Cooler temps, snow on the ground—feels like winter again. A lot of wildlife activity, too: ten varied bird species (several posed for photos)and about 30 deer (near and far). Also lovely skies.
Red-tailed Hawk.
Most notable, perhaps, was the Red-tailed Hawk that decided to grab a perch on the bluff as we were descending (no doubt the same bird I’d seen on a utility pole from that very bluff on our ascent). But also a photogenic chickadee.
Who doesn’t love a chickadee?
Grandeur Peak Area List At 08:54 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch** (v) 2. Song Sparrow* (v) 3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay (v) 4. Rock Pigeon* 5. Northern Flicker* (v) 6. Pine Siskin 7. Red-tailed Hawk 8. Townsend’s Solitaire (v) 9. Black-capped Chickadee 10. Dark-eyed Junco
Elsewhere
11. American Robin 12. Spotted Towhee (v) 13. European Starling 14. House Sparrow (v)
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Another dry, blue-sky morning. Thanks to the 24-hour thaw, freeze, thaw, the icy parts of the switchback are dwindling—but the remnants are slick as can be. So we’re careful, dog and me.
Quite a few birds about—especially juncos—but few would pose for photos. Noteworthy was the first singing towhee of the year (apparently fooled by the crazy warm weather into thinking it’s spring and not February. Most noteworthy, though, was a herd of about thirty elk I happened so spy on a far, grassy foothill. First elk I’ve seen since early 2021.
A wee bit of snow is forecast for Tuesday. We shall see how that goes.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 09:05 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Song Sparrow (v) 2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 3. Rock Pigeon* 4. California Quail (v) 5. House Finch* (v) 6. Dark-eyed Junco 7. Pine Siskin (v) 8. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 9. Black-billed Magpie** 10. Black-capped Chickadee 11. Spotted Towhee 12. American Robin
Elsewhere
13. Northern Flicker 14. European Starling (v)
Mammals
Red Squirrel Rocky Mountain Elk Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Another lovely morning hike with dog. However—as I’ve been noting—it’s really way too dry. Or should I say, much dryer than is usual for these parts at this time of year. In short, we’ve got ourselves a megadrought.
Felt like spring again, and the birds appear to be enjoying it, such as there are—and there were quite a few species today. But I’m missing a few, too, e.g., when’s the last time I saw a Mountain Chickadee? Seems last winter they were coming down to visit neighborhood feeders.
Most snow has melted, and the trail is muddy, and the temperature reached 50° (F) again. Crazy.
Still, Mother Nature has her reasons, I do believe,
Grandeur Peak Area List At 09:05 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Song Sparrow** (v) 2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 3. Rock Pigeon* 4. House Finch* 5. Dark-eyed Junco 6. Spotted Towhee 7. Black-billed Magpie* 8. Pine Siskin (v) 9. Northern Flicker (v) 10. Lesser Goldfinch** 11. American robin* (v) 12. Steller’s Jay
Elsewhere
13. House Sparrow (v) 14. European Starling 15. Eurasian Collared-dove
Mammals
Red Squirrel Mountain Cottontail Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
