A sub-freezing hike with dog, this lovely morning under nearly cloudless skies. Wondered if we’d encounter many birds, and we did encounter a few—the most noteworthy being a solitary Mourning Dove that flushed as we got perhaps as close as six or eight feet away, startling me.
The dove—first I’d seen in a good long while—flitted into a scrub oak nearby, and allowed me a glimpse.
Thanks, dove.
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 9:08 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
2. Spotted Towhee (v)
3. Black-billed Magpie
4. House Finch** (v)
5. Rock Pigeon*
6. Dark-eyed Junco*
7. Townsend’s Solitaire (v)
8. Mourning Dove
9. Black-capped Chickadee
Elsewhere
10. European Starling
Mammals
Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, European starling, house finch, mourning dove, red squirrel, rock pigeon, spotted towhee, Townsend’s solitaire, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
