Last night was warm and windy—windiest I’ve yet experience in Utah. This morning was warm and breezy. (By warm, I mean about 40° (F).) Not a lot of birds at first. As usual, mule deer. A snowy landscape.
The big news: I finally saw my first-ever Chukars (a Eurasian game bird introduced to the high desert states in the last century). Jack and I flushed three from under a Juniper on the far side of the gulch. Gone in a flash down the slope—but I figured I might find traces of their presence in the snow. And I was right.
Elsewise, the lower trail provided a few photo opportunities of the usual suspects (finches, chickadees, juncos woodpeckers).
This afternoon it snowed like crazy for a couple of hours. Kind of nippy tonight. Capricious weather lately.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 10:15 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie**
2. Black-capped Chickadee**
3. House Finch*
4. Northern Flicker
5. Chukar†
6. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
7. Dark-eyed Junco
8. Downy Woodpecker
Elsewhere
9. American Robin
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†Lifer
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, chukar, dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, house finch, lesser goldfinch, northern flicker
