The Snake River below our home is quickly showing signs of spring runoff. And with it, some bird signs of spring. Today, saw my first White Pelicans of the season and White-crowned Sparrows. DE Juncos, American Robins and Song Sparrows are all singing. Watched a Townsend’s Solitaire gorging itself on Rocky Mountain Juniper berries.

The Bald Eagle pair that has successfully nested near our place for the past 5 years, is nesting now. As are Great Horned Owls. Others to report from this past week: 2 pr of Hooded Mergansers on the river, numerous Mallards & Canada Geese prs, sev Belted Kingfishers, Green-winged Teal & a DC Cormorant. Flyovers of Tundra Swans are heard nightly about 10 PM.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

tagging onto Cliff’s note below because my email is presently flaky (in similar fashion to RL’s???

*** logging into eBird just now i see a great photo of a male Calliope that is credited to Marya, nice !!

still no swallows on our west end section of the Boise greenbelt, but plenty of new waterfowl species are passing thru (drake pintail this morning), as are occasional sandhill cranes. =)
strangest/rarest observation this morning was NO KINGFISHERS were heard or seen, hmmmmmmm

Larry

—– Original Message —–

From: “Cliff and Lisa Weisse cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com [ible]”
To: “IBLE”
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2018 9:18:46 AM
Subject: [IBLE] Early Swainson’s Hawk Reminder

The annual spate of early Swainson’s Hawk reports has begun in Idaho. As
yet there are no validated interior records in eBird north of Las Vegas.
They are showing up in southern AZ and NM and in the TX panhandle but
this is still exceptionally early for Idaho. Migration timing in this
species is very consistent so even a couple days early is very rare. If
you think you see a Swainson’s Hawk please do your best to grab a photo.
They are distinctive so even a crummy photo can be very useful. Keep
your eyes peeled…

Cliff

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

The annual spate of early Swainson’s Hawk reports has begun in Idaho. As
yet there are no validated interior records in eBird north of Las Vegas.
They are showing up in southern AZ and NM and in the TX panhandle but
this is still exceptionally early for Idaho. Migration timing in this
species is very consistent so even a couple days early is very rare. If
you think you see a Swainson’s Hawk please do your best to grab a photo.
They are distinctive so even a crummy photo can be very useful. Keep
your eyes peeled…

Cliff

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