Um, I meant Placerville in Boise County..

From: Larry Arnold [mailto:larnold47@cableone.net]
Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2017 6:25 PM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Avalanche!!!

Of birds.. =)

Missy and I are home from our trek north of the 45th parallel. The
Panhandle is one of our favorite places in Idaho at this time of year, light
enough to use optics from 0430 hrs to 2130 hrs, feels other-worldly. Our
bird pile weighed in at 145 sp, of which 20 were year birds. Favorite
birding places included Smith Creek Rd, West Side Rd, Snow Creek Rd to Roman
Nose (all in Boundary County), Johnson Creek Rd from Clark Fork, Hoodoo
Valley (Bonner County), Moose Meadows, East Fork Rd, Freezeout (Latah
County), and Seven Devils Rd to Heaven’s Gate (Idaho County). Toppermost of
many trip highlights were these:

Boundary and Bonner Counties – Passerines were out in force! Flycatchers,
vireos, chickadees, nuthatches, thrushes, warblers, and northern finches.
Congratulations to you thrushes (all 8 sp of you) for grabbing first place
among the songsters! =)

Seven Devils in Idaho County – Speaking of avalanches, road closures due to
snow slides are not always a bad thing, eh? The Seven Devils road to
Heaven’s Gate was blocked about two miles below Windy Saddle, forcing us to
hoof it upslope from there. We were rewarded with an extraordinarily scenic
hike (on par with the Sawtooths), no wind, no people, no vehicles on the
road, virtually no ambient noise, and *many* woodpeckers and corvids:
Red-naped Sapsucker 1, Hairy Woodpecker 6, Three-toed Woodpecker 5, Pileated
Woodpecker 1, Gray Jay 5 (about 150 m past mm 16), Steller’s Jay 3, and
Clark’s Nutcracker 10+. The Gray Jays started dropping hard little
pinecones on us! LOL. There was an Olive-sided Flycatcher / OSFL / with a
speech impediment, singing in four syllables instead of the usual three,
sounding kind of like a hiccup in the middle of its 3rd syllable. LOL
again. I’ve heard OSFL singing in January in E Venezuela that sounded more
convincing than this guy. Mammals thereabouts (6800+ ft elevation) were
also a treat, e.g., Snow-shoe Hares and Loud-mouth Pikas.

Placerville area in Valley County – Several nighthawks at dusk (our FOY),
Flammulated Owl 1, Northern Saw-whet Owl 4, Veery 3, Swainson’s Thrush 2,
and Killdeer 1 (1130 pm). I think we were inspired by birders like Stoddard
who don’t know when to hit the sack. 😉

In celebration of Birthdays, Father’s Day, Feather Days.. this trek rivaled
our first pelagic trip out of Seward AK in search of puffins,
oystercatchers, kittiwakes, etc. (1994)

Larry and Missy

Boise

Of birds.. =)

Missy and I are home from our trek north of the 45th parallel. The
Panhandle is one of our favorite places in Idaho at this time of year, light
enough to use optics from 0430 hrs to 2130 hrs, feels other-worldly. Our
bird pile weighed in at 145 sp, of which 20 were year birds. Favorite
birding places included Smith Creek Rd, West Side Rd, Snow Creek Rd to Roman
Nose (all in Boundary County), Johnson Creek Rd from Clark Fork, Hoodoo
Valley (Bonner County), Moose Meadows, East Fork Rd, Freezeout (Latah
County), and Seven Devils Rd to Heaven’s Gate (Idaho County). Toppermost of
many trip highlights were these:

Boundary and Bonner Counties – Passerines were out in force! Flycatchers,
vireos, chickadees, nuthatches, thrushes, warblers, and northern finches.
Congratulations to you thrushes (all 8 sp of you) for grabbing first place
among the songsters! =)

Seven Devils in Idaho County – Speaking of avalanches, road closures due to
snow slides are not always a bad thing, eh? The Seven Devils road to
Heaven’s Gate was blocked about two miles below Windy Saddle, forcing us to
hoof it upslope from there. We were rewarded with an extraordinarily scenic
hike (on par with the Sawtooths), no wind, no people, no vehicles on the
road, virtually no ambient noise, and *many* woodpeckers and corvids:
Red-naped Sapsucker 1, Hairy Woodpecker 6, Three-toed Woodpecker 5, Pileated
Woodpecker 1, Gray Jay 5 (about 150 m past mm 16), Steller’s Jay 3, and
Clark’s Nutcracker 10+. The Gray Jays started dropping hard little
pinecones on us! LOL. There was an Olive-sided Flycatcher / OSFL / with a
speech impediment, singing in four syllables instead of the usual three,
sounding kind of like a hiccup in the middle of its 3rd syllable. LOL
again. I’ve heard OSFL singing in January in E Venezuela that sounded more
convincing than this guy. Mammals thereabouts (6800+ ft elevation) were
also a treat, e.g., Snow-shoe Hares and Loud-mouth Pikas.

Placerville area in Valley County – Several nighthawks at dusk (our FOY),
Flammulated Owl 1, Northern Saw-whet Owl 4, Veery 3, Swainson’s Thrush 2,
and Killdeer 1 (1130 pm). I think we were inspired by birders like Stoddard
who don’t know when to hit the sack. 😉

In celebration of Birthdays, Father’s Day, Feather Days.. this trek rivaled
our first pelagic trip out of Seward AK in search of puffins,
oystercatchers, kittiwakes, etc. (1994)

Larry and Missy

Boise

Yesterday June 17, on my weekly bird survey of the Packsaddle Subdivision in the foothills of the Big Hole Mountains in the NW corner of Teton Valley, I observed a flicker with distinctly yellow under the wings and and tail. It had a black patch on the chest, a red crescent on the nape and a red mustache. Also the Spotted Towhee is still around singing away, a rare sighting here in the valley. Complete list below. Susan Patla, Tetonia

Packsaddle Estates, Teton, Idaho, US
Jun 17, 2017 8:05 AM – 10:05 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: Walked the upper road above our house down to Packsaddle Creek and returned on the middle road. Breezy, overcast day. 56 deg at end of walk.
37 species (+1 other taxa)

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 1 calling
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) 6
Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) 3 males still displaying
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1 Hybrid Yellow-shafted/Red-shafted male. Had yellow underwings and tail, red-crescent on nape and red mustache. Could not get a good photo.
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [cafer Group]) 2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
Western Wood-Pewee (Contopus sordidulus) 1
Dusky Flycatcher (Empidonax oberholseri) 4 all singing
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) 8 all singing; scattered throughout the area
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 2
Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 3
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 2
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) X did not see on my walk but they are in neighborhood
Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 10
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 2
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 1
MacGillivray’s Warbler (Geothlypis tolmiei) 2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) (Setophaga coronata auduboni) 4
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 1
Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri) 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 2
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 1
Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) 1
Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus) 5
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 1 Have seen this individual bird for over a month in the same location. Have photos and recording of sound.
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) 1
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) 3
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 4
Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii) 1
Cassin’s Finch (Haemorhous cassinii) 3
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) 6
Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus) 1

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37666391

Kathleen Cameron reports (8:15 AM):

“The Y-b Cuckoo is present and Vern Tunnell, Jean Seymour, Kathy Eklund
and I are watching it. We are on West Magic Road where it was first seen.”

Lisa

—
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com