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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hamhed" data-source="post: 3666506" data-attributes="member: 70825">Day 5Temperatures around 34º (around 1C) greeted us as we parked at Black Rock Campground in Joshua Tree National Park.  Cactus Wrens were active and we picked out a pair of neatly attired Black-throated Sparrows among the much more common White-crowned.  It wasn’t long after looking at a number of CA Scrub Jays that we found several Pinyon Jays, foraging in the Joshua Trees or warming up in the yuccas.  Dressed conservatively in muted shades of blue, they were nevertheless a much appreciated sight as we had searched for them in several western states.  We watched as three of these birds flew off and joined a large and distant flock of other jays which we would assume to be more of the same species.  That species now on our life list, a good hike was in order.  We chose the convenient Panorama trail, a 6.5 mile loop with significant elevation gain.  Even in this cold season, there were so many life forms to distract us from moving forward, slow progress was made initially.  Then, we arrived at the steeper sections and our footsteps were shortened for another reason.  So, nearly 5 enjoyable hours and many photo stops to complete the loop.  As expected, we added several bird species.  Several Oak Titmice, gray birds in a gray environment, foraged in the gnarled and stunted oak trees which the Scrub Jays also made use of.  Bewick’s Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, a woodpecker we judged to be a possible Nuttall’s/Ladder-backed hybrid, White-breasted Nuthatch and Rock Wren were all singles of their species.  On the south side of the 5100 foot (1554M) peak, we found a Loggerhead Shrike, hunting lizards in the warming rocks.   Our day ended with a drive and short walk to the Barker Dam area in the park.  A small pond was here, providing convenient water to all desert creatures.  We found the first Phainopepla’s of the trip on the walk in and Lesser Goldfinches at the water.Bird lists here:<a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41186081" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41186081</a><a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41185996" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41185996</a><a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41185952" target="_blank">http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41185952</a></blockquote>

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