A calm, nearly cloudless morning with chillier temps (20s (F)) than yesterday—and a bunch of nice surprises to discover. The first being a Canyon Wren in the rocky cavity up near the bluff. I heard it first, remembered the call from early spring, and managed even to spy the little energetic bird.
Soon after that sighting, I decided we should climb up to the ridge where the cairn stands—where I’d seen (from a distance) that it’d partly fallen in on account of (I assume) a few very windy days. It’d been a couple-three months, at least. Past time.
And it was a grand climb, a lovely view. I repaired the cairn (more or less), and dog and I ascended a couple hundred feet above it, sat a spell, then came back down (during which descent I heard—then spotted—a couple Chukars) and finally hiked a stretch of our usual trail, for good measure.
Good measure turned out to be a Sharp-shinned Hawk, perched low in the scrub not far away, casting about for voles or juncos until a trail runner jogged by.
All in all a very fine day.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:20 a.m. (MST), I hiked some 1,200 feet up a mountain.
A bit nippier than yesterday, nearly calm, mostly cloudless. No exciting sightings (like yesterday’s owl), but a few fun ones—including a surprise Juniper Titmouse, nice close looks at chickadees. Despite frost whitening the trailside rocks and fallen leaves, plenty of towhees, chickadees, and jays.
Also some nice Saturday conversation with a few trail friends—about the only human interaction I get these days (or, frankly, require).
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:21 a.m. (MST), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
This warmish, overcast Sunday was awash with sweet, sweet mud. Been a good while since I had to scrape mud off my boots. How nice it is.
Also nice to sped the morning with the local birds, the usual suspects, my new old friends. Magpie, scrub-jay, towhee, junco. Flicker, chickadee, finch, robin. Even the sharpie and American Goldfinch were familiar players in this daily show of mine.
Later, at home, a pair of song sparrows showed up in the ivy, like dessert after a delicious meal.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:21 a.m. (MST), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie 2. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay* 3. Spotted Towhee 4. House Finch** 5. American Robin 6. Dark-eyed Junco 7. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v) 8. Northern Flicker** 9. Black-capped Chickadee 10. Downy Woodpecker 11. Sharp-shinned Hawk 12. American Goldfinch (v)
Elsewhere
13. Song Sparrow
Mammals
Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
