Light, wet snow this morning. Also, this was my day to shop for groceries in a pandemic. Long story short: dog and I didn’t get up the hill until early afternoon (DST—high noon Earth time).
By then, the sun had come out.
No really outlandish birds, but a lovely hike. I did catch the chattering call of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, then (about ten minutes later) managed to spot the bird, which felt like a minor success and/or vindication.
Lots of robins, juncos, towhees. And a pair of ravens.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 1:00 p.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee* 2. Black-billed Magpie* 3. Eastern Towhee 4. House Finch* (v) 5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 6. Song Sparrow* (v) 7. American Robin* 8. Dark-eyed Junco 9. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10. Northern Flicker 11. Common Raven 12. Turkey Vulture 13. Pine Siskin
Elsewhere
14. Eurasian Collared Dove 15. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 16. European Starling 17. Rock Pigeon 18. California Quail
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
This morning brought cloudiness and a little light rain. Didn’t stop dog and me from making our usual rounds.
Spied a Mountain Cottontail. Amassed a list of a dozen bird species on the mountainside. Then, back home, a big flock of waxwings descended on the flowering trees in the yard.
Feels more like spring every day.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Northern Flicker 2. Song Sparrow* (v) 3. Eastern Towhee 4. Pine Siskin 5. Black-billed Magpie* 6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay* 7. Black-capped Chickadee* 8. American Robin* 9. House Finch* (v) 10. Dark-eyed Junco 11. Canada Goose 12. Red-tailed Hawk
Elsewhere
13. Eurasian Collared Dove 14. Downy Woodpecker (v) 15. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 16. European Starling 17. Cedar Waxwing
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
A coldish morning. Temps in the 20s (F) when Jack and I hit the trail. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t encounter a huge selection of bird species. However, of those I did encounter, many were singing.
Towhees were singing. Chickadees. House Finches—and the corvids were making their equivalent of song.
When the weather warms a bit, about the time the rattlesnakes come out, I imagine there’ll be some sweet music up there. Feeling the anticipation.
Note: had another little earthquake in SLC this evening.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
Bird Report is an intermittent record of what's outside my window in Rockport, Maine, USA (44°08'N latitude, 69°06'W longitude), and vicinity. —Brian Willson
