A few showers overnight, and more showers this morning, so dog and I waited a bit before embarking on what I knew would be a slippery, muddy hike. Which was awesome. A nice assortment of birds—including a handsome wren, a pair of vultures, the neighborhood redtail. Was also a three-mammal day. Got good and muddy, slipped three or four times, but never fell down.
Also busy at home, bird-wise: quail, sparrows, finches, and robins poking about in the garden. (The robins are doing some major nest-building.) A sunny, warm afternoon.
A springy day for sure.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 10:36 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Pine Siskin** 2. American Robin* 3. Spotted Towhee 4. Black-capped Chickadee** 5. House Finch* (v) 6. Rock Wren 7. Red-tailed Hawk 8. Black-billed Magpie* (v) 9. Northern Flicker* (v) 10. Turkey Vulture 11. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 12. Cooper’s Hawk 13. Dark-eyed Junco (v) 14. Song Sparrow* (v)
Elsewhere
15. House Sparrow 16. Eurasian Collared-dove 17. Lesser Goldfinch 18. California Quail
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Mountain Cottontail Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Sure enough snowed a little overnight—and into this morning for a few hours. Very light snow, but wet enough (and chilly enough) to convince me to wait for a clearing. And when it came we headed up, dog and I.
And a grand hike it was, mostly because of the siskins. Pine Siskins everywhere—individuals, small batches, good-sized flocks. I heard and/or saw siskins at every point during our hike. (Vocal birds, siskins. Even an solo individual can sound like a squabbling family of ’em.)
The trace of spring snow and the siskin invasion were probably related somehow. Perhaps also the lone Cooper’s hawk perched nonchalantly in the tree overlooking the little old Monarch quarry.
On our return trip, the sun emerged. An enjoyable time was had by all.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 9:49 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. American Robin* 2. House Finch** 3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 4. Pine Siskin 5. Spotted Towhee 6. Dark-eyed Junco 7. Rock Pigeon* 8. Cooper’s Hawk 9. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 10. Song Sparrow* (v)
Elsewhere
11. European Starling 12. Lesser Goldfinch 13. House Sparrow (v)
Mammals
Mule Deer Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Had an early appointment, so Captain Jack and I were late to hit the trail this morning. The early sun had slipped behind a veil of haze—first trace of coming precipitation, I reckon—but the light was good, and there were a dozen bird species to watch and/or listen to.
Rock Wren.
A Rock Wren showed up, which was fun. And gang of fifteen deer surprised us (or me, at least) up amid the junipers. But the funnest moment was when I heard the voices of crows.
In Maine, crows appeared on my list nearly every day, whereas up in the foothills, I think I’ve only listed them a two or three times (I can recall two) in my years here. So I gasped when I heard a caw!—then another. I spied them a few hundred feet above us, eight in all, flying in a loose circle.
Seems I really miss ’em, crows.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 8:58 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. American Robin** 2. Eurasian Collared-dove** 3. Spotted Towhee 4. California Quail 5. Northern Flicker** 6. Rock Pigeon* 7. Dark-eyed Junco 8. Rock Wren 9. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 10. House Finch** 11. Black-capped Chickadee 12. American Crow
Elsewhere
13. Song Sparrow (v) 14. California Gull 15. European Starling 16. Lesser Goldfinch
Mammals
Rock Squirrel Mule Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
