Common Rosefinch

This afternoon co-leader Gavin Bieber found a Common Rosefinch on the lower slopes of the mountain.  This is about the sixth fall sighting here.  Everyone was able to get satisfactory looks, many through a scope.  For most it was a life bird but for John and me it wasn't even a year bird.  We had seen one in June when we were at Gambell this spring.  The weather today is milder with the wind coming from the East and periods of low clouds and drizzle.  We did have a few flocks of shorebirds overhead from time to time including a group of seven Bar-tailed Godwits.  Up to this point Paul Lehman had seen only three singles in the fall.