7 November 2026

Posts Tagged ‘European starling’

June-uary

Thursday, February 10th, 2022
Dark-eyed Junco, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 10 February 2022.
Dark-eyed Junco.

Hot-dang, was it warm this morning. For February, I mean. When dog and I hit the trail, the temperature was pushing 40° (F).

Not sure, but I think it confused a few birds. Finches singing brightly, scrub-jays engaging in some kind of courtship and/or territorial ceremonies—collared-doves, too. But it’s oh-so dry, drought-dry. No snow cover to speak of. The deer were browsing high up.

Still a bunch of juncos, though. Snowbirds everywhere.

Grandeur Peak Area List
At 09:33 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch**
2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay**
3. Rock Pigeon*
4. Dark-eyed Junco
5. Eurasian Collared-dove* (v)
6. Black-billed Magpie*
7. Black-capped Chickadee**
8. Pine Siskin (v)
9. American Robin* (v)

Elsewhere

10. House Sparrow (v)
11. Song Sparrow
12. European Starling

Mammals

Mountain Cottontail
Mule Deer

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

City Bird

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022

Unexpectedly (by me, at least), a little snow fell overnight—maybe three quarters of an inch. I worried about slippage on the icy switchbacks, but Jack has memorized the slick patches and detoured around ’em just fine.

Unexpectedly (also by me) a relatively birdless hike. Six species, few individuals, none would pose for photos. (Did see a whole bunch of deer, at least.) So, since no foothills birds would oblige, I grabbed a photo of a starling in a tree by the grocery store.

Gonna get down into the teens (F) tonight.

Grandeur Peak Area List
At 09:33 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. American Robin* (v)
2. Black-billed Magpie (v)
3. Rock Pigeon*
4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
5. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
6. House Finch**

Elsewhere

7. Song Sparrow (v)
8. European Starling
9. California Gull

Mammals

Mule Deer
Red Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

Certainty of Spring

Thursday, January 27th, 2022
Lesser Goldfinch, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 27 January 2022.
Lesser Goldfinch.

Nippier this morning. Temps down to about 20° (F), but nearly cloudless, so warm enough. Only a tiny bit of breeze.

And quiet. Few birds about—no calls of magpies, nor flickers, nor siskins. If not for the solitaires (saw two and heard a third) and a little flock of goldfinches, the most interesting critters would’ve been a little herd of deer.

Chickadees and finches were singing, though. Evidence of the certainty of spring.

Grandeur Peak Area List
At 09:20 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch**
2. Townsend’s Solitaire
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Rock Pigeon*
5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
6. Lesser Goldfinch

Elsewhere

7. Song Sparrow (v)
8. House Sparrow (v)
9. European Starling
10. Mourning Dove

Mammals

Red Squirrel
Mule Deer

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 
Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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