Dog and I hiked for about an hour and a half this morning in the mountain shade. It was a good hike, if light on bird activity—pleasantly nippy, light breeze, lovely scenery. I did meet up with the Downy Woodpecker again. (It’s becoming a daily thing.)

But I might’ve thought of the day as rather uneventful had I not—on our return, about the time the sun reached the trail—seen a curious bird-like shape in the shadow of a juniper way up on the ridge. I figured it’d turn out to be a smaller juniper, as is usually the case. But it was a Golden Eagle.

The eagle sat there, looking around, for at least fifteen minutes or so. Then the last time I glanced up there, it was gone.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:13 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch* (v)
2. Black-billed Magpie*
3. Black-capped Chickadee**
4. Spotted Towhee
5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. Pine Siskin
8. Downy Woodpecker
9. Golden Eagle
10. Northern Flicker**

Elsewhere

11. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
12. Rock Pigeon

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere