Jay:

I have been looking for the A. Dipper every day with no luck, but just downstream from his location I found the winter resident Northern Pintail. Unfortunately, he did not show yesterday, but he was there today.

Also, today was the first day in some time that I did not find any DC Cormorants on my route. And I haven’t seen or heard a Killdeer in well over a week, but I’m still finding PB Grebes and A Coots at Quinn’s Pond.

Any chance you’ll be able to give us some locations on the birds you listed?

Thanks and Merry Christmas to everybody.

Tom McCabe

From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jay Carlisle carlislejay@yahoo.com [ible]
Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2018 9:09 PM
To: IBLE To Post ; Rmagill
Subject: [IBLE] preliminary Boise CBC results

Howdy IBLE

Well over 40 people helped out on a very nice winter day today. Currently sitting at 96 species for count day …

No mega-surprises but a few highlights I heard of:

* 5 owl species!
* multiple Harris’s Sparrows and a returning, now adult-plumaged Golden-crowned Sparrow
* 2+ Double-crested Cormorant (perhaps becoming more regular now?)
* 3+ Anna’s Hummingbirds
* 2 Say’s Phoebe
* 4+ Bewick’s Wrens (among 5 wren species)

A few notable misses:

* Peregrine Falcon (despite a lot of looking downtown)
* Killdeer
* Western Meadowlark (though we have less habitat than historically)
* a few waterfowl including Ruddy Duck, Eurasian Wigeon, & Northern Pintail

Thanks to everyone who helped – especially RL (now retired as compiler to specialize in Zonotrichia sparrow finding 🙂 for passing on key info and Rob Magill for putting it to use in helping compile!

Happy holidays,

Jay

Howdy IBLE
Well over 40 people helped out on a very nice winter day today.  Currently sitting at 96 species for count day …
No mega-surprises but a few highlights I heard of:
– 5 owl species!
– multiple Harris’s Sparrows and a returning, now adult-plumaged Golden-crowned Sparrow
– 2+ Double-crested Cormorant (perhaps becoming more regular now?)
– 3+ Anna’s Hummingbirds
– 2 Say’s Phoebe
– 4+ Bewick’s Wrens (among 5 wren species)
A few notable misses:
– Peregrine Falcon (despite a lot of looking downtown)

– Killdeer
– Western Meadowlark (though we have less habitat than historically)
– a few waterfowl including Ruddy Duck, Eurasian Wigeon, & Northern Pintail

Thanks to everyone who helped – especially RL (now retired as compiler to specialize in Zonotrichia sparrow finding 🙂 for passing on key info and Rob Magill for putting it to use in helping compile!
Happy holidays,
Jay

Hi Jay – Thanks for putting this message on IBLE… even though, of course, we all should be, we may not be aware or remembering the Golden Eagle events page! =)

And gosh, I was thinking the morning splash in the coffee could make for some interesting count numbers? You people will need to leave that mug in the car. hmmmm. Kidding

Happy morning. Happy birds! Excited to out and count, it’s been on my calendar! Come and count you guys – meeting the counters is almost as fun as finding the birds ~ tweet.

> On Dec 19, 2018, at 9:01 PM, Jay Carlisle carlislejay@yahoo.com [ible] wrote:
>
>
> Hi Folks & happy holidays 🙂
>
> I know this has been shared on the Golden Eagle Audubon events page but I wanted to put in an extra plug for any birders that will be in/around Boise this weekend as we would gladly take your help in counting! If you are interested, even if only for part of a day or a small area – including counting birds at your feeder, please contact Robert Magill (rmagill@wswildlife.com ) and myself (carlislejay@yahoo.com ) … especially if you know you would like to lead/co-lead a specific area. Robert is coordinating the pre-count efforts to ensure a smooth transition from the past compiler RL Rowland who provided years of help in the past.
>
> Golden Eagle Audubon Society – Events
>
>
>
> Meeting spot is the Trophy Room, Idaho Fish and Game HQ, 600 S Walnut St, Boise, ID 83712, USA (map ); northeast entrance on the back side of the building. Note that the events page and announcement in the Audubon e-newsletter says to meet at 630am but we’re changing it to 7am (what we’ve done in the past too) – thus, unless you’ve made arrangements with us ahead of time, see you ~7am on Saturday!
>
> There are no fees to participate, just your time, a bit of gas, and some walking. The Boise count circle is divided to provide all counters with an opportunity to count while walking and driving; remember to dress for the weather. We have a lot of habitat to cover, and we need birders to cover all of it. After the count we will meet up at the Trophy Room again for a potluck from 6-7:30 or so. Since this is a state-owned building, NO alcohol is allowed (sorry!).
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jay
>
>
>

