9 February 2025

Archive for August, 2020

A Moment in Time

Friday, August 28th, 2020
Sharp-shinned Hawk (imm.), East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 28 August 2020.
Sharp-shinned Hawk (imm.).

About two-thirds of the way through my lovely hike with dog this morning, as we made our way along a familiar deer trail up among the junipers, I heard the distinctive kip-kip-kip-kip-kip! of a Sharp-shinned Hawk. We stopped. I didn’t see the hawk, and I couldn’t even tell how far away it was.

But I’ve learned to look for other birds who might indicate where we might find the little hawk. (I’m imagining a person moving silently to a closed door and pointing urgently with eyes wide.) Nearly always a hummingbird will head to where the danger is. So will scrub-jays if they’re about (they were). They converged around a juniper, and out popped the hawk—who flew across the trail and dove into another juniper.

Two jays, a hummingbird, and a Spotted Towhee ended up there, too. The hawk hunkered down deep in the tree—but I asked Jack to stay and snuck around to where the sun was behind me. Took about a minute, but I finally managed to contort myself in such a way that I could grab a quick photo of an interesting moment in time.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:04 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. Mourning Dove
2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
3. Black-chinned Hummingbird
4. House Finch**
5. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
6. Spotted Towhee
7. Barn Swallow
8. Red-breasted Nuthatch
9. Downy Woodpecker
10. Broad-tailed Hummingbird*
11. Black-capped Chickadee
12. Lesser Goldfinch**
13. Virginia’s Warbler
14. Sharp-shinned Hawk
15. Black-billed Magpie*

Elsewhere

16. Eurasian Collared Dove (v)
17. California Quail

Mammals

Rock Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

Beauty

Thursday, August 27th, 2020
Vesper Sparrow, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 27 August 2020.
Vesper Sparrow.

On this slightly cloudy, breezy morning’s hike with my dog Jack, we encountered a little falcon called American Kestrel. I encountered the usual birds we encounter on these beloved hikes of ours. And near the end of our hike, I spied a lovely brown bird called Vesper Sparrow.

Most folks seem enthralled with bright-colored, fancy birds—like the ostentatious males of many species. I’ve come to love the subtler visual beauty of the less flashy birds. When I got a look at this Vesper Sparrow through my camera, I whispered aloud, “So beautiful.”

Great Basin Gopher Snake, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 27 August 2020.
Great Basin Gopher Snake.

This morning we also encountered my first snake in my year-plus in Utah: a Great Basin Gopher Snake. It was kinda beautiful, too.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:56 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch*
2. Mourning Dove*
3. Spotted Towhee
4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay**
5. American Kestrel
6. Rock Pigeon*
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8. Black-billed Magpie*
9. Lesser Goldfinch*
10. Black-chinned Hummingbird
11. Broad-tailed Hummingbird*
12. Black-capped Chickadee**
13. Red-breasted Nuthatch
14. Western Tanager
15. Vesper Sparrow

Elsewhere

16. Eurasian Collared Dove
17. California Quail
18. House Sparrow (v)

Reptiles

Great Basin Gopher Snake

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

Good Day

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020
Black-chinned Hummingbird (female/immature), East Millceek Salt Lake City, Utah, 26 August 2020.
Black-chinned Hummingbird (female/immature).

This morning the wind blew and the temperature was cooler than the past several. Jack and I hiked for a good while without my listing more than a couple birds. Very quiet—as it has been lately.

But by the end of our hike, I had more than a dozen species—including a random Mountain Chickadee. Plus, a couple good looks at Black-chinned Hummingbirds (which have been scarce for a while).

All in all, a good day.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:59 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch*
2. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Rock Pigeon*
5. Spotted Towhee
6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay**
7. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
8. Western Tanager
9. Mourning Dove*
10. Black-chinned Hummingbird
11. Downy Woodpecker (v)
12. Mountain Chickadee
13. Lazuli Bunting

Elsewhere

14. Black-billed Magpie
15. Eurasian Collared Dove
16. California Quail
17. Lesser Goldfinch

Mammals

Mountain Cottontail

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 
Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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