A morning much like yesterday’s, except entirely cloudless and a little bit warmer. Dry trails. And spring still wafting in the air.
No surprising migrants yet, but more kinglets, and another Steller’s Jay (voice only). A cottontail. Several deer still. Singers: towhees, kinglets, house finches, chickadees. Surprised a wild dove up in the foothills.
Tomorrow’s supposed to hit the 70s (F). Kinda looking forward to it.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:58 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay** 2. American Robin* 3. Rock Pigeon* 4. House Finch* (v) 5. Spotted Towhee 6. Pine Siskin (v) 7. Song Sparrow* (v) 8. Northern Flicker 9. Black-capped Chickadee 10. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 11. Steller’s Jay (v) 12. Mourning Dove
The temperature had risen to a nippy 33 degrees by the time Captain Jack and I began our hike this bright, clear morning. I wore a scarf, as there was a bit of a breeze. Wasn’t sure we’d encounter a lot of wildlife—but we sure enough did: fifteen bird species and sixteen deer.
Noteworthy among the birds was a Steller’s Jay, a solitary vulture, and two Cooper’s Hawks—clearly a male and female, and apparently the mating pair that’s occupied the nest above little Coyote Canyon for two years.
As I suspected, pretty much all the snow from yesterday was gone, and the trails were dry. Gonna warm up again in the comping days, too.
Kinda excited to see what spring migrants drop by.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:58 a.m., sun time, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. American Robin* 2. Spotted Towhee 3. House Finch* 4. Rock Pigeon* 5. Pine Siskin** 6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 7. Dark-eyed Junco 8. Black-capped Chickadee 9. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10. Common Raven (v) 11. Steller’s Jay 12. Cooper’s Hawk 13. Turkey Vulture 14. Song Sparrow* (v) 15. Black-billed Magpie**
Something changed overnight. The planet had another rotation, and because of its revolution around the sun, the photoperiod lengthened slightly. And a butterfly showed up this afternoon. A deer appeared in front of the house, ambling toward town. And the birds went just a little bit spring-crazy.
Scrub-jays looking for places to cache things. A Steller’s Jay in the junipers. Two solitaires up along the deer trails, but just one deer. First red-tail in a while. A random raven. Four mammals. At home, a pair quail this morning, and an eagle this afternoon. Temps on the rise.
Sproing!
Grandeur Peak Area List At 8:06 a.m. (9:06 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Northern Flicker 2. House Finch* 3. Dark-eyed Junco 4. Rock Pigeon* 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. Pine Siskin (v) 7. American Robin* 8. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay* 9. Red-tailed Hawk 10. Black-billed Magpie 11. Spotted Towhee** 12. Steller’s Jay 13. Townsend’s Solitaire 14. Common Raven
Elsewhere
15. House Sparrow (v) 16. Lesser Goldfinch 17. California Quail 18. Eurasian Collared-dove (v) 19. Canada Goose 20. European Starling 21. Golden Eagle 22. Mourning Dove (v)
Mammals
Red Squirrel (v) Mule Deer Mountain Cottontail Rock Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also Elsewhere **Voice only Elsewhere
