I’d seen a few Blue-gray Gnatcatchers before moving to Utah—all during migration at Monhegan, I believe— but these feisty, entertaining little birds are common nesters where dog and I hike every morning. By now, I feel kinda like we’re pals.

This morning was mostly (mercifully) overcast and so not as unseasonably warm as in recent days. The gnatcatchers were as usual vocal and active, flitting from twig to twig, dive-bombing scrub-jays, warning Jack and me away from their nest deep in a scrub oak patch near the bluff. Their calls when we pass near are bright and varied and urgent. They flash the white feathers of their tails.

Last year we passed an active gnatcatcher nest every day where the trail passes through a shady tunnel of greenery. Over winter, the nest disintegrated—but I still look fondly at the little scrub oak crook where it sat and think of the tiny bird nestled there, warming the eggs and protecting the hatchlings.

I guess I kind of have a thing for gnatcatchers.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 6:55 a.m. (7:55 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch**
2. American Robin*
3. Lazuli Bunting
4. Spotted Towhee
5. Rock Pigeon*
6. Black-chinned Hummingbird
7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
9. Black-headed Grosbeak
10. Black-billed Magpie*
11. Warbling Vireo (v)ddd
12. Chipping Sparrow
13. Black-capped Chickadee
14. Black-throated Gray Warbler
15. Cooper’s Hawk
16. Northern Flicker

Elsewhere

17. Song Sparrow (v)
18. Eurasian Collared-doved
19. California Quail
20. House Sparrow (v)

Mammals

Rock Squirrel
Mountain Cottontail

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