Rain this early morning. Captain Jack and I awoke to a gray day and a chill: about 42 degrees (F). We waited until the air dried up a bit, then hiked up the switchback—and saw no other dog or human. Saw a few birds, though.
Notable were two hawk species on this morning’s list. Not far from the trailhead, soaring in the direction of town, was a handsome Red-tailed Hawk. Then up the drippy valley trail (Coyote Canyon, I hear it’s called), I heard the distinctive kip-kip! calls of a Cooper’s Hawk.
The Cooper’s silenced the voices of Warbling Vireo and Black-throated Green Warbler, but I didn’t mind.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-headed Grosbeak (v)
2. Lazuli Bunting
3. Song Sparrow** (v)
4. House Finch**
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird
6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v)
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8. Spotted Towhee
9. Red-tailed Hawk
10. Pine Siskin
11. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
12. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
13. Chipping Sparrow (v)
14. Black-throated Gray Warbler (v)
15. Warbling Vireo (v)
16. Cooper’s Hawk (v)
17. American Robin*
18. Mourning Dove
Elsewhere
19. Eurasian Collared Dove
20. European Starling
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated gray warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, chipping sparrow, cooper's hawk, Eurasian collared dove, European starling, house finch, ine siskin, lazuli bunting, lesser goldfinch, mourning dove, red-tailed hawk, song sparrow, spotted towhee, warbling vireo, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
