’Twas a chilly, gray morning. The air was clean, the sky tumultous. The forecast called for the possibility of thundershowers later. (Only a little light rain came.) Dog and I enjoyed a quick, sweet hike up the trails.
Black-chinned Hummingbird.
Not so many birds, although those we encountered were quite vocal, including one calling in the greenery that I did not recognize. (Possibly an odd-voiced towhee.) The two most photogenic species were—again—Lazuli Bunting and Black-chinned Hummingbird.
Still quite a few resident species I have not seen; still time to see ’em, but I might have to stray from my patch.
And I do love my sweet patch.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked some 1,500 feet up a mountain.
Dog and I did the Millcreek circuit today—up the valley, over the ridge, down the switchback—an elevation gain of about 1,500 feet or so. The day was mild, a bit breezy, comfortable. The landscape was green.
And I’m kinda crushin’ on Black-chinned Hummingbirds.
So many today (I’m thinking at least eight), and in all the places I know they’ll be. I have a feeling that by now they even recognize Jack and me.
And I’m learning their behavioral quirks. In particular, I’m diggin’ their great pendulous flight displays—it’s as if they’re writing a gigantic U above the landscape. I’m also learning what flowers they like to sip.
Not seeing as many Broad-tailed Hummingbirds these days. (Guessing they’re earlier nesters and so have gone rather quiet.) But that’s O.K. by me.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked some 1,500 feet up a mountain.
There are so many hummingbirds around here. This, first spring in Utah, has me wide-eyed (and -eared) at just how many of these little hummers there are zipping around the sage and scrub.
Every day for a couple weeks, I’ve seen and/or heard at least six or eight individual hummingbirds—nearly always both black-chinned and broad-tailed—and often a dozen or more. Their behavior is interesting—wing-trills and pendulum dances and hovering in one place for seconds above a human and canine on the trail.
This gusty morning, at a fairly high elevation with few trees about, I came upon a black-chinned sipping on the lovely red Rough Indian Paintbrush flowers. Just one of many things I’ve learned about these hardy little survivors.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked about 1,000 feet up a mountain.
