A quiet hike with Jack this morning for the fourth or fifth straight day. Saw the daily Downy Woodpecker again—always a thrill—but the usual suspects otherwise.
This afternoon, though, as I was about to step out onto the deck to scan for backyard birds, through the window I noticed a starling dining on an old apple. Two, three starlings, in fact. So I eased open the door a crack and snapped way too many photos of the nearest bird. (Starlings look so cool in the sunlight.)
Seems you can always find something cool if you keep your eyes open.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 8:26 a.m. (MST), I hiked several hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Black-billed Magpie*
2. Black-capped Chickadee
3. House Finch**
4. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
5. Spotted Towhee**
6. Northern Flicker (v)
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Dark-eyed Junco
9. Song Sparrow
Elsewhere
10. Eurasian Collared-dove
11. European Starling
12. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail
Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, Eurasian collared dove, European starling, house finch, mountain cottontail, northern flicker, red squirrel, rock pigeon, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
