Howdy,
Yesterday afternoon I spotted a young Iceland Gull (Thayer’s race”) on the Snake River below the cemetery in American Falls. It was all light tan, including the wing tips.
Good Birding!
Chuck Trost

Always forward, never straight…

Yesterday I found a pack of Crows harassing a Red-tailed Hawk in the same
vicinity that I found a Peregrine on 3 occasions last week. I was about to
turn around when I thought I should check the tree where the Peregrine had
been. Lo and behold, there was an Osprey on the exact same perch the
Peregrine had used. The tree with the Osprey is right at the river end of
50th St. in Garden City, near a side channel of the river that harbors a lot
of Mallards. In fact, the assisted living facility right there is named
“Mallard Point.”

So when I cruised by the same location today, I was looking hard. My reward
was the Osprey again, this time midway between 50th and 51st. He was on the
river side of the island created by the Mallard side channel. But by the
time I came by on my return trip, 20 minutes later, he was gone.

This is the same general location where a few weeks ago I saw a Bald Eagle
in the middle of the river with a fish too big to carry off.

Today’s tally included 2 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Red-tails, a Bald Eagle (at ESP),
and the Osprey. Final total was 36 birds in 14 miles. Another great day,
although a bit cold.

Tom McCabe, Boise

There haven’t been many birds around for awhile, but this morning, a large flock of Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, and Dark-eyed Juncos descended on my yard.
The predominant species was the one I would least expect – Pine siskins. I counted over 30! I don’t believe I have ever seen that large of a siskin flock in my lifetime.
Winter is coming… we still have snow on the ground up here in Horseshoe Bend… Happy Holidays everyone! Jonathan Barnett

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

I meant to attach this video as well.
Long-eared owl hunting

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Long-eared owl hunting

Long-eared owl hunting near Cambridge
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On Thursday, December 7, 2017, 3:22:40 PM MST, Jason Talbot wrote:

I wanted to pass this video along since I was surprised at the similarity in flight patterns between Long-eared and Short-eared Owls. I’d never seen a LEOW in flight in the open until this week. I thought the flight of the SEOW was unique.
I thought I had a SEOW (rare) at Eagle Island SP in Ada County earlier this week until I was asked if I had considered LEOW. I ran across the following video. 
It flew across the field with a Cooper’s Hawk harassing it (explaining the unusual behavior of LEOW flying during the day). It then disappeared into the Russian Olives (unusual for SEOW) until Magpies notified me of its presence. I got a brief look but just enough to know it wasn’t a Barn Owl. I noticed it had dark comma-shaped marks near the wrist of the underwing but LEOW and SEOW have this. 
I wanted to pass this along to help others not make the same mistake. You won’t run across this very often. It makes me wonder if I misidentified SEOW one early morning at Blacks Creek a couple years ago now knowing this.
There’s always something new to learn in the birding world!
Separating Short-eared and Long-eared Owls

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Separating Short-eared and Long-eared Owls

As difficult species go, the Long and Short-eared Owl pairing are amongst the most challenging to identify, espe…
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I wanted to pass this video along since I was surprised at the similarity in flight patterns between Long-eared and Short-eared Owls. I’d never seen a LEOW in flight in the open until this week. I thought the flight of the SEOW was unique.
I thought I had a SEOW (rare) at Eagle Island SP in Ada County earlier this week until I was asked if I had considered LEOW. I ran across the following video. 
It flew across the field with a Cooper’s Hawk harassing it (explaining the unusual behavior of LEOW flying during the day). It then disappeared into the Russian Olives (unusual for SEOW) until Magpies notified me of its presence. I got a brief look but just enough to know it wasn’t a Barn Owl. I noticed it had dark comma-shaped marks near the wrist of the underwing but LEOW and SEOW have this. 
I wanted to pass this along to help others not make the same mistake. You won’t run across this very often. It makes me wonder if I misidentified SEOW one early morning at Blacks Creek a couple years ago now knowing this.
There’s always something new to learn in the birding world!
Separating Short-eared and Long-eared Owls

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Separating Short-eared and Long-eared Owls

As difficult species go, the Long and Short-eared Owl pairing are amongst the most challenging to identify, espe…
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Lisa just spotted a new bird for our yard, a male Varied Thrush. Very
cool. And very late for Island Park. I’ve seen a few here in spring and
even had one singing at Island Park Dam, but never during winter (6
degrees this morning). It was foraging in bare patches under trees and
picking the last few Snowberries off the bushes. Lisa tried for a photo
but it flushed as soon as she touched the door handle.

Cliff

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