Up early again this morning for a hike (mostly) in the mountain shade. (The forecast was for a high of 100° (F) or more, and the weather gods delivered.) A pleasant hike, too. Few active bird species, and few individuals—who could blame ’em?—but a comely female grosbeak posed for a photo.
The day’s highlight? Before we headed up this morning, I happened to spy a pair of Bullock’s Orioles chowing down on fruit from a tree in the neighbors’ yard. Only the third and fourth orioles of the season.
Warmer day coming tomorrow. Perhaps we’ll get up there even earlier.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:11 a.m. (8:11 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Pretty great hike this nearly cloudless morning. Not far along, I spied today’s first-of-year bird: a female Bullock’s Oriole perched in a treed atop the bluff. I heard it first—its raspy chatter and a few more musical notes—and got a distant photo.
Also got a few first glimpses of a Warbling Vireo (the species has been around for several days, but I finally laid eyes on one), a couple flickers (for a change), a couple grosbeaks.
Saw no others on the trail, neither humans nor dogs. Just man other plant and animal species.
Maybe more migrants tomorrow.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:30 a.m. (8:30 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Serious birders use shorthand for the species they see or hear—four-letter alpha codes (based on the English names) standardized by the Institute for Bird Populations. So when you hear somebody say they saw a MODO and a flock of BOWAs, what they really mean is they saw a Mourning Dove and a bunch of Bohemian Waxwings.
The rules are fairly easy to follow, but sometimes there are conflicts. Back in Maine, for instance, when I saw a Black-throated Green Warbler, I might refer to it as a BTGW—but now that I’m birding Utah, what if I spy a Black-throated Gray Warbler? Welp, gotta learn to refer to it as a BTYW.
Long story short: today I saw a BTYW.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
