While heading to Pennal Gulch this afternoon, I head the loud “coo” call of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo coming from a patch of willows on the west side of Hwy 93. I was already on the Pennal Gulch access loop off the highway, so I pulled around and got back on the highway in hopes of finding a place to pull off and check out the trees. No pull-offs plus signage that one is not supposed to park anywhere along the highway kept me from searching the trees, although I did pull to the side for a couple of minutes to scan the dense patch. Unfortunately, cuckoos are good at hiding and I had no luck spotting it. It’s possible, too, that it flew while I was getting turned around.
A Yellow-billed Cuckoo hung out at Pennal Gulch for a couple of weeks back in the latter half of June in 2000. Most migrant sightings reported on eBird have been in June. It would be worth checking this area to see if the cuckoo stops for a while, although access in to Pennal Gulch is somewhat hampered by high water.
Wendy McCradyChallis, ID
Daily Archives: June 10, 2017
RE: [IBLE] Short-billed (?) Dowitcher still at Blacks Creek (Ada Co)
Will forgo my ego and vote. 😉
From the photos, Amy’s note to me about flight calls that she heard (favoring SB), considering the many factors discussed by Kaufman in his Advanced Birding (1990), and based on discussions of brightness and extent of the supercilium (not discussed in any of my field guides), discussions I recall having with birders on the Gulf Coast (leading TOS Conference field trips) who had much experience with both sp, my vote is for SB.
Problem areas for me are the neck (stripped of feathers?), flanks (spotting as opposed to barring), and the belly (can’t see well enough to determine extent, if any, of white). Wish Sibley would include ssp names, not just ranges, so I could cross-examine the bird 😉 because it strikes me most as L. g. hendersoni (ssp of SB) per Kaufman, based on the appearance of flanks and belly in the first photo below. But is this a stretch, since the range of hendersoni is more Prairie than Pacific (where L. g. caurinus lurks), even tho Kaufman drops a little hint on pg 69 that hendersoni is not impossible hereabouts?
Anyway, I vote for SB, for what it’s worth. Excellent find, Amy! Great discussion, Amy and Jay! =)
Larry
From:
Sent: Friday, June 9, 2017 10:29 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: [IBLE] Short-billed (?) Dowitcher still at Blacks Creek (Ada Co) [3 Attachments]
[Attachment(s) from Jay Carlisle included below]
Amy Silver found an oiled-looking dowitcher at Blacks Creek Reservoir (Ada Co) a few days ago and the extent of white in the tail seemed promising for a Short-billed. She saw it again & heard it call yesterday. Early evening today Bryce, Heidi, & I re-located it near the mouth of Blacks Creek as it enters the reservoir on the E end and were able to grab a few pics that seem to support Short-billed: among other features, (1) tail ~50% white, (2) small spots on sides of chest that transition to barring on the flanks, and (3) gold edges on the back feathers. Any input welcome.
Also, lots of other diversity there & RL was out there looking earlier in the afternoon and found a Red-necked Grebe on the deeper water – a great find for this spot and time of year!
Jay
image3.JPG
image2.JPG
image1.JPG
On Jun 6, 2017, at 6:42 PM, amysilver819@gmail.com [ible]
Hi Everybody. This poor bird was at Blacks Creek Reservoir yesterday. Looks like some sort of dowitcher, but both short and long-billed are considered rare right now (by ebird). He seems thin, but that’s maybe just because he’s unwell?
The bird was pretty messed up, so I gave him plenty of space…
I’ve never really tried to differentiate between the dowitchers, but this one struck me as different (maybe just acting strangely because he was sick?) In most of the photos (not many), his tail is covered by his wings, but in this one, you can really see the white bands. The bill and face seem right, but he’s in bad shape and it’s hard to see color patterns in the sad mess of feathers. Any thoughts before I try to submit the report to ebird? There doesn’t seem to be a “short-billed/long-billed dowitcher” option 🙂
Thanks!
Amy Silver (Boise)
[IBLE] Wh-winged Scoter mid-day – yes
Hello all,
I visited the Island Park Dam around noon yesterday and, eventually, found the bird. It had moved way out on the water away from the dam. I set up my scope at the gravel boat launch adjacent to dam and scanned northward The scoter was alone and diving approx 150 yards out.
“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interest skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” —Theodore Roosevelt