There are so many hummingbirds around here. This, first spring in Utah, has me wide-eyed (and -eared) at just how many of these little hummers there are zipping around the sage and scrub.
Every day for a couple weeks, I’ve seen and/or heard at least six or eight individual hummingbirds—nearly always both black-chinned and broad-tailed—and often a dozen or more. Their behavior is interesting—wing-trills and pendulum dances and hovering in one place for seconds above a human and canine on the trail.
This gusty morning, at a fairly high elevation with few trees about, I came upon a black-chinned sipping on the lovely red Rough Indian Paintbrush flowers. Just one of many things I’ve learned about these hardy little survivors.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked about 1,000 feet up a mountain.
1. Black-headed Grosbeak**
2. California Quail*
3. Black-billed Magpie*
4. American Robin* (v)
5. Lazuli Bunting
6. Song Sparrow** (v)
7. Black-capped Chickadee
8. Spotted Towhee
9. Warbling Vireo
10. Pine Siskin
11. Blue-jay Gnatcatcher
12. Chipping Sparrow
13. Black-chinned Hummingbird
14. Orange-crowned Warbler
15. House Finch*
16. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v)
17. Cooper’s Hawk
18. Golden Eagle
19. Black-throated Gray Warbler (v)
20. Sharp-shinned Hawk
Elsewhere
21. House Sparrow
22. European Starling
23. Downy Woodpecker
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated gray warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, California quail, chipping sparow, cooper's hawk, downy woodpecker, European starling, golden eagle, house finch, house sparrow, lazuli bunting, Orange-crowned Warbler, pine siskin, rock squirrel, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, spotted towhee, warbling vireo, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
