First truly damp, nippy morning of the season—complete with a dusting of snow atop the mountains. A combination of mysterious factors brought a little wave of migrants.
Right away, in the scrub along the switchback, came a small flock of juncos, along with Townsend’s Warbler. Then came a small contingent of yellow-rumps and an overflight of eighteen robins. Then the junco and yellow-rump numbers began to rise—and on our return, dog and I encountered a big gang of ’rumps, accompanied by a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
I do love a little migration wave.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:34 a.m. (8:34 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie (v) 2. House Finch** (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 4. Northern Flicker (v) 5. Rock Pigeon* 6. Dark-eyed Junco 7. Townsend’s Warbler 7. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay 9. Spotted Towhee 10. Yellow-rumped Warbler 11. American Robin 12. Pine Siskin 13. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Elsewhere
14. Song Sparrow (v) 15. House Sparrow (v) 16. Lesser Goldfinch (v) 17. Accipiter (sp)
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Yesterday, I buried the lede. The yellowish warbler I spied angling away at a distance—the one that looked rather like a black-throated green, with prominent white wing bars, and whose yellow cheeks had a bolder swipe of black? It was indeed, as I decided after much study, a Townsend’s Warbler. What I didn’t mention: it was a lifer for me.
Today I saw two more of ’em. Up close this time. (Alas the birds were flitting about in the shady valley, so the photos weren’t what they might’ve been.)
And that’s not all. Had my first Chipping Sparrow in a while, spotted my first Steller’s Jay in a much longer while, and saw my first great flock of “floater” scrub-jays. (Didn’t know that was a thing.) Plus, I heard the random voice of a Mountain Chickadee.
Second straight day of fun.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:16 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Chilly, breezy morning. Sweatshirt weather again. But within a few minutes of beginning my hike with dog, I could tell it was gonna be a big day.
Bird after bird after bird. Species after species. A pair of Western Tanagers, an Olive-sided Warbler with a yellow jacket in its beak, two sparrow species, two warblers, three hummingbirds. I took nearly 900 photos. (Took a while to winnow them down to a couple hundred or so.)
And for the first time I heard the sweet calls of the wren—whose photo was the best of the bunch, I decided.
From four species Tuesday to 22 this morning. A fun day for sure.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:17 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
