The morning was overcast and windy and exceptionally warm—up in the 60s (F)—when Captain Jack and I headed for the hills. By the time we’d hiked a few hundred (relatively birdless) yards, the wind let up a bit, and the sun topped the ridge and found a hole in the clouds and lit up a Dark-eyed Junco for me to photograph.
After a while, the clouds gathered again, and the wind picked up, and I noticed just how many oak and maple leaves had fled their twigs. (At one point I spied a flock of birds that, upon inspection through binoculars, turned out to be a flock of leaves.) Soon after, I heard a pair of Juniper Titmice in (what else?) a juniper.
A lovely day, a lovely hike. Tomorrow, they say, will come snow.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:13 a.m. (MST), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch*
2. Black-capped Chickadee
3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
4. Pine Siskin (v)
5. Spotted Towhee
6. Northern Flicker** (v)
7. Dark-eyed Junco
8. Sharp-shinned Hawk
9. Juniper Titmouse
10. Lesser Goldfinch
11. American Goldfinch
12. Black-billed Magpie
Elsewhere
13. House Sparrow
14. Downy Woodpecker
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Mammals
Red Squirrel (v)
Tags: American goldfinch, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, downywoodpecker, house finch, house sparrow, juniper titmouse, lesser goldfinch, northern flicker, red squirrel, sharp-shinned hawk, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub-jay pine siskin
