Hi,

Today March 25 we had an American Robin appear on the aspen tree that is the main perch for the territorial pair that nests every year by or on the house. I saw another one yesterday in the neighborhood also.

With the snow today and yesterday, the large flock of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch returned (estimate at least 200 birds). Still could not find one Black RF in the bunch.

We also still have about 12 Pine Grosbeaks hanging out, a few magpies, and Red-breasted Nuthatch. Small flocks of juncos appeared down the hill but overall, it is still very quiet birdwise up here in Packsaddle in the foothills of the Big Holes.

Best, Susan

At 3:30 this morning I was awakened by one of my favorite sounds-a Western
Screech Owl. I smiled in the dark, thinking this would be the start of my
day list.

But when I woke up to a snowstorm, I figured I wasn’t going to be able to
bike today. Then, when the sun came out, I started eyeing the streets for
bikeability.

Along the way, while doing “poop fairy” duties in my yard, I was visited by
a wonderful Sharp-shinned Hawk, putting my day list at 10 and scaring
everybody with feathers. This made a bike ride an absolute necessity. After
all, I can’t write them down unless I do a bike ride. 😉

So off I headed, with the streets not nearly as wet as I had expected and
not icy as I had feared. I was greeted at Esther Simplot by a flyover of an
Osprey. Now I had 15 birds and 3 of them were raptors . I rounded up the
usual suspects, including the lingering female Greater Scaup at Veterans
Pond and a Common Goldeneye on the back pond. By the time I left the park
and headed downstream, I was up to 29 birds.

A quick detour for my favorite Great Horned Owls was disappointing at first
when they weren’t in their usual tree, but as I stood looking around, one of
them hooted to let me know they were still in the neighborhood. Then I had a
flyover by a Cooper’s Hawk near Veterans Park, followed by a flyover by a
Bald Eagle near Willow Lane.

I rode downstream on the Boise side until I found the wintering N. Pintail
and saw a small raft of Lesser Scaup at Silver Lake. Along the way I came
upon another Sharp-shinned Hawk, this one having dinner al fresco. Bird 39
was a DC Cormorant back at the Whitewater Park, and a flock of California
Gulls on Quinn’s Pond put me at 40.

My neighborhood Red-tailed Hawks seemed to be hiding when I got home, but
then they got noisy and active again and made me happy. That brought my
final tally to 42 birds in 13 miles, with 7 of them raptors. Not bad for a
day that looked like a snow day in the morning.

Tom McCabe, Boise

P.S. As I sit here at my computer, my friendly neighborhood Western Screech
Owl is calling constantly and making me smile.

Howdy,
This afternoon I found three huge flocks of Snow Geese on the north side of the reservoir. One was in a field. Just south of Hwy 39 about three miles from Am. Falls, near where they were last weekend. Another was in a field east of Yuma Rd. Finally, a huge flock was south of Vambaur Rd., which is south of Springfield. The entire reservoir is now unfrozen, and many diving ducks are moving through.
Good Birding!
Chuck Trost

Always forward, never straight…

Thanks, Larry. I’ve never actually seen that photo displayed on eBird.
Heidi Ware saw it on March 9 and Mary Rumple a few days before that, so I’m
guessing it’s rotating? Would be fun to see it there for myself!

Marya