see three more on the way down so there could have been 4. Also present were a few Townsend's Solitaires.

We started to go through Ptarmigan habitat but didn't luck out. There was a flock of about fifty birds that flew by us but we couldn't ID them cause they never called. We think Horned Larks. There was Lark feeding on the snow catching insects. Cool to watch. We made it to the top and while we were eating 4 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches flew in. On the way down a Golden Eagle and Northern Harrier were seen.

Some of the views



Agassiz



Harrison Lake



The amount of insects up there surprised me. This caterpillar was a cool sighting



Not sure what this one is



The bird list

Golden Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Common Raven 1
Horned Lark 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 8
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 15
Mountain Bluebird 3
Townsend's Solitaire 4
American Robin 8
Varied Thrush 30
Fox Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 30
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 4
Pine Siskin 12
Evening Grosbeak 75

[Gord]

Nice trip you guys. I think the bluebirds are new for that location. Very good numbers of Evening Grosbeaks too. Your beetle looks like a ladybug with different colouring. Your picture made me curious and a quick Google search got me to this site that shows quite a variety of different colours and patterns.

www.discoverlife.org/20/q?guide=Ladybug

[ed]

Cheam is always a fun hike. It's a long bumpy ride though! Nice list of mtn species, I've been there with a lot less!
Ed