I finally captured a Warbling Vireo. Photographically, I mean.
For a long time now—the past what? two–three weeks?—I’ve heard members of the local Warbling Vireo family singing in cool, leafy Coyote Canyon (a.k.a., “the gully), where they also nested last year. I’ve even caught sight of ’em a few times, but they’re skittish, this being fledgling season. They also tend to sing on one perch for a while, making them a challenge to spot in the first place—until they flit away to a distant tree.
I hadn’t taken a photo of this bird since soon after its spring arrival. Until this particular warm summer morning.
Decided to stalk a vireo I heard singing above us a ways. But we ended up passing the bird, singing off to one side, so turned around and crept slowly back down. Suddenly, the singing erupted from a tree directly above us.
Tip: One of the best ways to get a decent wild bird photo is to simply wait for the bird to come to you.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 7:12 a.m. (8:12 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.
Good and bad news this morning. The bad news first: Jack didn’t want to go. He’s had a couple episodes the past few days (stick lodged in throat, finally swallowed, and a missed jump into the truck after a hike, causing a minor fall), and he’s been a little lethargic since, so we have a vet appointment on Monday—although yesterday he was fine on the trails. Still, I figured he could use a day off (first since October 2019).
So although I thought about him the whole way, I ended up doing a ridge hike—a long, slow walk uphill a good ways, then downhill again, all the while observing a whole heap of migrating birds.
