On the chilly morning of a warm day, dog and I had a lovely hike up in the foothills. Some nice sightings of bird species doing interesting things. (E.g., a Chukar calling from high on a ridge.) A few decent photos, too. A lot of spring things for Jack to smell.
Interesting to me was watching a pair of chickadees excavating a nest about halfway up the gully trail. We we got to their nest cavity, I didn’t see or hear the birds at all—which I attributed was due to a Cooper’s Hawk nearby—and sure enough a Cooper’s took wing, calling, and then the chickadees showed up, taking turns entering the hole and exiting with mouthfuls of chipped wood. (While in there, I could hear their excavations.)
Lots of birds at home, too. For possibly the first day this season, there was no trace of deep-seated doubt that spring is here.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:58 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Eurasian Collared-dove 2. Pine Siskin** 3. American Robin* 4. Spotted Towhee 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. House Finch* 7. Song Sparrow* (v) 8. Northern Flicker* 9. Cooper’s Hawk 10. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 11. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 12. Chukar 13. California Quail* (v) 14. Hairy Woodpecker 15. Turkey Vulture
Elsewhere
16. Lesser Goldfinch 17. House Sparrow 18. European Starling
Mammals
Mule Deer Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Only a degree or two above freezing this morning when dog and I headed up the trail. Breezy, too—windy almost. But mostly sunny (with a few big billowy clouds), and it’s always calmer under the ridge.
Quite a few bird species heard or seen, including a little wave of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. First I heard one while we were climbing the little shady gully (a.k.a., Coyote Canyon). Its voice was coming from up the south side where a bunch of deer were hanging out. Then, on the deer trail up closer to the deer, I heard (then saw) a pair if kinglets poking about in a juniper. Those two flew away, but two more showed up in another tree.
Finally, on our return, I heard (then saw) a sixth one flitting about in the scrub oak. More evidence of spring migration.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:52 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. American Robin* 2. House Finch* 3. Rock Pigeon* 4. Spotted Towhee 5. Pine Siskin 6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 7. Northern Flicker** (v) 8. Dark-eyed Junco 9. Chukar (v) 10. Black-capped Chickadee 11. Black-billed Magpie 12. California Quail** (v) 13. Song Sparrow* (v) 14. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v)
Elsewhere
15. House Sparrow (v) 16. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 17. Eurasian Collared-dove 18. European Starling 19. Red-tailed Hawk 20. Turkey Vulture
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
A cool but sunny morning, destined to be a warm midday, and for some reason dog and I headed up to the eastern ridge—and kept right on going. I didn’t bring a lot of water, but I guessed (correctly) that there’d be snow up there, so Jack had plenty of water. Even thought of continuing up to Grandeur Peak again, but we’re two years older now, and both have semi-creaky joints.
So we stopped at about 7,500 feet.
But what an accomplishment. We both felt it. We also felt a few aches and pains—but there was scenery, there were smells, there were birds and deer and distances.
Hell of a hike. Dog’s been snoozin’, and I had to take an ibuprofen.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:56 a.m., sun time, I hiked about 2,500 feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 2. American Robin* 3. Rock Pigeon* 4. House Finch** 5. Spotted Towhee 6. Pine Siskin** 7. Northern Flicker* (v) 8. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 9. Chukar 10. Townsend’s Solitaire 11. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 12. Common Raven 13. Song Sparrow* (v)
Elsewhere
14. House Sparrow (v) 15. California Quail 16. Lesser Goldfinch 17. Eurasian Collared-dove (v) 18. European Starling
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
