17 February 2025

Warblers

Wednesday, May 27th, 2020
Black-throated Gray Warbler, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 27 May 2020.
Black-throated Gray Warbler.

On a mostly overcast morning, dog and I had a very nice hike. Coolish still (but this will change), and no others encountered on our trek up the switchback and around the hillsides.

MacGillivray’s Warbler, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 27 May 2020.
MacGillivray’s Warbler.

The usual suspects, bird-wise—including two resident warblers singing dependably in their preferred locations: MacGillivray’s and black-throated gray. If birding scarcity increases value, warblers are precious here.

Maine’s wood-warblers got me birding in the first place exactly 40 years ago—I couldn’t resist their crazy spring music in the woodlands of northern New England. A couple dozen species pass through Maine during migration. Where I lived, maybe a dozen stick around.

Since I moved to the high desert last summer, I’ve encountered far fewer warbler species. Resident species in my patch number maybe a half-dozen. Still, the two I saw today were enough to whet my warbler whistle.

Later, this warm afternoon, as I worked at my front table, I saw a large, winged shadow pass across the lawn. Peeked out and spied a Red-tailed Hawk soaring in the warm air—and perhaps 1,000 feet above it, two or three paragliders.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.

1. Downy Woodpecker**
2. Black-billed Magpie*
3. House Finch*
4. Black-headed Grosbeak
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird*
6. American Robin*
7. Lazuli Bunting
8. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
9. Spotted Towhee
10. Song Sparrow* (v)
11. California Quail* (v)
12. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
13. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
14. Warbling Vireo
15. Chipping Sparrow
16. MacGillivray’s Warbler
17. Black-throated Gray Warbler
18. Black-capped Chickadee (v)

Elsewhere

19. Eurasian Collared Dove
20. Red-tailed Hawk

Mammals

None

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

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Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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