This nice morning’s hike, under (mostly) overcast skies, was surprisingly quiet—for most of it. For nearly all of it, in fact, there were few birds to see or hear. Magpie, finch, junco, flicker. My list had seven species when we started back down toward the switchback.
Then we encountered chickadees, and I spied a kinglet, and heard the voices of a Steller’s Jay. That changed things. Because I decided I wanted a photo of the jay.
So we left the trail, dog and I. And retraced our steps, ascending again, chasing the voice of the jay. Which turned out to be two jays, no three. Four—fur Steller’s Jays.
Finally got a few pic. None that great, but I didn’t care.
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 8:07 a.m. (9:07 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie**
2. House Finch**
3. Northern Flicker (v)
4. Spotted Towhee
5. Rock Pigeon*
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. Black-capped Chickadee
8. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
9. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v)
10. Steller’s Jay
Elsewhere
11. Song Sparrow
Mammals
Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, house finch, nothern flicker, red squirrel, rock pigeon, ruby-crowned kinglet, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Steller’s jay, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
