Got a whiff of smoke this morning on my hike with dog. A haze hovered over the basin. The fires in California are alarming, to say the least—as is the local drought. Thought we’d be getting some rain tomorrow, but apparently not. Going on two months without significant rain.
Perhaps that’s why things continue to be quiet up the foothills trails. Mostly the usual suspects this morning, bu also a couple of birds whose calls I didn’t recognize. One in particular—with a semi-harsh, semi-musical chip-note—flitted out of a juniper and showed itself to be warbler-sized with flashes of yellow. Tried to track it down but didn’t see it again. Another little chattery bird, too, I couldn’t sneak up on.
“Dips” in birding lingo usually mean you’ve heard of a rare or interesting sighting and go looking for it but fail to find it—i.e., you “dipped” on the bird. In my mind the same applies in the shorter term: you see or hear something curious but don’t end up getting a good look. Happens a lot.
But also, on occasion, you stumble onto a pretty great sighting without even trying. It all works out in the end, I suppose.
No smoky smell later in the day. I hope at least the West Coast gets a little rain.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:13 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Lately there’ve been a lot of flickers in the neighborhood. You hear them first, then—if you’re lucky (as I was this morning)—you might sneak up and grab a photo.
Pine Siskin.
Today I saw four Northern Flickers (and heard a couple others). Also had a couple of Downy Woodpeckers. Those are the only woodpecker’s I’ve seen here. Which reminds me that I’ve not seen any Utah owls yet—no doubt because they don’t frequent my patch when dog and I got hiking.
Also saw a whole lot of Pine Siskins today all of a sudden. More than a dozen. It’s fun stroll quietly along a deer trail with a sort of secret knowledge that something’s up in the natural world—especially when we can usually hear most other folks we meet on the trail long before they come into view.
(Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:02 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 2. House Finch* 3. Pine Siskin* 4. Black-capped Chickadee** 5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 6. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7. Spotted Towhee 8. Northern Flicker** 9. Downy Woodpecker 10. American Robin 11. Dark-eyed Junco 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch 13. Black-chinned Hummingbird 14. Lesser Goldfinch* (v) 15. Rock Pigeon
Elsewhere
16. California Quail (v)
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Within ten or fifteen minutes of hitting the trail this morning, I could tell last night brought fair migration winds. I say “fair” winds because of the good variety of species I spied early—Western Tanager, Western Wood-pewee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a few other species-in-a-hurry that I couldn’t ID. Has me psyched about the days to come.
Western Wood-pewee.
But the sweetest thing about my hike with dog this cool morning was the company of Black-capped Chickadees. What with the recent spate of western fires, a hurricane making landfall, and other dramatic climate events, it’d be easy to fall into a funk. But there they are, the chickadees, their optimistic-sounding voices as they check in with each other—voices so matter-of-fact and unworried that they attract other little silent species moving through the foliage.
One even flew within inches of my head today. I thought it might land on my hat, but it didn’t. Maybe someday.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:11 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 2. House Finch* 3. Black-capped Chickadee** 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. Black-chinned Hummingbird 6. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7. Spotted Towhee 8. Northern Flicker** 9. Western Tanager 10. Downy Woodpecker 11. Sparrow (sp) 12. Western Wood-pewee 13. American Robin 14. Yellow-rumped Warbler 15. Lesser Goldfinch* 16. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 17. House Wren
Elsewhere
18. California Quail
Mammals
Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
