A few clouds this morning, just enough to make for some hazy sun early. Cool, but not as cool as the past few mornings. Still smoky air.
Very quiet along our usual hiking trails: nine species, not many of each. Afterward, doing errands in town, listed another nine species—including a vee of geese, three vultures, swallo, gull, and starling.
However, my best photo came early, thanks to a visit by a chatty scrub-jay.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:10 a.m. (8:10 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
10. Black-billed Magpie 11. Rock Pigeon 12. Mourning Dove 13. European Starling 14. Canada Goose 15. California Gull 16. Turkey Vulture 17. Barn Swallow 18. California Quail
Mammals
Red Squirrel Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere *Voice only elsewhere
On clear cool quiet September mornings, it’s nice to have a photogenic neighborhood bird or two in the neighborhood.
Another quiet morning hike with dog. Similar to yesterday—few posing species, a couple missed hpotos, two or three silently flitting migrants that I didn’t get a good look at.
But on our return, a house or two from home, I stopped the truck, grabbed my camera, and got a photo of a pretty good-lookin’ quail.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:14 a.m. (8:14 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay* 2. Black-chinned Hummingbird 3. American Robin 4. House Finch 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Sharp-shinned Hawk 7. European Starling 8. Eurasian Collared-dove* 9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (v) 10. Spotted Towhee 11. Black-capped Chickadee** 12. Green-tailed Towhee
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere *Voice only elsewhere
Trouble operating my GoPro for the second straight day—this time, I managed to set it for “night lapse.” Sheesh. (Tomorrow I’ll do a careful equipment check.) Compared to yesterday, at least, it was a quiet morning, with not a lot of excitement, nor many photo opportunities.
Except toward the end, when I happened to spot a bird perched on some bare scrub-oak twigs. And for the second straight August day, I had a first-of-year species.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:05 a.m. (8:05 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. House Finch** 2. Black-capped Chickadee 3. Black-chinned Hummingbird 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Lazuli Bunting 7. Eurasian Collared-dove 8. Spotted Towhee (v) 9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10. Western Tanager 11. Warbling Vireo (v) 12. Accipiter (sp) 13. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 14. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 15. American Goldfinch 16. Pine Siskin (v) 17. American Robin (v) 18. Sage Thrasher†
Elsewhere
19. Black-billed Magpie 20. European Starling 21. American Crow 22. California Quail
Mammals
Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year bird
