Townsend's Solitare was a life bird for me. I first thought he was a Mockingbird. Once I took in the prominent eye ring I knew this was not the case. Later I found the Solitare in my bird book for the identification. I photographed him on a tree branch close to a nesting place on the side of the mountain. He would fly from nesting area to the branch. We went back another day and the nesting material was gone and so was the bird. We were sad! This was a busy area of the park and many tourists stopped at this tunnel. The Gray Jay was a funny experience. We were so happy to photograph him out on a branch. We had no idea that in a few seconds he would be so close we could have reached out and touched him. Our camera lenses as well as us were surprised. 
