Post by Dave on Aug 27, 2007 16:23:31 GMT -8
Thor and I hiked to the ridge of Cheam today and enjoyed awesome hiking weather. The birding was very quiet. We have two theories as to why:
1. The clear spell in the weather last night caused most migrants to take off on their southern quest.
2. The abundance of raptors (especially the Northern Harrier that inconvenient led us up the entire mountain - right to the peak) caused the birds to hunker down and not be noticed.
Nonetheless, 2 distinct highlights.
1. Some random pishing I did into thick evergreens near the beginning of the trail caused a Northern Pygmy Owl to respond. The Ipod was soon out and quite the conversation arose between owl and ipod. The problem was we never saw the owl. It would come real close while Thor and I would be twisting and turning every which way through the thick woods looking for movement, and then fade away a bit while moving behind the trees. Eventually we moved on. We did, also accidentally, get (what we think to be a different bird) to respond on the trip down the mountain as well.)
2. While sorting through a flock of Juncos fairly high up the mountain, we were surprised to stumble on a beautiful male MacGillvray's Warbler.
Also, we had no ptarmigan! Blame it on the highly active raptors.
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Sooty Grouse 1
American Robin 3
Clark's Nutcracker 5 (at peak)
Common Raven 3
Golden Eagle 1 (could be 2)
Cooper's Hawk 1 (seen twice?)
Northern Harrier 1 (at least)
Northern Pygmy Owl 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Stellar's Jay 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Pacific-sloped Flycatcher 2
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Oregon Junco 50+
Wilson's Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 5
Townsend's Warbler 3
MacGillvray's Warbler 1
Pine Siskin 5
American Pipit 3 (Spoon Valley)
Vaux's Swift 30+
Grouse along the road on the way up.
The bird that led us up the mountain
Still lots of greenery in the valleys.
First view on the way up...
Dave Beeke
1. The clear spell in the weather last night caused most migrants to take off on their southern quest.
2. The abundance of raptors (especially the Northern Harrier that inconvenient led us up the entire mountain - right to the peak) caused the birds to hunker down and not be noticed.
Nonetheless, 2 distinct highlights.
1. Some random pishing I did into thick evergreens near the beginning of the trail caused a Northern Pygmy Owl to respond. The Ipod was soon out and quite the conversation arose between owl and ipod. The problem was we never saw the owl. It would come real close while Thor and I would be twisting and turning every which way through the thick woods looking for movement, and then fade away a bit while moving behind the trees. Eventually we moved on. We did, also accidentally, get (what we think to be a different bird) to respond on the trip down the mountain as well.)
2. While sorting through a flock of Juncos fairly high up the mountain, we were surprised to stumble on a beautiful male MacGillvray's Warbler.
Also, we had no ptarmigan! Blame it on the highly active raptors.
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Sooty Grouse 1
American Robin 3
Clark's Nutcracker 5 (at peak)
Common Raven 3
Golden Eagle 1 (could be 2)
Cooper's Hawk 1 (seen twice?)
Northern Harrier 1 (at least)
Northern Pygmy Owl 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Stellar's Jay 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Pacific-sloped Flycatcher 2
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 5
Oregon Junco 50+
Wilson's Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 5
Townsend's Warbler 3
MacGillvray's Warbler 1
Pine Siskin 5
American Pipit 3 (Spoon Valley)
Vaux's Swift 30+
Grouse along the road on the way up.
The bird that led us up the mountain
Still lots of greenery in the valleys.
First view on the way up...
Dave Beeke