What can I say? I can be attracted to flash. So, it was quite fun to see the Western Tanager checking out the neighborhood as it did this time last summer. All bright orange and yellow, contrasted with black.
But I also love the dull-colored birds, like the Townsend’s Solitaire. Are they so named because they live seemingly solitary lives? Or, is it for the lone, plaintive song note?
Forty one species this week, highlighted be a Western Tanager and the successful ID of a Prairie Falcon (finally and we hope!). There was also a few first-ever sightings of a high elevation mountain birds, like the Say’s Phoebe and the Western Wood Pewee. Love them birds.
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Mammals:
Black Tailed Jackrabbit
Cottontail Rabbit
Mule Deer
Coyote
Rock Squirrel
Brush Mouse
Birds:
Western Tanager
Say’s Phoebe
Western Wood Pewee
Grackle
Townsend’s Solitaire
House finch
Red Shafted Flicker
Tufted Titmouse
Black Capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Common Raven
Scrub Jay
Magpie
Turkey
Dark-Eyed Junco
Ringed Turtle Dove
Rock Dove
Western Kingbird
Lesser Goldfinch
Mountain Bluebird
Meadowlark
Rufous-sided Towhee
Broad Tailed Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Chipping sparrow
Black Headed Grosbeak
American Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Prairie Falcon
Red-Tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Starling
American Robin
Common Poor Will
Common Nighthawk