GRAND TETON NATURE NOTES

TALUS

March 9 - First Mountain Bluebird arrived at the S.T.S. Ranch on the Snake River near Moose today. - Buster Estes.

March 12 - First Bluebird arrived at Jenny Lake. - Jess Roberts.

March 25-April 10 - Flocks of Horned Larks (Otocoris alpestris leucolema) are commonly seen along roadsides and on exposed fence rails near park headquarters. They were first observed by Hazel Hanks and Sylvia Stagner along the snow-banked road near Moose. Snow still covers the ground to a depth of some two to three feet. - H.R.S.

April 14 - A solitary Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) perched on a rail fence near Moose today could well have become discouraged at the prospects for a good summer by what he saw about him- fields still covered with snow, with but here and there only a few shrubs and a little sagebrush showing. Warm days and rapidly melting snow as well as a fair number of small insects, however, must have lent a balancing, encouraging note to the forecast, for this first seasonal pioneer remained until joined by others of his species a week or so later. - H. R. S.

April 15 - Counted 20 American Goldeneys (Glaucionetta clangula americana) on the Snake River near Moose today. In the same area Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) were especially numerous. On Flat Creek near Jackson two pairs of American Mergansers (Mergus merganser americanus), a pair of Bufflehead ducks (Charitonetta albeola) and a few Barrow's Goldeneye (Glaucionetta islandica) were also observed. - H..R. S.

May 3 - Al Austin and James Budge today reported that large numbers of White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) have been present on the Snake River for the past two weeks. As many as seventy-five to a hundred have been counted from the highway bridge at one time. They apparently like to sun themselves, for, as the sun rises higher and higher in the sky during the mornings, they congregate on the exposed gravel bars and small islands in sufficient numbers to completely cover these areas. From a distance it appears that these islands and bars are covered with snow as some of these areas and the stream banks actually are. According to various residents of the area Pelicans commonly arrive on the Snake during the latter part of april, and remain until about the middle or latter part of May. Occasionally a few are seen in the northern part of Jackson Hole later in the summer as well. - H. R. S.

May 5 - A pair of Mountain Chickadees (Penthestes gambeli) are building a nest in a deserted woodpecker hole in an aspen tree near the Snake River beaver ponds. - H. R. R.

May 12 - Jack Dornan reports that a duck is nesting in a hole in a cottonwood tree on the bank of the Snake River at his ranch at Moose. Only the female has been seen at the nest and the identification is not positive although it is believed to be Barrow's Goldeneye (Glaucionetta islandica), sometimes locally called the Wood Duck. - H.R.S.

May 17 - Numerous Cassin's Purple Finches (Carpodacus cassini) and Audubon's Warblers (Dendroica auduboni auduboni) shared possession of the Jenny Lake area with Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina arizonae) and a few Rocky Mountain Grosbeaks (Hedymeles melanocephalus papago). - H. R. S.

June 14 - About 5 o'clock this evening while I was working on some papers in the office, a strange interrupted buzzing sound kept intruding itself on my consciousness until finally became aware of a visitor. Through the open door had entered a tiny, colorful humming bird. As it attempted an exit through the unyielding panes of the window, it repeatedly crashed into the invisible wall that separated it from freedom. After each crash it fell to the sill and remained momentarily stunned, so I had no difficulty catching it for examination after which I assisted it back to the out-of-doors. It fit the descriptions of the female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus). - H.R.S.

June 17 - The Catbird (Dunetella carolinensis) does not appear on the check list of birds of Grand Teton National Park. Jess Roberts reported one last Spring (1936) along Cottonwood Creek about half a mile below Jenny Lake. This morning I was at the old sawmill site near the Snake River south of Moose when I heard a rather long, varied song ending in a raucous, cat-like meow. The singer, quite unafraid, sat on an aspen branch close by. Its general body contour, long tail, gray color with brownish under-tail coverts left no doubt as to its identity. - H. R. S.