The magpies have fledged. Pretty sure the scrub-jays, too. Certainly the starlings have. But up on the mountain trails, a few species have yet to build their nests—or have just built them, just laid, or are still incubating eggs (or warming nestlings). Gnatcatchers are still sitting on the nest I found.
I expect the youngsters to start making subtle begging sounds any day now. The adults are surely making plenty of noise when a human and/or a dog come near. Or, heaven forbid, a scrub-jay: Today I watched a tiny Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher dive-bomb a jay that had dared to approach to near its nest. Over and over. It drove that big bird a good hundred feet away, at least.
I admire the feisty little gnatcatchers. Not sure the gnats agree.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
Today was the first scorcher of the year. Dog and I got to the trailhead a bit late, but already the temperature (in the shade) was well up into the 70s (F). And by the time we returned a couple hours later, the sun had warmed things by at least ten degrees or so.
Still quite a bit of bird activity. Plenty of buntings and towhees and hummingbirds and gnatcatchers. And, along stretch of trail in the shady valley area, the two warblers we see on the regular: MacGillivray’s and black-throated gray. A shoutout to those two guys.
Yep, a scorcher. Still no rattlesnakes, though.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Song Sparrow** (v) 2. Black-billed Magpie* 3. Lazuli Bunting 4. American Robin* 5. Rock Pigeon 6. Black-headed Grosbeak 7. Pine Siskin (v) 8. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 9. Spotted Towhee 10. Black-chinned Hummingbird 11. California Quail* 12. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 13. House Finch* 14. Warbling Vireo 15. MacGillivray’s Warbler 16. Chipping Sparrow (v) 17. Black-throated Gray Warbler 18. Golden Eagle 19. Sharp-shinned Hawk 20. Black-capped Chickadee** (v)
Elsewhere
21. European Starling 22. House Sparrow
Mammals
None
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Not long after I moved to SLC last summer, I met a little covey of neighbors: Quentin Quail†† and family. I’d never seen a California Quail before, and here were whole families of them, clicking and scrambling, sprinting across the roads, fluttering up onto rooftops and into trees.
Not until this spring, though, did I realize many of them moved up the slopes to have little quails. Nowadays dog and I encounter them all along the trails we hike each morning.
They’re a little skittish, a little talkative—but all in all pretty likable neighbors.
††Quentin Quail was a character in a Chuck Jones cartoon for Merry Melodies released in 1946.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
