Another chilly, mostly clear morning, with hard frost in the mountain shade. Quiet for the most part—not many individual birds—but a quarter of my list (of twelve) were raptors.
First, a solitary Cooper’s Hawk glide silently overhead as we climbed the switchback, Captain Jack and I. Next, while scanning the ridge with binocs I happened to spy a solitary Golden Eagle flying high above the rocks. Finally—last bird of the morning—the neighborhood red-tail, perched on one of its favorite utility poles below.
Don’t mind a three-raptor day at all—plus, it’s been a while since I’d seen an eagle. (Thanks to extreme drought and western fires, this year’s been a much quieter year than last.)
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 9:01 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch (v)
2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. American Goldfinch (v)
5. Rock Pigeon*
6. Cooper’s Hawk
7. Black-billed Magpie** (v)
8. Yellow-rumped Warbler
9. Golden Eagle
10. Dark-eyed Junco
11. Townsend’s Solitaire (v)
12. Red-tailed Hawk
Elsewhere
13. Song Sparrow
14. European Starling
15. House Sparrow (v)
16. Northern Flicker
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American goldfinch, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, cooper's hawk, dark-eyed junco, European starling, golden eagle, house finch, house sparrow, northern flicker, red-tailed hawk, rock pigeon, song sparrow, Townsend’s solitaire, Woodhouse’s scrub jay, yellow-rumped warbler
