I expected precipitation, but there was none. In fact, recent forecasts for much snow this week didn’t pan out, it seems. Instead, this morning dawned semi-cloudy and warmish—well, really rather warm (40-ish (F)). And calm. Slushy.
Still, I got a little tied up early, so dog and I didn’t make it up the trail until nearly 10 a.m., when right away I heard siskins. Then robins. Quite a few robins. And a bunch of other birds. (Including a Steller’s Jay, which—despite retracing my steps down the switchback about a hundred yards while Jack waited up ahead—I didn’t get a photo of.) Also saw a cottontail. And—up the deer trails—deer.
It was a good hike. During which, for some cockamamie reason, I came up with a new motto: “Do as little damage as you can.”
Grandeur Peak Area List
At 09:55 MST, I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
1. Pine Siskin
2. American Robin
3. Woodhouse’s Scrub-jay
4. Rock Pigeon*
5. Black-billed Magpie**
6. House Finch**
7. Northern Flicker (v)
8. Black-capped Chickadee
9. Steller’s Jay (v)
10. Dark-eyed Junco
11. Townsend’s Solitaire (v)
Mammals
Mountain Cottontail
Mule Deer
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American robin, black-billed magpie, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco, house finch, mountain cottontail, mule deer, northern flicker, pine siskin, rock pigeon, Steller’s jay, Townsend’s solitaire, Woodhouse’s scrub jay
