This morning was kinda cool—not only temperature-wise, but birding-wise. E.g., a random Olive-sided Flycatcher appeared out of nowhere and perched at the top of the tallest Russian Olive (no great photo, alas). And a good-sized flock of Lesser Goldfinches showed up out of the (literal) blue.
But most cool wasd my first-ever look at hummingbird parent dealing with hummingbird youngsters. The gully had broad-tails again, but this time I saw more than one—three, in fact. It wasn’t a close look, and I wasn’t exactly positive what was going on, but it sure looked like a busy adult was dealing (not always patiently) with a pair of fledglings. Twitters were uttered, and tailes were flashed. It was some fun.
(Back at the house, the little quail family remains obsessed with the garden out front. Also a fun distraction.)
No rain today. Now crossing my fingers for the weekend.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 6:57 a.m. (7:57 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Chilly, breezy morning. Sweatshirt weather again. But within a few minutes of beginning my hike with dog, I could tell it was gonna be a big day.
Bird after bird after bird. Species after species. A pair of Western Tanagers, an Olive-sided Warbler with a yellow jacket in its beak, two sparrow species, two warblers, three hummingbirds. I took nearly 900 photos. (Took a while to winnow them down to a couple hundred or so.)
And for the first time I heard the sweet calls of the wren—whose photo was the best of the bunch, I decided.
From four species Tuesday to 22 this morning. A fun day for sure.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:17 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
I thought yesterday was pretty chilly for August. This morning was chillier—in the 40s (F) in the mountain shade when dog and I headed up the trailhead. I felt both a chill and a thrill, thinking the nip in the air might provide some interesting bird sightings, as various species got to thinking the equivalent of, “O.K., here we go.”
Olive-sided Flycatcher.
Although our hike began slow, I ended up not being disappointed.
Within a minute of my saying to Jack, “Well, this has been kind of a bust,” a Warbling Vireo popped up in a scrub-oak ahead of us. (Watched it snag a caterpillar.) Then along came a couple dozen House Finches, numerous gnatcatchers, and a Brewer’s Sparrow or two. On the last leg of our return, I even got to watch an Olive-sided Flycatcher, well, catching flies.
Finally I said to Jack—summing up our hike as we approached the trailhead—“From ‘zip’ to ‘ZIPPO’!”
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:10 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
