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.
This one was supposed to be a warm day. And it was. But the real heat didn’t rise until after dog and I had finished a delicious hike in the sun.
Delicious for me on account of all the migrating bird life—including a first-of-year (and very likely only-of-year) Plumbeous Vireo—and delicious for Jack on account of all the smells.
We shall see what tomorrow brings.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:42 a.m. (8:42 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
This morning’s hike with Jack was a little different, in that we traveled in a group of four humans and four dogs. The dogs were friendly and well-behaved, and the humans were looking for wild birds.
And wild birds were found. Not everyone saw every species, but there were plenty to choose from—including two first-of-year (to me) birds: Violet-green Swallow and Gray Flycatcher. (I’d thought at first the flycatcher was a lifer, but turns out I spotted my first last May.) Was a fun time.
Tomorrow will be a summerlike day, so they say. Very likely the best spring migration birding in the week or two to come.
[Aside: Tomorrow afternoon I’m scheduled to give a Zoom slideshow presented by Coastal Mountains Land Trust, facilitated by the Camden (Maine) Public Library, comparing and contrasting the birds and other wildlife of coastal Maine and the Wasatch range. Fun!]
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:30 a.m. (8:30 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
