Apparently this is not funny in Idaho, whoa Nellie, who knew?!!

From: Jason Beason [mailto:aeronautes.saxatalis@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2017 11:08 PM
To: Larry Arnold
Subject: Re: Avalanche!!!

I often get the hiccups after quickly drinking three beers!

On Sun, Jun 18, 2017 at 6:25 PM, Larry Arnold wrote:

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

—

Jason Beason
Avian Field Technician

SWCA Environmental Consulting

Casper, Wyoming

Phone: 970-310-5117

Kathleen Cameron
www.majesticfeathers.com
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: “Kathleen Cameron”

Subject: Blue Grosbeak
To: “IBLE”
Cc:

Kathy Eklund, Pat, Cheryl and I saw the Blue Grosbeak this morning on
Narrows Road at approx 10:20 a.m. Wallace Keck also observed it at first
light this morning.

Kathleen Cameron
Almo, Idaho

Kathleen Cameron
www.majesticfeathers.com

You ROCK! =) Congratulations!

On Jun 23, 2017, at 10:40 PM, ‘Tom McCabe’ tmccabe9@cableone.net [ible] wrote:

When one of the Boise bike officers told me you could bike all the way to the dam despite the high water, he planted a seed. Then the river went down, and I had to give it a try.

Since I was planning on going to the dam, the birds I identified while lying in bed gave me a head start, especially the Downy Woodpecker, since I don’t always see or hear them on my rides. I left the house with 7 birds, picked up the local nesting Swainson’s and Cooper’s, and headed to the river.

I left Esther Simplot Park with 32 birds, which would make a good ride any day. I stayed on the north side of the river because the Western Grebe was back at Quinn’s (apparently he/she doesn’t mind a little e. coli) and headed to Main St. The tunnel under Main was still flooded (the only flooded pathway I encountered all day), but I knew the south side was clear all the way to Ann Morrison Park. The Gray Catbird at AMP was cooperative and I headed to BSU with 37 birds.

By the time I got to Warm Springs G.C., I remembered that folks have been seeing a White-winged Dove there, a bird I haven’t seen since our Arizona trip. I went just past the club house and stopped to look around when I heard the distinctive call of the WWDO. Fortuitously, this was bird #40. Already a great day and miles to go.

At Marianne Williams Park, I stopped when I heard a Common Yellowthroat, a FOY bird for me. Within a few seconds I heard a Virginia Rail, another FOY. A Bank Swallow made 45 and I wasn’t even to Eckert Rd.

Above Diversion Dam I found another FOY, a Canyon Wren (but Rock Wren eluded me). Turkey Vultures were cruising above the black rock walls where climbers were enjoying themselves, but since it was Friday there was a lot of traffic on Highway 21 and hearing birds was difficult.

At Sandy Point I decided to turn around instead of trying to go up and over the dam to Foote Park. I was already several miles beyond my longest ride this year, and I wanted to keep some reserves in my tank, especially with the temperature rising. By that time I had 55 birds, and I was a happy camper.

On the way home I picked up 2 more birds, Red-tailed Hawk and Yellow-headed Blackbird, both of which I’d looked for unsuccessfully on the way out. Then, when I got home, I realized I had never seen a Black-chinned Hummer on the ride, but one was waiting for me on its perch in the neighbor’s yard. 😉

The finale for me was a noisy flyover by a Common Nighthawk this evening, and I had 59 birds. Not bad for an old fart: close to 32 miles of biking and some walking and no gas burned.

Tom McCabe, Boise

=)kim liebich
Boise Idaho