Warm morning—about freezing when we hit the trail, and well above on our (muddy) return. Between times, I spotted mostly the usual suspects—and one unusual suspect. I’m referring to the Canyon Wren that popped up in the little rock-pile cave in the old Monarch Quarry.
We followed our usual route, moseyed over to the bluff, and on returning along the quarry’s edge I heard the familiar little whank! call of the wren. And I froze. And Jack-my-dog froze at my side. And I said aloud, as we waited, “It might be a little while.”
But it wasn’t long before the second whank! came from within the rocks, and the wren emerged, calling, and poked around a bit before disappearing back into the shadows.
The rest of the hike was good, too, but that wren will stick with me.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 9:09 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch*
2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay*
3. Black-capped Chickadee**
4. Rock Pigeon*
5. Canyon Wren
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. Spotted Towhee
8. Black-billed Magpie* (v)
9. American Robin* (v)
Elsewhere
10. Eurasian Collared-dove
11. Northern Flicker
12. House Sparrow
13. European Starling
14. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
Mammals
Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, canyon wren, dark-eyed junco, Eurasian collared dove, European starling, house finch, house sparrow, lesser goldfinch, northern flicker, rock pigeon, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
