Under a cloudless sky (with a slight haze of smoke), this cool morning’s hike turned out to be a pretty good one. Encountered waves of finches, spied two warblers on the move, saw eight towhees headed together in southerly direction—essentially enjoyed a little migratory action.
Captain Jack and I also had a nice visit chat with one human and a couple dog friends.
Plus, I heard the distinctively onomatopoetic calls of Chukars from high up the shady slope above us. Having had a little experience with the species, I said to Jack something like, “Wonder if I can them up on the ridge.”
And, sure enough, there they were.
Grandeur Peak Area List At 7:13 a.m. (8:13 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Headed to the trailhead a bit earlier this morning, considering the temp was eventually supposed to reach 90° (F) today. Cool in the shade, warm in the sun. (No clouds that I could see.) Despite this dry, dry landscape, there are birds to be seen.
E.g., a female Black-headed Grosbeak. A hard-to-spy Virginia Warbler. A few gnatcatchers and Mourning Doves. Also saw a snake of some kind (garter snake? racer?), an Eight-spotted Skimmer, and a Rock Squirrel.
Tomorrow’s high is supposed to be about 95°.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:11 a.m. (8:11 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
It’s that time of spring when things go from kind of warm to hot. Dog and I got to the trailhead early enough to enjoy some cool shade before the sun topped the ridge, but the last half mile was a little toasty. Still not as toasty as this afternoon. Which was not as toasty as tomorrow afternoon is forecast to be.
Still a goodly number of bird species—including a gang of first-year Western Tanagers, a stealthy Cooper’s Hawk, and the usual singing buntings. Although number of singing buntings and towhees was down a bit from yesterday.
We might even head up a little earlier tomorrow, dog and I.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:24 a.m. (8:24 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.