Mostly overcast day. Mild temps for the season. Birds acting antsy—both in the neighborhood and up the mountainside. Also a caravan of elk. (No mule deer, though, for the first time in weeks.)
Even before my hike with dog, I saw and heard signs of spring: quail scurrying across the yard, scattered flocks of goldfinches and robins, the chickadees’ spring love sing (fee-bee), and Song Sparrows singing all over the place.
Muddy trail. Longer photoperiod. Rain in the forecast. The equinox approacheth.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 9:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 2. Black-capped Chickadee 3. Black-billed Magpie** 4. Northern Flicker 5. Dark-eyed Junco 6. House Finch* 7. American Robin** 8. Lesser Goldfinch* (v) 9. Song Sparrow* (v) 10. European Starling*
Elsewhere
11. California Quali 12. Eurasian Collared Dove
Mammals
Rocky Mountain Elk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Dog and I hit the trailhead early this crisp, clear Valentine’s Day morning. Right away I saw a pair of corvids (magpie, scrub-jay) in a juniper tree. Soon after, I saw a pair of eagles soaring above the ridge. And then I spied a mule deer striking a sassy pose.
But the most Valentine’s image I’ll recall from this day was a pair of Common Ravens, chasing each other in the blue-blue sky—flying together, flying in tandem, staying close to each other.
I love this Valentine’s Day.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* 2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 3. House Finch* 4. Black-capped Chickadee 5. Northern Harrier 6. Golden Eagle 7. Dark-eyed Junco 8. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 9. American Robin (v) 10. Common Raven 11. Song Sparrow* 12. European Starling
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Can’t help but lead with the elk herd. Every other day or so in the past couple weeks, I’ve caught sight of elk high on the ridge to the north, nearly Parley’s Canyon—a.k.a., the Parley’s herd. But never have I seen as many animals as I did this morning. (More than 60, for sure.) They were resting in the snow as dog and I made our ascent, and they were marching east in a caravan as we descended. Very cool.
Otherwise, quite a few birds out and about today—a clear, mildish day. (Will be even milder tomorrow, or so they say.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 10:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
1. House Finch* (v) 2. Black-billed Magpie* 3. Dark-eyed Junco 4. Black-capped Chickadee 5. American Robin* (v) 6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 7. Song Sparrow** (v) 8. Pine Siskin (v)
Elsewhere
9. Downy Woodpecker 10. House Sparrow 11. European Starling 12. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Rocky Mountain Elk Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
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
