Weather-wise, a morning much like the last two or three. Bird-wise, rather inauspicious. I did spot a Green-tailed Towhee (first bird of the hike), but otherwise the usual species, dipped on a couple of species, no great photos.
A highlight was the appearance in the burnt patch by a little pack four male Downy Woodpeckers. Not sure I’ve ever seen such a thing before. Cool.
(Meanwhile, though, I’m alarmed by a report of hundreds of thousands of dead birds found in New Mexico and other places in western states. Perhaps the record wildfires forcing too-early migration, perhaps some mysterious other factor. Whatever the cause, it felt like a kick in the gut.)
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:16 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Green-tailed Towhee
2. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Mourning Dove
5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
6. Black-chinned Hummingbird
7. Spotted Towhee
8. House Finch*
9. Downy Woodpecker
10. American Robin
11. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
12. Pine Siskin (v)
13. Black-billed Magpie** (v)
14. Lesser Goldfinch*
15. Sparrow (sp.)
Elsewhere
16. California Quail
17. Rock Pigeon
18. Barn Swallow
Mammals
Rock Squirrel
Red Squirrel (v)
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
