While I’m out looking for wild birds to photograph, sometimes a mammal pops into view. And of course I cannot resist.
This warm morning, it was a Mountain Cottontail. (My usually alert dog didn’t seem to notice—but he’s never been a chaser, so I’m not sure.) It began to hop away, but then everybody stopped, and I watched it mosey over and begin to munch on a sprig dry grass.
Otherwise, a lovely little hike. Plenty of birds flitting in the greenery (many with secret fledglings), and not a few on perches, singing.
Ah, summertime.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee
2. Lazuli Bunting
3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay**
4. House Finch*
5. Rock Pigeon
6. Black-chinned Hummingbird
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8. Black-billed Magpie* (v)
9. Spotted Towhee
10. American Robin*
11. Pine Siskin (v)
12. Cooper’s Hawk
13. Black-headed Grosbeak
14. Warbling Vireo
15. Chipping Sparrow
Elsewhere
16. Eurasian Collared Dove
17. California Quail
18.Lesser Goldfinch (v)
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
Mountain Cottontail
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-headed grosbeak, blue-gray gnatcatcher, California quail, chipping sparrow, cooper's hawk, Eurasian collared dove, house finch, lazuli bunting, lesser goldfinch, mountain cottontail, pine siskin, rock pigeon, rock squirrel, spotted towhee, warbling vireo, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
