Before this morning, I’d listed American Crow just three times on my daily bird list—twice, small silent groups of crows in parking lots in town, and once the caws of a crow I heard from the mountainside. It’s been eerie to me not to be surrounded by crows daily, as I was in Maine.
Imagine my surprise, ascending the trail with Captain Jack this morning, when I heard the caws of more than one crow somewhere off in the warm hazy air behind me. I turned and saw four crows, flying fast, apparently distressed about something. They circled back over the city
A couple minutes later, I heard them again, turned again—and this time saw them mobbing a Golden Eagle (much as crows mobbed Bald Eagles back east). The eagle flew quickly away from such folderol.
The whole scene thrilled me (rather more than it should have, probably).
Singing towhees, chickadees, house finches, and juncos; a circling sharpie, elk high on a ridge, and a couple yearling mule deers along the street out from of my house. All in all a good day for wildlife generally.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
1. American Robin* (v)
2. Black-billed Magpie*
3. House Finch*
4. Dark-eyed Junco*
5. Black-capped Chickadee
6. Spotted Towhee
7. Sharp-shinned Hawk
8. American Crow
9. Golden Eagle
10. Northern Flicker**
11. Song Sparrow** (v)
12. California Quail (v)
13. Pine Siskin
14. Downy Woodpecker (v)
Elsewhere
15. Eurasian Collared Dove
16. European Starling
Mammals
Rocky Mountain Elk
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, California quail, dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, Eurasian collared dove, European starling, golden eagle, house finch, mule deer, northern flicker, pine siskin, rocky mountain elk, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, spotted towhee
