Lately there’ve been a lot of flickers in the neighborhood. You hear them first, then—if you’re lucky (as I was this morning)—you might sneak up and grab a photo.
Pine Siskin.
Today I saw four Northern Flickers (and heard a couple others). Also had a couple of Downy Woodpeckers. Those are the only woodpecker’s I’ve seen here. Which reminds me that I’ve not seen any Utah owls yet—no doubt because they don’t frequent my patch when dog and I got hiking.
Also saw a whole lot of Pine Siskins today all of a sudden. More than a dozen. It’s fun stroll quietly along a deer trail with a sort of secret knowledge that something’s up in the natural world—especially when we can usually hear most other folks we meet on the trail long before they come into view.
(Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:02 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 2. House Finch* 3. Pine Siskin* 4. Black-capped Chickadee** 5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 6. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7. Spotted Towhee 8. Northern Flicker** 9. Downy Woodpecker 10. American Robin 11. Dark-eyed Junco 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch 13. Black-chinned Hummingbird 14. Lesser Goldfinch* (v) 15. Rock Pigeon
Elsewhere
16. California Quail (v)
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Within ten or fifteen minutes of hitting the trail this morning, I could tell last night brought fair migration winds. I say “fair” winds because of the good variety of species I spied early—Western Tanager, Western Wood-pewee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a few other species-in-a-hurry that I couldn’t ID. Has me psyched about the days to come.
Western Wood-pewee.
But the sweetest thing about my hike with dog this cool morning was the company of Black-capped Chickadees. What with the recent spate of western fires, a hurricane making landfall, and other dramatic climate events, it’d be easy to fall into a funk. But there they are, the chickadees, their optimistic-sounding voices as they check in with each other—voices so matter-of-fact and unworried that they attract other little silent species moving through the foliage.
One even flew within inches of my head today. I thought it might land on my hat, but it didn’t. Maybe someday.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:11 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 2. House Finch* 3. Black-capped Chickadee** 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. Black-chinned Hummingbird 6. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7. Spotted Towhee 8. Northern Flicker** 9. Western Tanager 10. Downy Woodpecker 11. Sparrow (sp) 12. Western Wood-pewee 13. American Robin 14. Yellow-rumped Warbler 15. Lesser Goldfinch* 16. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 17. House Wren
Elsewhere
18. California Quail
Mammals
Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Weather-wise, a morning much like the last two or three. Bird-wise, rather inauspicious. I did spot a Green-tailed Towhee (first bird of the hike), but otherwise the usual species, dipped on a couple of species, no great photos.
A highlight was the appearance in the burnt patch by a little pack four male Downy Woodpeckers. Not sure I’ve ever seen such a thing before. Cool.
(Meanwhile, though, I’m alarmed by a report of hundreds of thousands of dead birds found in New Mexico and other places in western states. Perhaps the record wildfires forcing too-early migration, perhaps some mysterious other factor. Whatever the cause, it felt like a kick in the gut.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:16 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Green-tailed Towhee 2. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Mourning Dove 5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 6. Black-chinned Hummingbird 7. Spotted Towhee 8. House Finch* 9. Downy Woodpecker 10. American Robin 11. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 12. Pine Siskin (v) 13. Black-billed Magpie** (v) 14. Lesser Goldfinch* 15. Sparrow (sp.)
Elsewhere
16. California Quail 17. Rock Pigeon 18. Barn Swallow
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
