We get a lot of cloudless days around here. Today was one of those—or nearly so—the last in a string of them. Tomorrow will have clouds, they say. Rain and/or snow the next couple. Then more blue skies.
A good hike with dog. The usual bird species for the season, deer and cottontail again.
But the most fun surprise was a solitary Red-tailed Hawk that decided to soar over the neighborhood this afternoon. Just gliding on the buoyant warm air, under a blue, blue sky.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:57 a.m. (8:57 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. American Robin* 2. Spotted Towhee 3. Song Sparrow* (v) 4. Rock Pigeon* 5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 6. Northern Flicker 7. Black-billed Magpie* 8. Pine Siskin (v) 9. Black-capped Chickadee 10. House Finch* 11. California Quail (v) 12. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
Elsewhere
13. Eurasian Collared-dove 14. European Starling
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Had a nice hike with Jack this morning, as always. Aside from two ravens in fast flight, the usual bird species. (Lots of juncos.) Beautiful scenery—snow-powdered peaks under mostly cloudy skies. But the most bird action happened right around the house. Specifically on and below my deck.
The deck faces west, with a nice view of the basin (city lights at night) and, beyond, the Oquirrh Mountains. On the deck rail today—three noisy scrub-jays and a junco. Below, a towhee, finches, more juncos. On the utility lines between me and I-215, starlings, pigeons, and a Mourning Dove.
The last full day of fall was a good one, and daylight gets longer starting tomorrow.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:49 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie* 2. House Finch** 3. Common Raven 4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay* 5. Spotted Towhee* (v) 6. Pine Siskin (v) 7. Rock Pigeon* 8. Black-capped Chickadee 9. Dark-eyed Junco* 10. Lesser Goldfinch (v)
Elsewhere
11. American Robin (v) 12. Mourning Dove 13. Northern Flicker 14. European Starling
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Back East, House Finches were a common species. True to their name, they’d build nests on on near houses—once in a little wooden nook in the roof over my back porch. The native Purple Finches mostly lived in the woods or more lonely places, whereas the House Finch liked company.
Here in the Mountain West, where the House Finches are native, they don’t have to worry about competition from Purple Finches. I’ve seen Cassin’s Finches, and both Lesser and American Goldfinches live here. (Along with Pine Siskins.)
But the House Finch reins supreme here, finch-wise. I like encountering them in this, their native habitat.*
*Some numbers of this species were released on Long Island in 1940, and they’ve spread throughout the east in the past 80 years.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:28 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
