Yet another morning like the past few—cool in the shade, warm in the sun, pleasant, lovely, dry. Nothing out of the ordinary, bird-wise, but a very good hike with a very good dog.
During which I got to thinking about my routine. A long-time routine, a daily routine. Hike a couple miles with my best bud, look/listen for birds, take their photographs (if/when possible), keep track of ’em in my head. It’s a comforting routine, especially the part about being out in what I consider the Real World (i.e., Nature’s realm). The photos sure take a while, though.
Maybe two hours a day—or, rather, evening—I spend going through the hundreds of digital images I’ve captured, marking the decent ones, narrowing down a dozen or two to choose those I’ll share on social media. Keeps me up late sometimes (e.g., now). Don’t I have better things to do with my time?
Maybe. Maybe I do. But I’m not gonna worry about it just yet. Keeps me engaged in not-too-distant past.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:05 a.m. (8:05 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
These past couple days, as the temperatures in the Pacific Northwest broke all-time heat records (121°F in British Columbia??), Jack and I have had some nice coolish morning hikes up the foothills trails. Upper 60s to start, maybe mid-70s at the end. Today the trend continued.
Yep, it was a lovely morning for a walk in the high desert. We’ve even had scattered thundershowers lately.
[Sucks about anthropogenic climate change, though.]
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:05 a.m. (8:05 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Lazuli Bunting 2. Black-billed Magpie* 3. House Finch** 4. Song Sparrow* 5. Mourning Dove 6. Black-chinned Hummingbird 7. Spotted Towhee 8. Rock Pigeon 9. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 10. Black-headed Grosbeak 11. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 12. American Robin** (v) 13. Warbling Vireo (v) 14. Black-throated Gray Warbler 15. Turkey Vulture
Elsewhere
16. Eurasian Collared-dove 17. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 18. California Quail 19. House Sparrow (v)
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Summer before last when I moved here, just walking with Jack in the neighborhood, I came upon a little covey of quail. California Quail, adults and juvies. I had no idea they lived around here—but thanks to some transplants back in the 1800s, they do.
They’ve been fun to watch, to get to know. At this time of year, they have young ’uns. I’ve seen fewer young ’uns than in the past two years (just one with its mom this afternoon), but they still inspire in me the power of tiny living things to mature quickly, to beat the odds, to survive to adulthood, and to bring into the world other tiny living things.
LFG, little quail.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:14 a.m. (8:14 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
