Drive Glacier Point Road, south of Yosemite Valley, to look for forest birds such as Band-tailed Pigeon; Williamson’s Sapsucker; White-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers; Olive-sided Flycatcher; Cassin’s Vireo; Golden-crowned Kinglet; Townsend’s Solitaire; Hermit Thrush; Nashville, Black-throated Gray, and Hermit Warblers; Pine Grosbeak; and Red Crossbill. A morning walk along the entrance road to Bridalveil Campground will bring looks at a good number of these species. Yosemite has many expansive meadows, in or around which you may find Mountain Quail, Calliope Hummingbird (Rufous doesn’t nest but is common as a summer migrant), Red-breasted Sapsucker (look in aspens and willows around meadow edges), Mountain Bluebird, and MacGillivray’s and Wilson’s Warblers.
Great Gray Owl is one of the park’s special species, and fortunate birders sometimes spot one perched in a tree at the edge of a meadow such as McGurk or Peregoy on Glacier Point Road or Crane Flat in the western part of the park. (If you’re lucky enough to see this impressive bird, enjoy it from a distance—don’t approach for “a better look.”) Flammulated Owl can be heard giving its hollow hoots in late May and June, but it’s rarely seen. The threatened Spotted Owl calls earlier in the year in old-growth forest, and is even less frequently seen.
Another much sought-after bird, the scarce Black Swift, nests near waterfalls. Bridalveil Falls is a favorite spot to look for this large swift, but be there at dawn or just before dusk to see the birds leaving or returning to their nests. Sometimes Black Swifts are seen from Glacier Point, flying with the much more common White-throated. Hiking into the tundra around Tioga Pass, or behind the dam at Ellery Lake just east of there, may bring a sighting of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch; early summer offers the best chance.
