’Tis the season of little flitty birds. Hiking this morning with dog, I saw a bunch, put a name on a few and missed a few. The funnest sighting: a Wilson’s Warbler (no photo). Migration’s begun for sure.
I also spied a few hawks for a change. Three coops (two circling, a young-un perched) and at last one sharpie.
But my favorite pic of the day was a portrait of a sparrow.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:27 a.m. (8:27 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
My morning hike with dog began quietly, in keeping with this quiet season, when I mostly scan for silent flitting birds. And, dang, did I hit the jackpot.
In particular, that pot appeared in the form of a trailside rose bush, where in the pat I’ve often seen lurking towhees. What I saw this morning were three quietly flitting Brewer’s Sparrows. As I stood still angling fdor photos, Another bird popped up: a Nashville Warbler. Turned my camera to the warbler, when another species appeared: a House Wren. Got some nice pics of the wren—when I noticed a Green-tailed Towhee in there, too.
Four species in the same little wild rose.
Later, on our return, I decided to head over and revisit the rose bush, and what should I find there? A Spotted Towhee.
You can bet I’ll be checking that wild again in the morning.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:07 a.m. (8:07 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-chinned Hummingbird 2. House Finch** 3. Rock Pigeon* 4. Western Tanager 5. Eurasian Collared-dove 6. Spotted Towhee 7. Lesser Goldfinch* 8. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v) 9. Brewer’s Sparrow 10. Nashville Warbler 11. Green-tailed Towhee 12. House Wren 13. Chipping Sparrow 14. Black-capped Chickadee 15. Lazuli Bunting 16. American Robin
Elsewhere
17. California Quail (v) 18. House Sparrow
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
The first bird I heard this morning was a Northern Flicker. First flicker for months, I’d say. Unexpected.
Before long, I spied a quiet bird in a scrub oak: a Rock Wren. First of that species I’ve ever seen that wasn’t perched on a rock. Coincidentally, the next new species I saw was a House Wren. (So few wrens around here, I thought for a while it was the other wren following dog and me around.) Talk about unexpected.
Some time later, I spied a tiny batch of warblers following a vocal pod of chickadees (as warblers are wont to do when roaming). I assumed the first I took a photo of was a Virginia’s Warbler. Only when I looked at the photos later did I notice it was a Nashville Warbler—first in Utah. (At least I assume they have a full yellow belly here as they do back East.) Did not expect that.
Fact is, it was so quiet to start this morning that I sure didn’t expect my species list to reach 15.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:06 a.m. (8:06 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Northern Flicker (v) 2. House Finch* 3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 4. Rock Pigeon 5. Eurasian Collared-dove* 6. Red-tailed Hawk 7. Black-chinned Hummingbird 8. Spotted Towhee 9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10. Rock Wren 11. House Wren 12. Black-capped Chickadee 13. Nashville Warbler 14. Orange-crowned Warbler 15. American Goldfinch (v)
