When I first checked the outside temperature this morning, it was 9° (F). We waited a bit longer than usual to head up to the trailhead, by which time it was maybe 12° or 3°. Near cloudless, though, and calm—so it was a lovely, lovely hike.
And a bunch of birds showed up, too. Most notably a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers appeared along the lower wooded trail (only saw the female), but there were bluebirds at the summit, joined (as usual) by yellow-rumps.
Heard a raven (not unusual, really), and both chickadees and titmice were singing their spring songs. (In a couple days it sure won’t feel like spring, but the photoperiod tells the tale.)
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:48 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Hairy Woodpecker (drumming) 2. Tufted Titmouse (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee** 4. American Robin 5. Downy Woodpecker 6. Red-bellied Woodpecker 7. American Crow* (v) 8. Common Raven (v) 9. Yellow-rumped Warbler 10. Eastern Bluebird 11. American Goldfinch (v)
Elsewhere
12. Herring Gull
Mammals
American Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
The temperature this early morning was cool enough—60s (F)—that, soon after dog and I started up the trail, I thought this might be a good time to hike up to the cairn ridge again finally. So that’s what we did.
The air was humid and smoky, which wasn’t ideal, but the resident bird nests have let loose plenty of fledglings, which makes for a good time: towhees, buntings, hummingbirds, hawk, gnatcatchers, a little dove. Notable today was the voice of a Downy Woodpecker, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird that decided to pose for a photo.
Long hike, high hike, good hike—and nobody fell down while descending.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:06 a.m. (8:06 MDT), I hiked about 1,000 feet up a mountain.
Still raining lightly this morning. Mists up in the mountains. Waited a couple hours for the rain to disperse a bit, then ascended the switchback into a landscape that I could almost hear sighing in sweet relief.
We were the only human and dog up there, but we encountered some interesting (if quiet) bird life. Like the red-tail perching on the cell tower below the bluff, the pair of Warbling Vireos, the random Rufous Hummingbird down by the gully. (Noticed for the first time that their wing beats have a distinctly different sound than either a black-chin’s or broad-tail’s.) And the little flock of chattering swallows as we descended toward the trailhead.
Last nights t-storm cut some nice deep ruts in the trails and slopes. We got kinda soaked from hiking through the freshly washed scrub oaks—but it wouldn’t have been nearly as sweet if we’d come out dry.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 9:12 a.m. (10:12 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
