My full summer in Utah has taught me a few things—like when different bird species fledge, when they begin to sing less, and how different species behave in different weather and at different times of day.
I’ve also learned that, while most birds seem to hang around their nesting patches, a few leave for lower elevations (where presumably the pickings are more favorable). That’s what the local corvids do. For instance, I’ve seen a lot fewer scrub-jays lately—and once-common magpies have been relatively rare the past few weeks. I suspect they find ample helpings of peanuts down in the neighborhood.
Dog and I encountered exactly one magpie along the trails this morning (and not a single scrub-jay). We also saw one very cute young Mountain Cottontail.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
On our hike this lovely morning, dog and I encountered fewer bird species—but the air held plenty of birdsong. All because of a feeding frenzy.
We got scolded by buntings and gnatcatchers and Warbling Vireos. Only got a glimpse or two of the vireos—but the faint, high-pitched voices of their new fledglings were an apparent reason for that.
No magpies and just one scrub-jay (voice only)—meaning they and their offspring have long abandoned the nest.
Meanwhile, a Chipping Sparrow sat silently on a juniper stem, waiting for dog and human to pass so he could bring breakfast to the young ’uns.
It’s a seasonal imperative.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Before I move to Utah, I asked a birder friend what I might expect out here. “Magpies,” he said. “Lots of magpies.”
He wasn’t wrong—magpies are the crows of the Salt Lake City area (although there are a scant few American Crows here also). The local corvids are various jays (I’ve seen only scrub-jays), the occasional raven, and Black-billed Magpies.
I’ve come to like them, though, magpies. As I did the crows of Maine.
Lovely day today. Few bird species where dog and I happened to roam— but plenty to see and hear and think about.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 10:45 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up the mountain.
