Cold to start, but also cloudless and windless, and the sun beat down and warmed this patch of the planet, and by the time dog and I had finished our two-hour hike on the deer trails, we both had a spring in our step. (Or an almost-spring: only nine days away!)
Up on the deer trails, lots birds about for a change. Most fun was the sudden appearance of a pair of vocal ravens, croaking and wheeling and circling above us. Couldn’t tell if this was the resident mating pair, or perhaps territorial rival males. (The behavior seemed different from the former.) Tree branches in the way or I’d have gotten a decent photo.
We’ll hike again tomorrow, when the forecast calls for warmer temps. Will still be snow about, though.
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 9:02 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Spotted Towhee (v)
2. Dark-eyed Junco**
3. House Finch*
4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
5. American Robin** (v)
6. Rock Pigeon*
7. Northern Flicker (v)
8. Pine Siskin
9. Black-capped Chickadee
10. Black-billed Magpie
11. Common Raven
Elsewhere
12. Lesser Goldfinch
13. Song Sparrow (v)
14. House Sparrow (v)
15. Eurasian Collared-dove (v)
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only
*Also Elsewhere
**Voice only Elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, common raven, dark-eyed junco, Eurasian collared dove, house finch, house sparrow, lesser goldfinch, mule deer, northern flicker, pine siskin, rock pigeon, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub-jay