Hi Folks & happy holidays 🙂
I know this has been shared on the Golden Eagle Audubon events page but I wanted to put in an extra plug for any birders that will be in/around Boise this weekend as we would gladly take your help in counting!  If you are interested, even if only for part of a day or a small area – including counting birds at your feeder, please contact Robert Magill (rmagill@wswildlife.com) and myself (carlislejay@yahoo.com) … especially if you know you would like to lead/co-lead a specific area.  Robert is coordinating the pre-count efforts to ensure a smooth transition from the past compiler RL Rowland who provided years of help in the past. 

|
|
|
| | |

|

|
|
| |
Golden Eagle Audubon Society – Events

|

|

|

Meeting spot is the Trophy Room, Idaho Fish and Game HQ, 600 S Walnut St, Boise, ID 83712, USA (map); northeast entrance on the back side of the building.  Note that the events page and announcement in the Audubon e-newsletter says to meet at 630am but we’re changing it to 7am (what we’ve done in the past too) – thus, unless you’ve made arrangements with us ahead of time, see you ~7am on Saturday!

There are no fees to participate, just your time, a bit of gas, and some walking. The Boise count circle is divided to provide all counters with an opportunity to count while walking and driving; remember to dress for the weather.  We have a lot of habitat to cover, and we need birders to cover all of it. After the count we will meet up at the Trophy Room again for a potluck from 6-7:30 or so. Since this is a state-owned building, NO alcohol is allowed (sorry!).
Thanks,
Jay

Snow geese are wintering in the valley. They might be here for the winter.

Denise Hughes
Caldwell, Idaho

> On Dec 18, 2018, at 4:55 PM, ruthanngreene@yahoo.com [ible] wrote:
>
> Are Snow Geese currently migrating? I just saw a huge flock of white birds with black tipped wings fly over Meridian at about 4:45 pm today. They looked like snow geese, but I’m not a very good birder.
>
>
>
> Beautiful sight as their bodies were reflecting the sun light.
>
>
>
> Ruthann Greene
>
> North Meridian, ID
>
>

Are Snow Geese currently migrating? I just saw a huge flock of white birds with black tipped wings fly over Meridian at about 4:45 pm today. They looked like snow geese, but I’m not a very good birder.

Beautiful sight as their bodies were reflecting the sun light.

Ruthann Greene
North Meridian, ID

FWIW, an occasional email has taken hours, or days, to deliver for many
years so I don’t think net neutrality is the cause.

Cliff

On 12/18/18 6:34 AM, Paul Plante run4ity@yahoo.com [ible] wrote:
> Most of the problems with internet postings that have occurred
> recently can be directly linked to the elimination of “internet
> neutrality” that Congress passed.  Without internet neutrality, each
> provider can now prioritize whose messages get sent first and whose
> gets sent last as low priority.  IBLE seems to be on the lower portion
> of the providers lists.   In theory, if you PAY more money for higher
> level service, your message will be moved up the prioritized list and
> sent quicker.  Only problem with that is, “It ain’t necessarily so!”.
>
> Firefighters in California paid highest rate for service during the
> major fires this summer and fall and could not get ANY service from
> Verizon.  Verizon’s answer was simply, if they bought the best, the
> system would have worked.  Not much comfort in that kink of response
> from provider.
>
> Not advocating anything, this  is just explanation of what is going on
> and I see it more every day as internet access is also getting more
> difficult at times.  Toss in the new twist of making snow days
> internet learning days in lieu of make up with additional day of
> school at end of term and the internet highway may be more difficult
> to use.
>
>
> paul plante
>

