A nearly cloudless, chilly morn—but not as chilly as yesterday. Soon enough, in fact, the rising sun warmed us up considerably, dog and me. And there were birds.
Heard, then saw, a male American Goldfinch. Not a migrant necessarily, but my first since last year. Two vultures moving through. A calling Red-breasted Nuthatch. A calling quail. Two scrub-jays “kissing.” A couple vultures circling, A solitary solitaire.
On our return, not far above the trailhead, I heard the sudden, loud song of a warbler in a leafing-out maple nearby. I left the trail and slid down the slope a bit and finally got a glimpse of it: a first-of-year Orange-crowned Warbler. (I’m determined now to become wholly familiar with their song.)
Tomorrow it’s supposed to get to 80° (F). I expect more new birds moving through.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:12 a.m. (8:12 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Song Sparrow** (v) 2. American Robin* 3. Spotted Towhee 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. American Goldfinch 6. Rock Pigeon* 7. Red-breasted Nuthatch 8. Townsend’s Solitaire 9. Northern Flicker** (v) 10. California Quail 11. Lesser Goldfinch* (v) 12. House Finch** 13. Cooper’s Hawk 14. Turkey Vulture 15. Dark-eyed Junco 16. Orange-crowned Warbler†
Elsewhere
17. House Sparrow (v)
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Mule Deer Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year bird
A snow-showery morning. Fog above and mud below up on the deer trails with dog. Aside from a few deer and a modest collection of birds, we were along up there, Jack and I. Few decent photo opportunities (other than artsy fog photos).
But back home in late-afternoon, the sun emerged, and a flicker paused and posed.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8 a.m. (9 a.m. MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Spotted Towhee 2. Dark-eyed Junco** 3. House Finch* (v) 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. American Robin* (v) 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. Rock Pigeon* 8. Song Sparrow* (v) 9. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 10. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
Elsewhere
11. Eurasian Collared-dove 12. European Starling 13. Northern Flicker
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
We got to the trailhead about ten minutes later this morning than usual. By design, kind of. I wondered if a later start might lead to more action than a hike mostly in the mountain shade.
Right away, the action was pretty great—within about five minutes, I had several species, including a nuthatch, two titmice, a Mountain Chickadee, and a female Downy Woodpecker (later found the male in his usual patch). But then things settled down for much of the rest of the hike.
Until the last hundred yards or so, which brought a flurry of activity: juncos, a Cooper’s Hawk, a singing Townsend’s Solitaire, and two finch species.
Honestly, I doubt the later start had anything to do with it. Still a fun day, though.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:40 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
