The morning dawned fairly cool and fairly gray—from both smoke and moisture—and, honestly, pretty damn quiet. A few birds popped up near the trailhead, then fewer the farther we hiked, dog and I.
However, on our return along the deer trail, a Cooper’s Hawk appeared, flew low over our heads, and perched on a snag not too far away. Felt good a hawk for a change. Felt even better to see the tiny fighter jet (hummingbird) escorting it on its way.
A thunderstorm blew through this night, complete with hail and a little power outage. Perhaps that’ll help with the Parleys Canyon Fire.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:27 a.m. (8:27 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-chinned Hummingbird
2. Rock Pigeon*
3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v)
4. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
5. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
6. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
7. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
8. Mourning Dove
9. Spotted Towhee (v)
10. Cooper’s Hawk
11. Black-billed Magpie* (v)
Elsewhere
12. Eurasian Collared-dove
13. California Quail
14. House Finch
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, blue-gray gnatcatcher, broad-tailed hummingbird, California quail, cooper's hawk, Eurasian collared dove, house finch, lesser goldfinch, mourning dove, rock pigeon, rock squirrel, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
