Another bright but chilly morning, a morning filled with birdsong. No new migrants, but plenty of recent ones—and a couple of mystery birds.
I didn’t see the mystery birds, although in two cases I chased their songs. In one particularly thrilling instance, I spied a good-sized, quiet, plain-colored bird swoop in front of us into the undergrowth, never to be seen again.
In two instances, I chased birds whose voices I recognized in hopes of getting a photo, to no avail. This happens a lot, but the disappointment gets shorter by the year, because I know there’ll be more birds to chase—and a successful chase is worth at least a score of misses.
Good chance of rain showers in the morning. A successful chase in a little weather is best of all.
Grandeur Peak Area List
Beginning at 7:39 a.m. (8:39 MDT), I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Lazuli Bunting**
2. American Robin*
3. House Finch**
4. Spotted Towhee
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird
6. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
7. Lesser Goldfinch**
8. Eurasian Collared-dove*
9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
10. Chukar (v)
11. Virginia’s Warbler (v)
12. Chipping Sparrow
13. Black-capped Chickadee
14. Orange-crowned Warbler
15. Black-throated Gray Warbler (v)
16. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v)
17. Cooper’s Hawk
18. Mourning Dove
19. Black-headed Grosbeak (v)
20. Song Sparrow** (v)
Elsewhere
21. House Sparrow (v)
Mammals
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-chinned hummingbird, black-crowned warbler, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated gray warbler, blue-gray gnatcatcher, chipping sparrow, chukar, Cooper’s hawk, Eurasian collared dove, house finch, house sparrow, lazuli bunting, lesser goldfinch, mourning dove, mule deer, Orange-crowned Warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, song sparrow, spotted towhee, Virginia’s warbler, Woodhouse’s scrub-jay
