After a few nights of not quite enough sleep (ever since the bakyard mountain lion), I finally had a great one. Thus, the sun had already topped the peaks by the time dog and I hit mountain trail.
Somehow, accidentally (as is usually the case), we ended up doing our favorite high loop: up the shaded valley, around and over the ridge above Millcreek Canyon, down to the Pipeline Outlook, and back.
[Note: I’m still learning the names of places here. Please forgive my past misnomers.]
The weather was cool, breezy, nearly cloudless, lovely. The birds were fairly abundant, interesting, fun to watch, and maddeningly uncooperative photo subjects. Still, I had a blast—in particular, today, observing behavioral peculiarities.
For instance, not 50 feet from the trailhead, a magpie fledgling fluttered over onto a low branch very near Jack and me. This caused the parents to freak out, swoop down, and immediately begin to yell at us things like “Away with you, human devils!” Also, “Begone, murderers!” Jack was a lot less fazed than I.
Not long after, I watched a female Lazuli Bunting flit down onto a dead twig not far from the trail. At once this bird ducked its head down, raised its tail, and opened its wings a bit—then began to quiver a little and (just maybe) begin to emit a faint call that might be described as a nearly inaudible “Squee!” (I actually took a little video of this, half-expecting a male to show up and the two of them to get busy, but it didn’t happen.)
That’s not all, but I won’t bore you. Suffice it to say that these little observations of bird behavior never cease to astound and entertain.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked some 1,200 feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie*
2. California Quail* (v)
3. Black-capped Chickadee** (v)
4. House Finch*
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird
6. Lazuli Bunting
7. Black-headed Grosbeak
8. American Robin* (v)
9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
10. Spotted Towhee
11. Western Tanager
12. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
13. Pine Siskin
14. Warbling Vireo
15. Sharp-shinned Hawk
16. Chipping Sparrow
17. Bank Swallow†
18. MacGillivray’s Warbler
19. Cliff Swallow
20. Black-throated Gray Warbler
21. Orange-crowned Warbler
22. Tree Swallow†
23. Cooper’s Hawk
24. Hammond’s Flycatcher
Elsewhere
25. European Starling
26. Song Sparrow (v)
Mammals
None
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American robin, bank swallow, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbid, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated gray warbler, blue-ray gnatcatcher, California quail, chipping sparrow, cliff swallow, cooper's hawk, European starling, Hammond’s flycatcher, house finch, lazuli bunting, MacGillivray’s warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, spotted towhee, tree swallow, warbling vireo, western tanager, Woodhouse’s scrub-jay pine siskin
