From this morning’s dog walk on our hill.
Author Archives: Teri J Pieper
Last week, Sky and I enjoyed a pleasant morning walk in the rain. It’s not like it rained hard but I did put on my rain jacket. I hardly ever do that. The spring greens were beautiful and everything smelled so fresh. Sky’s favorite part was jumping in the water.
Sky and I got away for three days last week. The weather continues to be fairly cool, well cold, most days. The dog water froze outside each night and I was grateful for a working heater in the camper. We walked and walked and walked and saw a fair number of deer. There was one otter that entertained me for an afternoon. We also saw a skunk on one of our rambles in the hills. Luckily, I saw it before it saw us! I identified 64 bird species and am sure I missed some whose songs I didn’t recognize. We had a fine campsite overlooking a small lake with a variety of waterfowl and one lone swan. There were numerous buttercups in bloom and one Astragulus and some tiny lomatiums. The snow had just finished melting and while we were there, we had one impressive snow squall that left the hills white til the sun came out again. Mountain Bluebirds were everywhere! Red-winged Blackbirds, American Robins and Canada Geese woke us each morning with their songs and calls.
Here is my bird list for the three days:
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Bufflehead
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
California Quail
Ruffed Grouse
Dusky Grouse
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Virginia Rail
American Coot
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-naped Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Say’s Phoebe
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick’s Wren
American Dipper
European Starling
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
House Finch
Cassin’s Finch
Pine Siskin
Chipping Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Towhee
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Mostly just Sky. Luna was there watching. It’s hard to get old and have to stay on the sidelines.
Small shorebirds are often called peeps, especially by people that are unsure of their ID! They are wildly entertaining while they forage in the sand and follow the waves in and out on the beach. In flight, they are amazing, all changing directions at the same time. How do they do it?
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