Please accept this rhyme with my apologies to all real poets:

Another Rainy Ride

Biking today was cold but fun

Though I never even got to see the sun;

Leaves were yellow on the trees and grass

An adult Bald Eagle made a pass;

Crows and Magpies followed him around,

Making lots of raucous sound;

Ruddy Ducks were swimming on Silver Lake

And a Western Grebe wasn’t hard to take;

Rarely saw a biker, mile after mile,

But all of them with that secret smile,

Because biking -or birding- on a rainy day

Is truly rewarding in a special way.

Tom McCabe, Boise

Howdy,
I again went looking for the jaeger on AF Reservoir, again with no luck. But eight species and 118 individual shorebirds were still present as a storm began raining on us. They were Killdeer 4, Black-bellied Plover 3, Am.Avocet 1, Black-necked Stilt 1, Marbled Godwit 1, Western Sandpiper 15, Pectoral Sandpiper 31, and Long-billed Dowitcher 62. Both Common and Caspian Terns are still present, as well as two Common Loons, and 3 young Bald Eagles.. Diving ducks are starting to move down the reservoir and Western Grebes we’re starting to fly west.
Good Birding!
Chuck Trost

Always forward, never straight…

Seen this morning between the Silo near dam and Willow Bay harassing Seagulls. Closer to Willow Bay driving along beach.

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

On Wednesday, October 3, 2018, 4:41 PM, Cheryl Huizinga bchuizinga@cableone..net [ible] wrote:

 
I spotted one parasitic jaeger this morning from same area. 
Cheryl Huizinga 

Cheryl HuizingaCaldwell, Idaho
On Oct 3, 2018, at 12:19 PM, Austin Young austinyoung234@gmail.com [ible] wrote:

About half an hour ago I observed two dark adult Parasitic Jaegers pretty much halfway between Willow Bay and the dam at American Falls Reservoir. They mostly moved and harassed gulls together. I’ll soon post link to eBird checklists with poor supporting pictures and description. I last saw them on the north side of the water and flying towards the dam. Best approach to seeing these are likely to scan the water with a scope. 
Just wanted to share that observation,
Austin YoungPocatello —
Austin Young
Twin Falls, ID
austinyoung224@gmail.com

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I spotted one parasitic jaeger this morning from same area.
Cheryl Huizinga

Cheryl Huizinga
Caldwell, Idaho

> On Oct 3, 2018, at 12:19 PM, Austin Young austinyoung234@gmail.com [ible] wrote:
>
> About half an hour ago I observed two dark adult Parasitic Jaegers pretty much halfway between Willow Bay and the dam at American Falls Reservoir. They mostly moved and harassed gulls together. I’ll soon post link to eBird checklists with poor supporting pictures and description.
> I last saw them on the north side of the water and flying towards the dam.. Best approach to seeing these are likely to scan the water with a scope.
>
> Just wanted to share that observation,
>
> Austin Young
> Pocatello
> —
> Austin Young
> Twin Falls, ID
> austinyoung224@gmail.com
>

About half an hour ago I observed two dark adult Parasitic Jaegers pretty
much halfway between Willow Bay and the dam at American Falls Reservoir.
They mostly moved and harassed gulls together. I’ll soon post link to eBird
checklists with poor supporting pictures and description.
I last saw them on the north side of the water and flying towards the dam.
Best approach to seeing these are likely to scan the water with a scope.

Just wanted to share that observation,

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

Hummer fans,
I thought this was another hoax, similar to one that came out about ten years ago on April Fools Day about a “Cave Hummer.”
But this is looking real, maybe? Anyone else heard about it on other list serves?

Anyway, pix of the male Blue-throated Hillstar are stunning!
Larry

—–Original Message—–
From: National Birding Hotline Cooperative (Chat Line) [mailto:BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.KSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Devorah the Ornithologist
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2018 9:03 AM
To: BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.KSU.EDU
Subject: [BIRDCHAT] Newly Discovered Hummingbird Species Is Already Endangered

Hello everyone,

Just thought I’d hare a pice I published a few days ago about a

newly-discovered hummingbird species was found high up in Ecuador’s Andes

Mountains. Despite the elevation of its home, this species is threatened by

human activities, so it is already recognized as Critically Endangered

Newly Discovered Hummingbird Species Is Already Endangered

http://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2018/09/30/newly-discovered-hummingbird-species-is-already-endangered/

tinyURL: https://tinyurl.com/ybnfjpq4

i hope you find this piece interesting and educational.

