Another wet, nippy morning—but only a little light snow falling. Got busy early, so dog and I didn’t head up until later than usual. Just us up there, aside from a bunch of unseen deer and a cottontail and a whole bunch of birds.
Numbers, not species—although I did happen to spy a pair of Canada Geese headed north. Saw at least forty robins and half as many juncos. Watched quietly for a while as chickadees cleaned out a nest cavity for imminent use. A Cooper’s Hawk was near their nest, and the scrub-jays have gone pretty quiet—nesting also, I’d wager.
Quite a few Spotted Towhees, too, as usual. I’ve learned to tell the males from females, the former being quite black on top, and the latter being very dark brown. Eastern Towhees are a breeze by comparison.
Tomorrow’s supposed to be sunny.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:40 a.m. (9:40d MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Melted snow and sun and insects, cottontail and deer, singing birds in numbers. What a difference a day makes, eh? Another quick hike with Jack—but more like spring, this one.
Fifteen species in all this morning on the hill, and another five elsewhere. Many robins moving through, and first waxwings of the year.
The April chill will remain for a bit, but the photoperiod lengthens.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:42 a.m. (8:42 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch* 2. American Robin* 3. Dark-eyed Junco 4. Spotted Towhee 5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 8. Northern Flicker (v) 9. Song Sparrow** (v) 10. Rock Pigeon* 11. Cassin’s Finch 12. Cooper’s Hawk 13. Pine Siskin (v) 14. Black-billed Magpie* 15. Lesser Goldfinch*
Elsewhere
16. European Starling 17. Eurasian Collared-dove 18. House Sparrow 19. Downy Woodpecker 20. Cedar Waxwing†
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year bird
On this bright, nippy morning’s hike with dog, I happened upon quite a few bird species. But I want to single out just one: Mourning Dove.
Late in our hike, we came around a shady curve and into a section of sun—when I saw a flutter and heard whistling wings. I just had a glimpse, but I knew what it was. Except I hadn’t seen where it’d flown. Took a few more steps, and again the dove (about ten feet in front of us on the trail) fluttered a short distance away. This time it posed for a photo.
A couple more steps and it whistled down into the shady canyon somewhere. The other species were fun and/or challenging—but for some reason I appreciated our encounter with the dove.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:34 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
