Another nippy morning, with temps in the 40s (F). Sweatshirt weather, for sure—until the sun tops the ridge, at which point things warm up in a hurry.
Evidence of migration still: many yellow-rumps, a couple of kinglets, robins headed south. Also more flickers than I could shake a stick at. I’m listing a count of ten, but I feel like that’s an undercount, for sure. At one point I found myself watching five in the same tree. In another tree, three.
They’re handsome birds, the flickers are. I do love fall migration.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:25 a.m. (8:25 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch** 2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 3. Lesser Goldfinch* (v) 4. Black-billed Magpie 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. American Robin (v) 7. Yellow-rumped Warbler 8. Northern Flicker 9. European Starling* 10. Spotted Towhee (v) 11. Black-capped Chickadee 12. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Elsewhere
13. Barn Swallow 14. Song Sparrow (v) 15. California Quail
Mammals
Red Squirrel Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
When dog and I hit the trailhead, we found ourselves in nippy (42° F) conditions. Evidence of sprinkles overnight, mostly clouds overhead. Fewer birds than yesterday: only seven spp.—until we’d made it up the gully to the deer trail, where a little batch of yellow-rumps and kinglets appeared in a juniper tree.
But the highlight of the hike happened on our return trip, when a solitary Lincoln’s Sparrow popped up on a wild rose bush at the old Monarch Quarry. Can’t remember the last time I saw one of those handsome birds.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:15 a.m. (8:15 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 2. House Finch** 3. Song Sparrow 4. Northern Flicker 5. Rock Pigeon 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. Rock Wren 8. Yellow-rumped Warbler 9. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10. American Robin 11. Lesser Goldfinch* 12. Lincoln’s Sparrow 13. Spotted Towhee (v)
Elsewhere
14. House Sparrow (v) 15. California Quail 16. Eurasian Collared-dove
Mammals
Red Squirrel Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
I had no expectations when dog and I headed up the switchback this morning. After yesterday’s mostly silent stroll, I’d begun to think fall migration would be something of a dud this year.
My suspicions were unfounded, perhaps not least because of the weather. Which I hadn’t checked. There was a little (very little) rain.
And we encountered many bids—among them two dozen yellow-rumps, a gnatcatcher, and a posing sparrow.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:19 a.m. (8:19 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
