This morning was nearly cloudless and warm as a coat pocket and tasted like spring. Towhees were singing, juncos were singing, finches were singing, chickadees were singing. In fact, dog and I encountered one particular chickadee cleaning out a nest cavity I saw in use last spring. The bird even posed for a photo.
While watching a few close-by dear on our blue-sky hike, I even got a little choked up with hope in this tumultuous world. For all the tumult, a lot of good exists on miraculous planet.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 09:21 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee 2. Dark-eyed Junco 3. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 4. American Robin** 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 7. House Finch** (v) 8. Pine Siskin** 9. Spotted Towhee 10. European Starling 11. Northern Flicker (v)
Elsewhere
12. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 13. Song Sparrow 14. House Sparrow (v)
Mammals
Mule Deer Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only * Also Elsewhere **Voice only Elsewhere
Another dusting of snow overnight, along with a dip in the temperature. Also a bit of wind. But warmer in the high desert sun. Quite a few bird species, too. Not high numbers, but a couple posed for photos. Also deer.
Tonight, here at home, the wind is a-roaring. There aren’t that many windy days here, but when they come, they let you know it. We’ll soon see how stormy it’ll be.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 08:49 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Northern Flicker (v) 2. Pine Siskin 3. House Finch** 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. Black-billed Magpie** 6. American Robin (v) 7. Rock Pigeon* 8. Song Sparrow** (v) 9. Black-capped Chickadee 10. Dark-eyed Junco 11. Spotted Towhee (v)
Elsewhere
12. European Starling 13. House Sparrow (v) 14. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Right about freezing when dog and I hit the trail. But as the sun rose above the ridge, you could see that the landscape had changed: two-three inches of snow from two days ago, gone on the southern exposures. And I hear the weekend days will be warmer still—again springlike.
Not great groups of birds today, but a nice species list. Notable was the solitary Cooper’s Hawk that we spooked from a tree below us. Three finch species.
And robins down by the house—where the snow had melted in the yard.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 08:54 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
