“Wilderness. The word itself is music,” wrote Edward Abbey in Desert Solitaire.
There are songs of wind and of light and shadow. There’s a fabulous rhythm to animal movement. And, of course, there are the more literal songs of birds: buzzes, chips, whistles, screeches, caws, growls, and melodies. Birds often announce themselves more vociferously with voice than color.
We count 31 species in our first weekly tally of birds and mammals in and around UtahOutsider. We saw them, heard them, or both in our approximate area of the Oquirrh mountains, at 5,800 feet. Follow our weekly updates to appreciate the outstanding opportunities for wildlife spotting ‘round these parts!
Mammals:
Black Tailed Jackrabbit
Cottontail Rabbit
Mule Deer
Coyote
Rock Squirrel
Birds:
House finch
Titmouse
Chickadee
Goldfinch
Bushtit
Red-Tailed Hawk
Common Raven
Scrub Jay
Magpie
Turkey
Dark-Eyed Junco
Ringed Turtle Dove
Mountain Bluebird
Lazuli Bunting
Meadowlark
Rufous-sided Towhee
Rufous Hummingbird
Broad Tailed Hummingbird
Chipping sparrow
California Quail
Black headed grosbeak
House wren
Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Common Poor Will
Common Nighthawk