Around the solstices, the changes in the lengths of days slows, like the far points of a swinging pendulum. At the equinoxes, the photoperiod increases or lessens swiftly. These early summer days can seem much the same, one after another—but for birds, the opposite is the case.
Now’s the time of nestlings and fledglings and hiding and growing and putting on weight and storing energy. Migration’s not all that far away.
Today, dog and I got scolded by multiple species (most of which were out of sight) for getting too near the young ’uns. Buntings, chippies, vireos, hummingbirds—and gnatcatchers. Especially gnatcatchers.
At the end of our hike, we surprised a mama quail with itty bitty babies that’d hatched not many hours before—iny little peeping that things could scramble away in the understory.
A lot of things happen in a hurry during this slow solstitical turn.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. American Robin*
2. Rock Pigeon
3. Lazuli Bunting
4. Northern Flicker** (v)
5. Black-headed Grosbeak (v)
6. House Finch*
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8. Black-billed Magpie (v)
9. Spotted Towhee
10. Black-capped Chickadee**
11. Black-chinned Hummingbird*
12. Orange-crowned Warbler (v)
13. Warbling Vireo (v)
14. Black-throated Gray Warbler
15. Chipping Sparrow
16. Common Raven
17. California Quail*
18. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v)
Elsewhere
17. Eurasian Collared Dove
18. Mourning Dove
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, blac-throated gray warbler, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, blue-gray gnatcatcher, California quail, chipping sparrow, common raven, Eurasan collared dove, house finch, lazuli bunting, mourning dove, northern flicker, Orange-crowned Warbler, rock pigeon, spotted towhee, warbling vireo, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
