An earlier, dryer hike than yesterday’s. Although not quite as birdy, still exceptionally satisfying.
Most notable are subtle differences in behavior among the resident species—differences that mean there’s been nesting, hatching, even fledging going on. Earlier nesters (like Spotted Towhees) have gone a bit quieter and more secretive. Magpies (which might well have the earliest fledglings here) have turned suddenly vocal and pugnacious. And later arrivals have just begun incubating. Like the pair of Black-headed Grosbeaks whose nest near (the trailhead) I found the female occupying today.
The only other actual nest I’ve found is the gnatcatchers’ (a tiny thing above a shady stretch of trail), whose photo you’ve seen here recently. But I know where several other birds’ nests are—or will be—judging by just the behavior of the birds.
(E.g., the male MacGillivray’s warbler whose declarative song is evidence of its claim to a tangly mass of foliage, waiting expectantly for just the right female to arrive.)
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. California Quail (v)
2. Black-billed Magpie*
3. Lazuli Bunting
4. House Finch*
5. Song Sparrow* (v)
6. Black-headed Grosbeak
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher**
8. Broad-tailed Hummingbird (wing-trill)
9. Spotted Towhee
10. American Robin*
11. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
12. Pine Siskin
13. Black-chinned Hummingbird
14. Western Tanager
15. Black-throated Gray Warbler (v)
16. Warbling Vireo (v)
17. Chukar (v)
18. Chipping Sparrow
19. MacGillivray’s Warbler
20. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
21. Hammond’s Flycatcher†
Elsewhere
22. Eurasian Collared Dove
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated gray warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, brouad-tailed hummingbird, California quail, chipping sparrow, chukar, Eurasian collared dove, Hammond’s flycatcher, house finch, lazuli bunting, lesser goldfinch, MacGillivray’s warbler, mountain cottontail, pine siskin, song sparrow, spotted towhee, warbling vireo, western tanager
