During this morning’s hike with dog, as we were up in the junipers near where yesterday’s sharpie appeared, a hummingbird approached us quietly and hovered several feet away. It hung in midair and looked at Jack, then it shifted a bit higher—maybe four feet from my face—and inspected me. Then it lit on a twig about five feet away and posed for photos.

This kind of thing has happened several times along the trails we travel, and always I feel blessed (for both me and Jack).

I felt less blessed later, when trying to ID this young hummer. I had a very near view of the critter, but still the photos I checked online (and comparisons of field marks) didn’t prove especially helpful. I’d assumed it was a Broad-tailed Hummingbird—it was in an area they frequent—but its wings made no sound, and its sides seemed more orange than buff-colored, and its feathers had sort of orangish hue, and I wondered if it were a young Rufous Hummingbird.

I don’t have a lot of experience identifying hummingbirds, and young ones are especially puzzling to me. After nearly an hour struggling to make an ID, I finally settled on broad-tailed. (I’m still not sure.)

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:57 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. Rock Pigeon*
2. Lesser Goldfinch*
3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay**
4. Mourning Dove
5. Red-breasted Nuthatch
6. Black-chinned Hummingbird*
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8. Red-tailed Hawk
9. Spotted Towhee
10. Black-capped Chickadee**
11. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
12. House Wren†
13. House Finch*
14. Black-billed Magpie*
15. Barn Swallow

Elsewhere

16. Eurasian Collared Dove
17. California Quail
18. Song Sparrow

Mammals

Rock Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird