9 February 2025

Posts Tagged ‘Eurasiancollared-dove’

Fickle Weather

Thursday, April 15th, 2021
Red-tailed Hawk, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 15 April 2021.
Red-tailed Hawk.
Vesper Sparrow, East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 15 April 2021.
Vesper Sparrow.

Wind again last night, but it subsided a bit by morning. Overcast, but none of yesterday’s buckets of precipitation—rather the promise of some light snow showers. Dog and I headed up the switchback into a morning of fickle weather.

A little breeze, some patches of blue, then a smattering of icy snowflakes that made a pattering sound on last year’s old bigtooth maple leaves, then the snow stopped. Muddy trails still, but many more interesting birds—including a pair of hawk species, three dozen robins, a pair of finches gathering nest material, and a Vesper Sparrow.

That was the funnest moment—near the end of our hike. I thought it a Song Sparrow at first glance as it hopped along the trail ahead of us, visiting grassy patches. (Must confess I didn’t make the ID until looking at photos later.)

More interesting weather tomorrow, so I’m told.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m. (8:45 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. American Robin*
2. Spotted Towhee
3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
4. Northern Flicker** (v)
5. House Finch*
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. Black-capped Chickadee*
8. Red-tailed Hawk
9. Cooper’s Hawk (v)
10. Vesper Sparrow†
11. Song Sparrow* (v)
12. Rock Pigeon*

Elsewhere

13. House Sparrow (v)
14. Eurasian Collared-dove (v)
15. Black-billed Magpie
16. Sharp-shinned Hawk
17. European Starling
18. Lesser Goldfinch

Mammals

Red Squirrel (v)

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird

Finchsong

Thursday, April 8th, 2021
Cassin’s Finch (first-year male), East Millcreek, Salt Lake City, Utah, 08 April 2021.
Cassin’s Finch (first-year male).

An earlier hike, the snow is mostly gone. Not much mud on the trails even—and a nice assortment of bird species.

Early on, I heard, behind dog and me, the song of a finch that wasn’t a House Finch. As someone who’s been hoping to learn the song of a Cassin’s Finch, I retreated to get a look. Indeed, a first-year Cassin’s. I got a good listen—even a short video (accompanied by the ever-present rush of highway traffic). I believe I’m close to committing to memory the sounds of its notes and music.

Otherwise, a solitaire, three Mountain Chickadees, cottontail and deer, and a pair of Turkey Vultures (which I first thought were ravens, because I spied them perching on what I’ve dubbed “the raven stone,” because I’ve only seen ravens there).

A warm, cloudless day. Another expected tomorrow.

Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:35 a.m. (8:35 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.

1. House Finch*
2. American Robin*
3. Northern Flicker (v)
4. Cassin’s Finch
5. Spotted Towhee
6. Black-billed Magpie*
7. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
8. Dark-eyed Junco
9. Rock Pigeon*
10. Eurasian Collared-dove
11. Black-capped Chickadee
12. Townsend’s Solitaire
13. Mountain Chickadee
14. Turkey Vulture
15. Lesser Goldfinch*

Elsewhere

16. Song Sparrow

Mammals

Mountain Cottontail
Mule Deer

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

 
Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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