A nippy morning—temps in the 20s (F)—but the sun was high by the time dog and I began our Thanksgiving Day hike. Numbers were low, and no solitaire for a change, but early in our walkabout a flicker posed for pics.
Thanks, flicker.
Today, as happens often on our hikes, I thought about all the other humans who have walked the trails we walk over the centuries and millennia. Surely they saw nearly the same natural surroundings (minus, of course, the traffic noise and other signs of civilization) and, like me, knew where to look for cottontails and deer and eagles.
No doubt they could’ve taught me a thing or two, though.
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 8:59 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
2. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
3. House Finch**
4. Northern Flicker
5. Rock Pigeon*
6. Pine Siskin (v)
7. Dark-eyed Junco
8. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
9. Black-billed Magpie*
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, lesser goldfinch, northern flicker, pine siskin, red squirrel, rock pigeon, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
