I’m pretty sure the collective name for a flock of juncos is “a shitload.”
It was a mostly cloudy morning, sub-freezing still, with a breeze. Chilly, for sure. There were a bunch of elk lollygagging up the bowl a ways, but we spied no deer. A good list of the usual bird species—including a shitload of Dark-eyed Juncos.
I can’t really estimate how many there were. As is their habit, they stayed hidden among the scrub oak branches and amid tufts of yellow grass. But there were a lot. Scores, at least.
A shitload.
This afternoon mostly cloudy became mostly sunny. No precipitation until the weekend, looks like.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 9:15 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
1. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
2. House Finch*
3. Northern Flicker**
4. Pine Siskin (v)
5. Dark-eyed Junco*
6. Black-billed Magpie*
7. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay*
8. Black-capped Chickadee
9. Song Sparrow (v)
Elsewhere
10. Eurasian Collared Dove
11. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Rocky Mountain Elk
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, Eurasian collared dove, house finch, lesser goldfinch, northern flicker, pine siskin, rock pigeon, rocky mountain elk, song sparrow, Woodhouse’s scrub jay