It was hard for me to choose a high point of this morning’s short, extraordinarily sweet hike with dog. We were late to hit the trail, and left early because of errands that needed running. But, dang, did the birds put on a show.
Several first-of-year birds, a “lifer” subspecies—and at one point early on, from where I stood, I took decent photos of four bird species.
I was most excited, however, to solve a puzzle that’d been plaguing me for a week or more: what bird was making that faint, cricket-sounding call as it flew swiftly, intermittently, and (apparently) invisibly above us on our morning hikes? I’d been referring to it as “that cricket bird,” thinking the sound a vocalization. But this morning I finally caught sight of the source of the sound—a tiny hummingbird zipping away overhead.
Ah-ha! But which?
For some reason, I decided aloud that it must be a broad-winged hummer. And when I finally got home and looked it up, I was right! In fact, the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website describes this wing-trill as having “a cricketlike quality to it.” Puzzle solved! (And what a relief!)
(Although I’ve marked today’s as a “first-of-year” sighting, the hummer has been hanging around for a week or more.)
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
Blue was the color of the sky. Blue were the wing-flashing highlights on the magpies flapping overhead. Blue infused the back of the perching scrub-jay. And a wave of blue washed over me when I couldn’t manage a decent photo of my first Utah warbler sighting: a Nashville Warbler flitting through the scrub oak. A fairly uncommon migrant, from what I gather.
But here’s a photo of a scrub jay.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
A warm, humid morning. Got to the hill early, and the bird life did not disappoint. Lots of activity, singing and begging and feeding.Got a nice look at a singing/preening redstart. Spotted a Hermit Thrush rather out of place in the spruce grove at the summit.
Also spied two turkey families on the drive back home—two adults and a dozen tiny poults swimming in the tall July grass.
(Supposed to have gotten T-storms, but none by late this evening. Still humid, though.)
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Veery (v) 2. Black-capped Chickadee* * 3. American Redstart 4. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 5. Ovenbird (v) 6. Chipping Sparrow** 7. Red-eye Vireo (v) 8. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v) 9. American Crow* 10. Common Yellowthroat** 11. Northern Cardinal* (v) 12. Song Sparrow** 13. Alder Flycatcher (v) 14. Cedar Waxwing 15. American Goldfinch (v) 16. Purple Finch (v) 17. Eastern Towhee 18. Field Sparrow (v) 19. Savannah Sparrow 20. Nashville Warbler (v) 21. Eastern Phoebe* 22. Eastern Bluebird 23. Yellow Warbler (v) 24. Tufted Titmouse (v) 25. Mourning Dove* (v) 26. American Robin (v) 27. Gray Catbird** 28. Hermit Thrush 29. Blue Jay (v) 30. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (V)
Elsewhere
31. House Finch (v) 32. Wild Turkey 33. Herring Gull
v = Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
