Within ten or fifteen minutes of hitting the trail this morning, I could tell last night brought fair migration winds. I say “fair” winds because of the good variety of species I spied early—Western Tanager, Western Wood-pewee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a few other species-in-a-hurry that I couldn’t ID. Has me psyched about the days to come.
Western Wood-pewee.
But the sweetest thing about my hike with dog this cool morning was the company of Black-capped Chickadees. What with the recent spate of western fires, a hurricane making landfall, and other dramatic climate events, it’d be easy to fall into a funk. But there they are, the chickadees, their optimistic-sounding voices as they check in with each other—voices so matter-of-fact and unworried that they attract other little silent species moving through the foliage.
One even flew within inches of my head today. I thought it might land on my hat, but it didn’t. Maybe someday.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:11 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 2. House Finch* 3. Black-capped Chickadee** 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. Black-chinned Hummingbird 6. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7. Spotted Towhee 8. Northern Flicker** 9. Western Tanager 10. Downy Woodpecker 11. Sparrow (sp) 12. Western Wood-pewee 13. American Robin 14. Yellow-rumped Warbler 15. Lesser Goldfinch* 16. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 17. House Wren
Elsewhere
18. California Quail
Mammals
Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
It was one of those mornings. First, I waited fifteen or twenty minutes to head with Jack to the trailhead, figuring we’d have more time in the sun than in the mountain shade. The idea (as mentioned yesterday) was to see if sunny slopes encouraged more activity.
Golden Eagle.
In fact, not really. Oh, there were plenty of little quiet birds flitting about, just out of eye- and earshot. I missed three or four IDs (and at least a couple species) on account of a puzzling clumsiness—walking too fast, plunging around corners without taking a peek first, staying in my head instead of attuned to my surroundings. A good example of how not to bird.
But one of the mystery species (House Wren) came to light later, when I studied a couple blurry photos I’d taken in its general direction, and another pic helped me confirm a Sharp-shinned Hawk (not a Cooper’s).
Later, back at home, I chased a shadow on the front lawn and got a decent photo of a soaring red-tail. Still later—in that same cloudless sky—I spied a Golden Eagle.
Hard to complain on a crazy day like this one.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:21 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Rock Pigeon* 2. House Finch* 3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 4. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5. Spotted Towhee 6. Black-billed Magpie* 7. Western Tanager 8. Black-capped Chickadee** 9. Downy Woodpecker (v) 10. Pine Siskin (v) 11. Mourning Dove 12. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 13. House Wren 14. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 15. Sharp-shinned Hawk 16. Northern Flicker 17. Lazuli Bunting
Elsewhere
18. California Quail 19. Red-tailed Hawk 20. Golden Eagle 21. Eurasian Collared Dove (v)
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail Rock Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
The morning dawned cool—about 57° (F) when first I checked—and by the time Jack-my-dog and I had gone our usual distance, I thought, “Perfect conditions for a ridge hike.” So we kept on going. And it was a wonderful stroll.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (immature).
This route (my favorite) ascends 1,200 feet or so up and along the ridge overlooking Millcreek Canyon to the south, where there’s a busy trailhead coming up the opposite side. This so-called “Pipeline Trail” (following the route of an old redwood pipeline) climbs up aptly named “Rattlesnake Gulch” before ending at a dramatic Lake Bonneville overlook. Our route either takes us up a shady north-side switchback to the overlook, or up shady Coyote Canyon to a trail that runs up and over the ridge to the overlook. Sometimes eagles soar up there.
Today we took the switchback. No particularly outstanding bird sightings—although at nearly the highest point, I got a nice pic of a Broad-tailed Hummingbird—but the hike itself did wonders for Jack and me.
Now I expect we’ll wait several days—then do it again.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:56 a.m., I hiked some 1,200 feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch* 2. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 4. Spotted Towhee 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Black-chinned Hummingbird 7. Western Tanager 8. Black-capped Chickadee 9. House Wren 10. Broad-tailed Hummingbird** 11. Mourning Dove 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 13. Northern Flicker 14. Sparrow (sp)
Elsewhere
15. Eurasian Collared Dove
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
