A warmish (40s F), overcast, breezy morning when dog and I started up the switchback. A fair selection of birds above the neighborhood, but low numbers compared to recent days. A siren rose from the basin, and a family of coyotes broke into song. Heard the solitaire down below.
Plenty of evidence of deer on the deer trails: hoof prints all over the place, snow cleared away for access to greenery. We even spooked a big one coming up the trail—then, on our return trip, I spied at least five more, just chillin’ up the north slope above the gully.
Added an American Goldfinch on our return. A good gloomy hike in a wildly beautiful landscape.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 8:49 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch (v) 2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Rock Pigeon* 5. Northern Flicker** 6. Townsend’s Solitaire (v) 7. Black-billed Magpie** 8. American Goldfinch (v)
Mammals
Mountain Coyote (v) Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Welp, it snowed. A nice, steady snow—drier than yesterday’s showers. Piled up several inches in the neighborhood (and close to a foot up on the deer trails) by the time it stopped, rather suddenly, about 9 a.m. That’s when dog and I hit the trail.
What a lovely day, with snow clinging to everything. And birds were about—ten species total, with finches (four species) being most abundant.
Also ran into a couple of dog-walking friends, heard singing coyotes, saw my first deer of the season, and took some photos of lovely, snowy landscapes. I’d call that a successful morn.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 9:37 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 2. Northern Flicker (v) 3. House Finch* 4. Lesser Goldfinch 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 7. American Goldfinch 8. Black-billed Magpie** (v) 9. Pine Siskin (v) 10. Dark-eyed Junco
Elsewhere
11. American Robin (v) 12. Mourning Dove
Mammals
Mountain Coyote (v) Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Dog and I reached the trailhead a bit earlier than on the past few mornings. Mostly cloudy, 40s (F), very slight breeze. The sky was a lovely one, and the air tasted brisk and cool A quiet one, bird-wise, though.
However, upon topping the switchback, while circumnavigating the old Monarch Quarry to reach the bluff (as we do every day), I saw something. A shape in a scrub oak. Might’ve been a limb, but it stood erect enough to make me think it might be a bird. It was a bird. A Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Backlit by the morning sun, I snuck close enough for photos before it dipped away over the bluff and disappeared.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 8:40 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
