The magpies have fledged. Pretty sure the scrub-jays, too. Certainly the starlings have. But up on the mountain trails, a few species have yet to build their nests—or have just built them, just laid, or are still incubating eggs (or warming nestlings). Gnatcatchers are still sitting on the nest I found.
I expect the youngsters to start making subtle begging sounds any day now. The adults are surely making plenty of noise when a human and/or a dog come near. Or, heaven forbid, a scrub-jay: Today I watched a tiny Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher dive-bomb a jay that had dared to approach to near its nest. Over and over. It drove that big bird a good hundred feet away, at least.
I admire the feisty little gnatcatchers. Not sure the gnats agree.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
After a few nights of not quite enough sleep (ever since the bakyard mountain lion), I finally had a great one. Thus, the sun had already topped the peaks by the time dog and I hit mountain trail.
Somehow, accidentally (as is usually the case), we ended up doing our favorite high loop: up the shaded valley, around and over the ridge above Millcreek Canyon, down to the Pipeline Outlook, and back.
[Note: I’m still learning the names of places here. Please forgive my past misnomers.]
The weather was cool, breezy, nearly cloudless, lovely. The birds were fairly abundant, interesting, fun to watch, and maddeningly uncooperative photo subjects. Still, I had a blast—in particular, today, observing behavioral peculiarities.
For instance, not 50 feet from the trailhead, a magpie fledgling fluttered over onto a low branch very near Jack and me. This caused the parents to freak out, swoop down, and immediately begin to yell at us things like “Away with you, human devils!” Also, “Begone, murderers!” Jack was a lot less fazed than I.
Not long after, I watched a female Lazuli Bunting flit down onto a dead twig not far from the trail. At once this bird ducked its head down, raised its tail, and opened its wings a bit—then began to quiver a little and (just maybe) begin to emit a faint call that might be described as a nearly inaudible “Squee!” (I actually took a little video of this, half-expecting a male to show up and the two of them to get busy, but it didn’t happen.)
That’s not all, but I won’t bore you. Suffice it to say that these little observations of bird behavior never cease to astound and entertain.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked some 1,200 feet up a mountain.
A little nippy this morning. We had no human company on the trail, dog and I, until most of our hike was over. Plenty of wildlife, though.
Mountain Coyote.
For one instance, I spied at least three cottontails hopping around in the grass. For another, I caught sight of a coyote up one grassy slope, eyeing us attentively. For a third, I stumbled onto two lifers, bird-wise. (One, the MacGillivray’s Warbler, had been driving me nuts for two days prior—never got a glimpse of the bird and couldn’t match its song. Today I got a swift peek.)
The weather was mixed but pleasant. The trail seemed friendly, the surroundings turning lush. Tonight will come some rain—so tomorrow might be lusher.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
