Thanks Ken, RL, Denise and Jason for your help with my grouse id.
Well Dusky seems to be the consensus between you, and although these birds were smaller than adult Dusky, we know that most birds from this group (quail, partridge, grouse etc) can fly before they’re full grown, so I must conclude that all those we saw were juveniles. None of those we saw were big enough to be adults. As you say, Spruce would be wrong for this location and habitat, and there was no sign of a crest on the one bird I had a reasonable view of.
Thanks again!John Shortis 

On Monday, July 10, 2017 7:39 AM, John Shortis wrote:

Hi birders, yesterday we stumbled upon and flushed about 8 or 9 grouse species right by the trail at Upper Hulls Gulch. I was unable to get a positive id on them, but they could only have been Ruffed or Spruce. I guess they were a family group. My thoughts are that it was the wrong habitat for Spruce, however, I could see no sign of a crest on the head which you’d normally expect for Ruffed Grouse. But I’m still leaning towards Ruffed, the birds did not vocalize, and I only had a brief look at the top half of the body of one bird, which was dark barring. Can anyone suggest which of these 2 species would be most likely there?         Thanks!John Shortis

Hey all,
As of 10:45 this morning, the young male white-winged Scoter is still at
Island Park Reservoir Dam, I assume it’s the same bird as the one in early
June. I also got a good look at the white secondaries just to make myself
110% sure. He still has a little bit of white on his face from younger
plumage.

Austin Young
Twin Falls, ID
—
Austin Young Pocatello/Twin Falls, ID austinyoung224@gmail.com

I just returned from the city of rocks and wanted to let everyone know that we were able to relocate the blue grosbeak. It took us several tries and we waited each time probably over an hour, so the bird is not coming up near the road. You have to watch the Willows at a distance. The exact coordinates were
N42.066940
W113.516876
Also in the same area I believe I saw a male lark bunting. It only flew up briefly and I was the only person to see the bird. I did not put it on eBird since I didn’t get a long look and we were never able to confirm it. But it would be worth watching for if anyone goes to the area. Birding was still fantastic despite the heat:-)
Mary Rumple
Boise, ID

Sent from my iPhone

Hi birders, yesterday we stumbled upon and flushed about 8 or 9 grouse species right by the trail at Upper Hulls Gulch. I was unable to get a positive id on them, but they could only have been Ruffed or Spruce. I guess they were a family group. My thoughts are that it was the wrong habitat for Spruce, however, I could see no sign of a crest on the head which you’d normally expect for Ruffed Grouse. But I’m still leaning towards Ruffed, the birds did not vocalize, and I only had a brief look at the top half of the body of one bird, which was dark barring. Can anyone suggest which of these 2 species would be most likely there?         Thanks!John Shortis