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

Most of the problems with internet postings that have occurred recently can be directly linked to the elimination of “internet neutrality” that Congress passed.  Without internet neutrality, each provider can now prioritize whose messages get sent first and whose gets sent last as low priority.  IBLE seems to be on the lower portion of the providers lists.   In theory, if you PAY more money for higher level service, your message will be moved up the prioritized list and sent quicker.  Only problem with that is, “It ain’t necessarily so!”.
Firefighters in California paid highest rate for service during the major fires this summer and fall and could not get ANY service from Verizon.  Verizon’s answer was simply, if they bought the best, the system would have worked.  Not much comfort in that kink of response from provider.
Not advocating anything, this  is just explanation of what is going on and I see it more every day as internet access is also getting more difficult at times.  Toss in the new twist of making snow days internet learning days in lieu of make up with additional day of school at end of term and the internet highway may be more difficult to use. 

paul plante

got one cy of your dark RTHA, cool bird =)
day late for your post to arrive it looks..

From: “‘Tom McCabe’ tmccabe9@cableone.net [ible]”
To: “IBLE”
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 10:33:39 AM
Subject: [IBLE] Is anyone else having trouble posting?

Yesterday I tried to post my sighting of a very black/dark chocolate Red-tailed Hawk near Willow Lane. I first sent the email at 3:37 in the afternoon, and again in the evening. Neither ever showed up. I don’t know whether this one will, but I thought I’d try.

Tom McCabe, Boise

Brian, you must be a science dude! =)

I’m looking at a 15-ml (1-tablespoon) measuring spoon, and it looks huge for the “crop” of a Blue Jay. So I just h ad to peek at the BNA species account (Smith, Tarvin, and Woolfenden, 2013), wherein I see many references to the contents of their stomachs. Oh o f course! But there was this:

“Usually harvests 1-5 acorns or up to 15 beechnuts at a time, depending on size of fruit ( [ https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/blujay/references#REF5081 | Darley-Hill and Johnson 1981 ] , [ https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/blujay/references#REF5095 | Johnson and Adkisson 1985 ] , Bartlow et al. 2011). Transports acorns by storing 2-3 in its distended throat and anterior esophagus ( [ https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/blujay/references#REF5096 | Johnson and Webb 1989 ] ), with one more each in mouth and bill-tip ( [ https://download.ams.birds.cornell.edu/api/v1/asset/24993181?__hstc=226533890.52f7f9f2e092a4336d636176d9f3e659.1545090179026.1545090179026.1545090179026.1&__hssc=226533890.5.1545090179027&__hsfp=1865447962 | Figure 2 ] ). During 3 days, jays made 1270 and 1959 visits to 2 pin oak trees and removed 3175 and 4897 acorns, respectively (Steele et al. 2010). ”

Egadz! Maybe somewhere there’s a conversion factor for 15 beechnuts or 5 acorns (of average sizes) = how many cc?

Just for fun, eh? And to see how your BLJA ranks!

Larry

From: “lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com [ible]”
To: “IBLE”
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2018 3:32:49 PM
Subject: [IBLE] 15 cubic cm

So…if anybody is interested, I’ve calculated the size of a Blue Jay’s crop. Can you tell I have way too much time on my hands since the Snake River is full of slush ice & unstable shelf ice along the banks, shutting down my fly-fishing?!

I watched how many sunflower seeds & whole kernels of corn, the jay takes in at an avg visit to the feeder. And, what I get is an avg of 15 cc (or 15 ml) for its crop size. Just find that fascinating!

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot