A lot happening this morning kept me and Jack from hiking until late morning today. It was bright and warm, but I brought water, and we had a pretty nice time of it—despite the fact that I didn’t manage any decent bird photos.
A good part of the time I spent in the shaded valley trail, where the Warbling Vireos live, trying to get a pic of one of three vireos I saw. Trouble is, they were bothered by the presence of a nearby scrub-jay, so they were all noise and flitty motion, and I couldn’t get a fix. At one point they were joined by a gnatcatcher—I’ve seen little gnatcatchers harassing jays a lot lately—but it didn’t stop and pose, either.
Still, as I say, it was a good ’un. You can kinda tell that summer’s only a week or so away.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 11:15 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie*
2. Song Sparrow* (v)
3. House Finch**
4. American Robin*
5. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
6. Black-headed Grosbeak
7. Lazuli Bunting
8. Black-chinned Hummingbird
9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
10. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
11. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
12. Spotted Towhee
13. Black-throated Gray Warbler (v)
14. Warbling Vireo
15. Chipping Sparrow
16. California Quail*
17. Orange-crowned Warbler (v)
18. Pine Siskin (v)
Elsewhere
19. Mourning Dove
20. European Starling
21. Rock Pigeon
22. American Crow
23. House Sparrow
24. Barn Swallow
25. Cliff Swallow
Mammals
None
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American robin, barn swallow, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated gray warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, California quail, chipping sparrow, cliff swallow, European starling, house finch, house sparrow, lazuli bunting, lesser goldfinch, mourning dove, Orange-crowned Warbler, pine siskin, rock pigeon, song sparrow, spotted towhee, warbling vireo, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
