Basically, a balmy day. Still a teeny bit of slick ice on the shady switchback, but otherwise, straight-up muddy trails from rapidly melting snow. Fifty degrees (F) when dog and I started up.
Fun birds, too—plenty of the usual suspects, along with a collared-dove sighting below the bluff, and a male quail above the little Monarch Quarry.
Didn’t think we’d encounter many deer, but we encountered more than a dozen. Also encountered a solitary cottontail along our usual return route way up in the juniper barrens.
Tomorrow won’t be so balmy, though, and the weekend’s supposed to bring snow.
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 08:42 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch*
2. American Robin*
3. Dark-eyed Junco
4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay*
5. Black-billed Magpie
6. Pine Siskin (v)
7. California Quail
8. Rock Pigeon*
9. Eurasian Collared-dove*
10. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
11. Northern Flicker*
12. Spotted Towhee**
13. Black-capped Chickadee
Elsewhere
14. House Sparrow
15. Song Sparrow (v)
16. European Starling
17. Mourning Dove
Mammals
Mule Deer
Mountain Cottontail
(v) Voice only
* Also Elsewhere
**Voice only Elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, California quail, dark-eyed junco, Eurasian collared dove, European starling, house finch, house sparrow, lesser goldfinch, mourning dove, northern flicker, pine siskin, rock pigeon, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
