Migration. This morning’s hike began quiet for maybe the first ten minutes in the mountain shade—then took off in a hurry. So many little birds moving through. Including (of course) a bunch of Yellow-rumped Warblers.
I’m used to the Myrtle subspecies back east, but I’ve gotten fairly accustomed to the Audubon’s out here in the high desert. This species is among the most abundant in North America, and even in a drought, they’re all over the place just now. Proof of fall migration.
I counted 25 ’rumps this morning (likely an undercount). One cool thing is, I can now ID this bird from its chip note—which is similar, but not identical, to the version back East. (A touch sweeter than the dry chip! of the eastern variety.) Other birds on the move: robins, kinglets, junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Mountain Chickadee. (The latter might be year-round residents, but they’ve sure been flitting around all over the place lately.)
Quite a list today. But I have to say I had the most fun following all the little yellow-rumps flitting around.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:26 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Robins everywhere this morning. Also a couple warbler species, a random junco, a Mountain Chickadee, and I glimpsed a furtive Green-tailed Towhee. Just one gnatcatcher, though—and not a single hummingbird. All signs of fall migration.
Birding friends from back in Maine have gathered at Monhegan Island. I’m envious. A favorite place, the best birding ever. But the challenges offered by a high desert landscape make things interesting also. Honestly, I have no idea what I’ll see or hear each day for the next couple weeks.
Tomorrow’s hike will be particularly interesting, since the first part of it will occur in summer, and the latter part will occur in autumn.
Will let you know.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:23 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
I thought yesterday was pretty chilly for August. This morning was chillier—in the 40s (F) in the mountain shade when dog and I headed up the trailhead. I felt both a chill and a thrill, thinking the nip in the air might provide some interesting bird sightings, as various species got to thinking the equivalent of, “O.K., here we go.”
Olive-sided Flycatcher.
Although our hike began slow, I ended up not being disappointed.
Within a minute of my saying to Jack, “Well, this has been kind of a bust,” a Warbling Vireo popped up in a scrub-oak ahead of us. (Watched it snag a caterpillar.) Then along came a couple dozen House Finches, numerous gnatcatchers, and a Brewer’s Sparrow or two. On the last leg of our return, I even got to watch an Olive-sided Flycatcher, well, catching flies.
Finally I said to Jack—summing up our hike as we approached the trailhead—“From ‘zip’ to ‘ZIPPO’!”
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:10 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
