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Black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus), male, on the Four Mile Trail. ©2012 James McGrew
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Black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus), male, on the Four Mile Trail. ©2012 James McGrew

  • Common Raven soaring over Yosemite. ©2012 James McGrew
  • Brewer's Black Bird on the Merced River. ©2012 James McGrew
  • Acorn Woodpeckers with Yosemite Falls in the background. <br /> <br /> _M2U9648
  • A well camouflaged Red Tailed Hawk in a Lodgepole Pine near Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park. Thanks to some noisy Steller's Jays, I started looking for a raptor in the nearby trees and spotted this beautiful bird. Copyright ©2010 James McGrew
  • Common Raven over Yosemite. ©2012 James McGrew
  • Bald Eagle over Hetch Hetchy.
  • Osprey hunting over a high mountain lake in the Yosemite wilderness.
  • Acorn Woodpecker. ©2012 James McGrew
  • _D9E1638
  • EJ2A9627
  • Pair of pileated woodpeckers on the Yosemite Valley Rim near Glacier Pt. ©2011, James McGrew<br /> <br /> File number: LM2U9693_1
  • _D9E1644
  • Common Raven Alights on Sentinel Dome. ©2012, James McGrew<br /> <br /> The intelligence and adaptability has enabled Raven populations to flourish with human presence in the Sierra, making the Common Raven even more common. Ravens scavenge human trash and even manage to get illegally provided handouts. As much as I love these birds, I wonder about their higher abundance in the Sierra. For example, they are smart enough to figure out that they can feed on toads (the "warts" are actually poison glands that make them taste terrible to many predators), which are declining in numbers due to many human caused factors such as UV light, warming, pesticides, disease, and non native species. However even native species can influence an ecosystem when they adapt to humans and use their intelligence like the Common Ravens.
  • Red-winged Blackbird takes flight from a snag in Cook's Meadow. ©2012, James McGrew
  • Black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus), male, on the Four Mile Trail. ©2012 James McGrew
  • Acorn woodpeckers squabble on an old snag in Cook's Meadow (Yosemite Falls in the background). One bird kept pecking on the back of the other bird's head as they fought over grubs in the tree. ©2012, James McGrew
  • Acorn Woodpecker in Cook's Meadow.
  • Common Raven soars over Yosemte. ©2012, James McGrew<br /> <br /> Ravens fascinate me because of their extreme intelligence and interesting behavior. I've heard them making dozens of different sounds when communicating, especially in social settings. Some studies have even shown that the raven's tool use and problem solving skills roughly compare to an average 6 yr old human!
  • Female Violet-green Swallow in Yosemite Valley. ©2012 James McGrew<br /> I've always loved swallows for their beauty and acrobatics while pursuing insects in the air (and of course for migrating while apparently carrying coconuts which we use for making horse-hoof sounds). However, I've never been so close to one that perched. I was painting sunrise near Tunnelview and as the air warmed and insects began flying, so did the swallows and swifts. At one point this individual seemed curious about me, standing alone for a couple hours in the same location on the rocks above the swallows' nests. She flew up to this rock as if to check me out for a moment. I had a Canon 400 f4 DO on my 1DmkII, ready to capture fast moving wildlife at any moment. I discretely picked up the camera lying at my feet and snapped a few quick frames before this bird zipped off to capture more insects.
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