A morning much like yesterday—except I just turned 69. So thankful I can still get around well enough to climb a mountain or two, can hear well enough to hear distant singes, can see well enough to spy a perched bird (or is that a rock?) a half-mile away.
Nippy again—maybe even a degree or two nippier than a day ago—and with just a few wispy clouds drifting overhead. Few birds to start, and not a lot of numbers, but a nice birthday surprise on our return: a raven.
I heard it’s harsh cry high above us, dog and me. I stopped, turned, found it up in the blue, and fire off a mess of photos of it circling and gliding and calling before it drifted away off over the ridge.
Right after that is when I noticed I’d lost one of my ice grips and had I had to retrace my steps about 300 paces down a slippery slope to retrieve it.
Hey, life’s got its ups and downs!
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 9:02 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie (v)
2. House Finch (v)
3. Spotted Towhee
4. Rock Pigeon
5. Townsend’s Solitaire (v)
6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
7. Northern Flicker (v)
8. Black-capped Chickadee
9. Dark-eyed Junco
10. Common Raven
Elsewhere
11. American Robin
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, common raven, dark-eyed junco, house finch, northern flicker, rock pigeon, spotted towhee, Townsend’s solitaire, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
