Another bright but chilly morning, a morning filled with birdsong. No new migrants, but plenty of recent ones—and a couple of mystery birds.
I didn’t see the mystery birds, although in two cases I chased their songs. In one particularly thrilling instance, I spied a good-sized, quiet, plain-colored bird swoop in front of us into the undergrowth, never to be seen again.
In two instances, I chased birds whose voices I recognized in hopes of getting a photo, to no avail. This happens a lot, but the disappointment gets shorter by the year, because I know there’ll be more birds to chase—and a successful chase is worth at least a score of misses.
Good chance of rain showers in the morning. A successful chase in a little weather is best of all.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:39 a.m. (8:39 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
I hadn’t planned to hike with dog to the ridge this morning, but then I caught sight of a Black-throated Gray Warbler. Eager for my first photo of one this spring, I followed the bird uphill, from juniper to juniper, until it flitted back down below. Foiled again.
But while I was up there, I noticed how close we were to a plastic bag I’d seen flapping in the breeze from a scrub oak snag a few days ago. So I climbed higher to grab that annoying bit of litter. Then we encountered a small herd of deer, which moved up to the ridge, and I thought, Why not? Spooked a couple Chukars up there.
First-of-year Hermit Thrush (for sure) this morning. Realized the trill I’ve been hearing the past couple days belonged to an Orange-crowned Warbler. No corvids, oddly—but a total of 18 species.
Tomorrow won’t be so long a hike, but who knows what birds will appear.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:23 a.m. (8:23 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
We stepped out early to avoid the Sunday crowds. A bit chillier than yesterday, parts of it overcast and parts of it sunny. Fewer birds than yesterday to start—but up little Coyote Canyon came some strange voices. Not unfamiliar, just unheard for a while.
One trill, in fact, I could not ID. (Some kind of warbler, I believe.) And another—a note—I did not recognize. Saw neither bird. Nor did I see the first-of-year Black-throated Gray warbler that kept singing from the junipers. I might’ve spied it, but we met a friendly, talkative couple coming the other way along the deer trail. At least I pointed out the song to them and told them the name of the little bird.
Mostly sunny later. Still waiting for that bodacious spring migration day.d
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7 a.m. (8 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
