’Tis the season of little flitty birds. Hiking this morning with dog, I saw a bunch, put a name on a few and missed a few. The funnest sighting: a Wilson’s Warbler (no photo). Migration’s begun for sure.
I also spied a few hawks for a change. Three coops (two circling, a young-un perched) and at last one sharpie.
But my favorite pic of the day was a portrait of a sparrow.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:27 a.m. (8:27 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Cool, breezy, quiet hike this morning with dog. Secretive birds were laying low, and nothing too out-of-the-ordinary. Well, except for a random Yellow Warbler that I couldn’t manage to get a photo of.
Fewer hummingbirds, finches, scrub-jays—pretty much every species. Several IDs were by voice only.
What with all the environmental craziness, I wonder about early migration.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:15 a.m. (8:15 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
A cool and sunny morning, with birds galore (relatively). After the first good rain in months, and the first good sun in a few days, an array of species showed up to eat and drink and start fattening up for fall migration.
Plenty of hummingbirds down in the gully (still working on my various IDs), three finches, young towhees—and a roaming batch of Warblng Vireos.
One vireo in particular I kind of fell in love with—being of few that’ve ever posed for me.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:27 a.m. (8:27 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 2. Black-chinned Hummingbird 3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 4. House Finch* 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Spotted Towhee 7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (v) 8. Lazuli Bunting 9. Mourning Dove 10. Broad-tailed Hummingbird 11. Rufous Hummingbird 12. Warbling Vireo 13. Pine Siskin (v) 14. American Goldfinch (v) 15. Lesser Goldfinch** (v)
Elsewhere
16. Black-billed Magpie 17. Eurasian Collared-dove 18. California Quail
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
