Another day of variety. Another cool-in-the-morning hike with dog, one with plenty of birds to sneak up on—or try to. Dipped on a few but managed a third long list in a row.
In this, perhaps my favorite birding time of year, I can’t help but live with a little thrill in my gut and an extra feeling of sweet anticipation in the morning.
(Pretty sure Jack feels it, too.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:16 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Yesterday, I buried the lede. The yellowish warbler I spied angling away at a distance—the one that looked rather like a black-throated green, with prominent white wing bars, and whose yellow cheeks had a bolder swipe of black? It was indeed, as I decided after much study, a Townsend’s Warbler. What I didn’t mention: it was a lifer for me.
Today I saw two more of ’em. Up close this time. (Alas the birds were flitting about in the shady valley, so the photos weren’t what they might’ve been.)
And that’s not all. Had my first Chipping Sparrow in a while, spotted my first Steller’s Jay in a much longer while, and saw my first great flock of “floater” scrub-jays. (Didn’t know that was a thing.) Plus, I heard the random voice of a Mountain Chickadee.
Second straight day of fun.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:16 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
A warm clear Saturday means busy mountain hiking trails. Sure enough, dog and I met several friends (human and dog) on our hike this morning. But despite more chatting than usual, I still managed to spot a few birds—among them, a solitary, circling buteo.
An adult Red-tailed Hawk it was. Giving a few of us birders a nice look. Also distant elk up on Parley’s Ridge, here and there a mule deer, a few distressed scrub-jays, chickadees, magpies, juncos.
Spent a couple hours up there (a half-hour more than usual). You could hardly ask for a busier, more interesting hike.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 10:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
