It rained this morning. Not a lot, but enough to soak life in the high desert—at least briefly. The rain (more accurately, the trailside foliage with rain on it) also soaked Captain Jack’s coat and my pants legs. Not enough for much mud, and it’ll dry up soon enough, but I couldn’t help enjoying the feeling of dampness and wetness and moistness.
The usual suspects were active. Few posed for photos, but the portrait of one particular towhee rather summed up the sweet break in the drought.
Still the risk of wildfires, though, as this pleasant interlude will pass soon enough (as all things must). But it felt pretty good to have to change my water-drenched jeans.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:41 a.m. (8:41 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
A mostly overcast morning for a change. Rather warm, with just a touch of humidity made evident by some moistness on my arms. A good hike with dog.
Most impressive to start with was a cooperative female Black-headed Grosbeak who perched with a wasp in her beak for a good long time while I angled for a photo. I suspect there’re nestlings nearby, and she didn’t want Jack or me (or any other threatening critter) to follow her to that important place. (Just a wild-ass guess.)
Otherwise, saw a Cooper’s Hawk zip by, then heard another at the nest above the gully give a cry in expectation. I’m imagining they have nestlings, too. Maybe.
Back home, the magpie nestlings keep hollering at their exhausted-looking parents. One male (I assume) youngster constantly pesters his smaller mom (I assume) to put the food directly in his mouth, like she used to.
Also saw an adult with a good-sized mouse (or other rodent), dead in its beak. Magpies are omnivorous corvids, after all.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:16 a.m. (8:16 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
We had a nice hike this morning, Captain Jack and I. Early, but not too early. Warm, but not too warm. (In fact, the air stirred nice and cool and sweet in the shady green places.) Still just the resident birds about, plus a flyover by four Cliff Swallows. Buntings and towhees, many finches. Gnatcatchers.
Magpies and robins and doves in the neighborhood. Temps didn’t reach 100° (F), though—only 98° or 99°.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:05 a.m. (8:05 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
