A bright, nippy second morning of spring. In the 20s (F) to start, but once we exited the mountain shade, the high desert sun warmed dog and me. Quite a few birds about—though no obvious migrants.
[Aside: Last Thursday on my way back from L.A. I saw two turkey vultures circling not to far south of here.]
Many tracks in the inch or two of fresh snow that fell yesterday—coyote, vole, deer, cottontail. A lot of the snow melted by late afternoon. And in a few days the high is forecast to be 70°.
What will we encounter tomorrow?
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 7:55 a.m. (8:55 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
2. Pine Siskin
3. American Robin* (v)
4. Dark-eyed Junco
5. Rock Pigeon*
6. Black-billed Magpie*
7. House Finch* (v)
8. Spotted Towhee
9. Northern Flicker*
10. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
11. Steller’s Jay
12. Song Sparrow** (v)
Elsewhere
13. House Sparrow (v)
14. Eurasian Collared-dove
Mammals
Red Squirrel
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only
*Also Elsewhere
**Voice only Elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, Eurasian collared dove, hosue sparrow, house finch, mule deer, northern flicker, pine siskin, red squirrel, rock pigeon, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Steller’s jay, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
