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That's a Mountain Chickadee, a year around resident up to timberline. You might also see Black-capped Chickadees up to about 9000 ft. Mountain Chickadees are more in conifer, Black-capped more in deciduous. Sometimes they flock together in foraging groups. When you see them listen to their calls. Different but they both say, chick a dee, or chick a dee dee dee.
I liked them hanging around. They sounded a bit like hummers if they flew close, but didn't look like they beat their wings fast enough to sound the way they do.
Paying attention to the calls of chickadees, nuthatches and juncos can sometimes point to where elk are in the forest. When elk move in response to your presence these birds will respond with excited vocalizations. Many times chickadees have told me what direction elk are moving in the dense dark forest where it's otherwise difficult to detect them.
Pine squirrels will do this too but not as reliably for elk because squirrels are noisy much of the time in interactions with other squirrels.
What birds were you telling me that will haze elk in groups? Groups of birds, not groups of elk.
It can be whatever is in the area at the time of the disturbance. In fall they'd mostly be the permanent residents like chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, woodpeckers, finches, and the corvids like jays, nutcrackers, magpies and crows. It's the excited, up tempo calling you want to listen for. It can also pinpoint the presence of predators being mobbed by the birds to get them to move on out of their territory. The mobbing can reveal predatory hawks, owls, weasels, pine martens, etc.
Went to see my son in UT this past weekend. This was in a canyon east of SLC.
https://i.imgur.com/XDFyE8y.jpg
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saw this guy roaming around in South Dakota over the weekend
Got some friends together this week to call, catch and band Saw-whet Owls in the yard. Ended up catching three birds, two juvenile males and an adult female. Fun stuff.
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Saw-whet Owls are small owls that nest in tree cavities or nest boxes. They wander widely after breeding season.
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Under a black light the pattern and color of spots will reveal the age and sex of the bird.
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Man...you guys have some great photos. Thanks for posting those up.
I really like the big shaggy guy. There's an area not far from my home where they range freely. I've seen a few out there. Pretty impressive creatures.
Nothing as exotic as buffalo. A few wild turkeys hanging around the property across the street. And the little squirrel has been grabbing my nuts all day...pecans out of the yard, that is. It's almost 90 so I think he was cooling his pecan-stuffed belly on the cool concrete of the front porch. Corgis were NOT happy about that.
https://i.imgur.com/F6CImrs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/25OuK1M.jpg
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