Much unlike yesterday’s lowery overcast, this morning’s sky had no clouds in it, and the air carried quite a chill. Still fun to watch the doings of the wild bird life—especially, this morning, the Black-chinned Hummingbirds.
Broad-tails are also nesting around here somewhere, but it’s the black-chinneds that are zipping around everywhere above the scrubby surrounds. I’ve learned the peculiar hum their wings make as they zip by, as well as the fluty sounds those wings can emit when they’re doing their “U” display—zip up, pause zip down and up, pause, back and forth in the exaggerated shape of the alphabets twenty-first letter.
Today, I watched this display in minature, as a black-chinned made little declarative U’s in front of clump of sagebrush. I spied another hummer within the slump—rival? potential mate?—as the U-maker decided to perch for a bit.
That’s when I took this picture.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:11 a.m. (8:11 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Standoff between Cooper’s Hawk and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
A couple months ago I noticed signs of a Cooper’s Hawk nest on the far wooded hillside above Coyote Canyon—whose trail I hike most days with dog. In the past week or so I’ve seen a lot of Cooper’s Hawks.
Female Cooper’s Hawk (with prey).
Today I saw two, each with prey in its talons. The first was a small sleek adult (a male, I feel sure) was perched in the open, fending off a brave attack by two tiny gnatcatchers. The second (a few minutes later) was a big female in the trees, whose occasional calls sounded a lot like a sapsucker.
[Note: I’ve edited yesterday’s “sapsucker” mention—I’m sure it was the same bird.]
I’ve lately seen at least one juvie Cooper’s circling. I’m sure the young ’uns have fledged. The adults’ behavior interests me. (Did the male bring the female the bird he caught? If so, why?) Most notable, today, was the difference in size of the adults: the female (as is not uncommon hawk circles) was nearly twice the size as the male.
It seems, at least, there are plenty of smaller birds about to feed the family.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Slept late this morning. We didn’t make it to the trailhead until the sun had long cleared the ridge. Warm, not too breezy. Didn’t know what to expect.
Not many birds on my list, but what showed up were vocal. The usual buntings and towhees and grosbeaks, along with chippies, finches, gnatcatchers. No magpies, which was odd. And the cherry on top was a cooperative Black-throated Gray Warbler (singing an interesting alternate song that—astonishingly—didn’t fool me).
After two long hikes, today’s was a quick one. Rain forecast for the weekend. Wind and rain. Scattered thunderstorms. Should be interesting. Looking forward to it.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
