Within recent years, several observations of the Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta), adults and young, have been made in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks; most of these observations occurred in the Upper Kern Basin.
Prior to 1975, Water Pipits were not known to nest in California (Am. Birds 29:1028, 1975). On 1 August 1975, a Water Pipit nest was discovered at 3200 m in the central Sierra near Mount Conness (Gaines, Birds of the Yosemite Sierra, 1977:101). Subsequent nesting has been documented in the area.
On 25 July 1975, Morgenson, a backcountry ranger, observed an adult Water Pipit feeding two young at Lower Hitchcock Lake, 3 km southwest of Mount Whitney at an elevation of 3555 m. Morgenson stated on the field observation form that the immature pipits were “obviously born . . . in the high Sierra—evidence that these pipits nest here.”