Can’t help it: I have a thing for solitaires. Since I spotted my first one way back last year, I’m always on the lookout—and always get a thrill to encounter one.
Maybe it’s because they’re so unassuming, so nondescript, not the least bit gaudy or proud. And yet they tend to perch high on a tree, in plain sight, and don’t exhibit a lot shyness. They tend to sneak up on you—or, anyway, me. And then they pose for photos.
But they’re far from a daily bird. You never know when they’ll show up. Or where. (At least I don’t.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked a couple hundred feet up the mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie*
2. House Finch**
3. American Robin*
4. Black-capped Chickadee
5. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay*
6. Northern Flicker (v)
7. Spotted Towhee
8. Dark-eyed Junco
9. Townsend’s Solitaire
Elsewhere
10. Eurasian Collared Dove
11. Song Sparrow (v)
12. California Quail
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, California quail, dark-eyed junco, Eurasian collared dove, house finch, northern flicker, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Townsend’s solitaire, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