—

GrrlScientist | @GrrlScientist

grrlscientist@gmail.com

Howdy,
I went looking for Steve’s jaegers this afternoon between the AFR dam and the Willow Bay marina, again with no luck. But there were plenty of shorebirds which included 7 species and 145 individuals: 1 Killdeer, 1Black-bellied Plover, 1Marbled Godwit, 136 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Least Sandpiper, 3 Baird’s Sandpipers, and 2 Long-billed Dowitchers. There were also about 20 Common Terns, with a few Forester’s mixed in resting on rocks and. Islands.
Good Birding!
Chuck Trost

Always forward, never straight…

Late this morning I had my first Dark-eyed Junco of the season feeding on
the ground in my yard. It was as a nice dark male Oregon. Handsome! I’ll be
looking and listening for more.

Diann Stone Boise Depot Bench

I spent the morning near the west end of American Falls Reservoir hoping
for the wide array of shorebirds, gulls, terns and waterfowl that many
birders have been enjoying recently. Unfortunately, I struck out on birds
like semipalmated plover and sandpiper, western sandpiper and black tern.
But that was more then made up for by sightings of 2 jaegers!

The first bird was seen while I was in the silo area, but it was further
east. I am hoping others get to see the bird, because I believe it was a
Pomarine. I have never had a good look at a pom before but I have been
able to get studying looks at parasitics. From the bat, this bird appeared
bigger and bulkier than a parasitic jaeger and the ring-billed gulls it was
chasing. I was surprised because it seemed to effortlessly close the gap
in the distance between it and the birds it was chasing, and each time the
gull would “put on the brakes” and swoop upward, but the jaeger was not
fooled and stayed w/ the bird. But, it would soon thereafter give up and
move on to other gulls to chase. It was a light phase adult.
Unfortunately, I could not see it well enough to confirm the twisted
central tail feathers, or other more fine-tuned field marks. I also see
that there are only 3 records in eBird for pomarine jaeger. Unless,
someone gets a better shot at it, it will remain in the category of “I bet
that was a pomarine.”

The second bird was a definite dark parasitic and I found it from the
Willow Bay pier. The differences in flight style and shape were immediately
noticeable. Also in contrast, it engaged gulls in long, twisting, turning,
tail chases. There may actually have been 2 dark parasitics because I
found birds in different telescope scans in far different locations, but I
know these birds can cover a lot of ground fast.

I hope the birds stay around long enough so others can see them.

Steven F. Kahl
Deputy Project Leader
Southeast Idaho National Wildlife Refuge Complex
4425 Burley Dr., Ste. A
Chubbuck, ID 83202
C (208) 252-0805
P (208) 237-6615 ext 112
F (208) 237-8213

*Like and follow us on Facebook
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Oi, check out Mark’s photos (link below)…….. =)

On the home front, we’ve had a Black-chinned Hummingbird slamming into an eBird filter all afternoon, and I’m feeling it’s little headache from that situation.
and Screech-owl is talking……
Larry, W Boise

From: texbirds-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:texbirds-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Mark Lockwood
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2018 5:36 AM
To: TexBirds (texbirds@freelists.org)
Subject: [texbirds] melanistic Ruddy Duck – Balmorhea Lake (29 September 2018)

I visited Balmorhea Lake, Reeves Co., on Saturday afternoon (29 September) and found a virtually solid black male Ruddy Duck. Melanism in Ruddy Ducks is known and at least two birds like this individual have been reported, one from Utah in 1947 and one in Arizona in 2017. This duck was the biggest highlight as there was not a lot on the lake other than Clark’s and Western Grebes. The few other highlights included:

American Avocet – 13

Semipalmated Plover – 2

Long-billed Curlew – 11

Sanderling – 1

I have place two images of the Ruddy Duck along with photos of the other above mentioned birds on my Flickr page:

Mark

Mark Lockwood

402 E. Harriet Ave.

Alpine, Texas 79830