Yesterday Amy and I saw just 3 Mallards and one Great Blue Heron on the lake at Blacks; but 4 American Tree Sparrows showed themselves nicely in the bushes to the right of the main entrance below the dyke. At Indian, several duck species seen, plus 2 Killdeer, including Redhead and Pintail, also found several female Red-winged Blackbirds. The real surprise as we left was seeing a single male Mountain Bluebird. This is the earliest in the year we have seen this species, plus I have never seen it at this location before.
Happy birding!
John Shortis 

On right fortboise wide live wild area

A Typical Day-in Rhyme

By Tom McCabe

The Screech Owl sings in the middle of the night

The Juncos are feeding at first light.

Goldfinches come-American and Lesser

I grab the binos from the dresser.

A Robin whinnies and a House Finch sings

Mourning Doves come and flutter their wings.

A Nuthatch calls as I head out the door

Bundled for the cold, but happy to the core.

Yellow-rumped Warbler greets me daily

Cedar Waxwings whisper gaily.

A Downy Woodpecker calls to me

I know it’s him though I cannot see.

At State Street the “Church Pigeons” sit on a cross

While a group of Crows decide who’s boss.

Magpies and Collared Doves make their noise

While Ruby Crowned Kinglets look like toys.

Then on to the river and the many water birds

They gather in numbers that look like herds.

Mallards and Wigeons and Gadwalls, oh my,

Plus both kinds of Mergansers, then a Heron flies by.

A Bald Eagle sits in a tree by the river,

Every time I see him it gives me a shiver.

The pleasure at showing him to any and all

Who wouldn’t have noticed him though he sits so tall.

I hear the Geese honk and the Kingfisher rattle

While down in the brush the Wren seems to tattle.

A Red-tail sits and surveys a field

Though often to a Kestrel he must yield.

The Wood Ducks are plenty and pretty as can be

And Common Goldeneye are a sight to see.

A Northern Pintail is an occasional star

And sometimes a Merlin appears from afar.

These are my friends that I look for each day

Though often when they see me, they fly away.

But I still keep biking and looking around

Hoping to find one that no one has found.

A daily quest that keeps me going

Although I never go out whenever it’s snowing.

It makes me happy in these crazy times,

Watching birds and making rhymes.

So, prior to this visiting blue jay, my only previous sighting for this type jay at our home in latilong 21 was 4 at the feeder on 5/16/12. Those stayed for about 5 days. My edition of “Idaho Bird Distribution” is April 1998 which lists blue jay as transient/overwintering for latilong 21.

I know in past yrs, I’ve read reports from IF, Mackay & Pocatello for blue jay. I believe the one visiting my area has stayed mainly because of a steady food supply. I do anticipate that come spring, it will get the urge to seek out other blue jays & leave. Is anybody aware of any breeding reports in Idaho? As it would be interesting to learn if blue jay is expanding its breeding range.

Comparing, I’ve only seen a single Steller’s Jay at our home outside Blackfoot in our 30 yrs here. But, of course, that’s to be expected as our primary tree is narrowleaf cottonwood & not evergreens. It appears, a blue jay’s primary competitor in my area would be black-billed magpie. And, I suspect, with a magpie’s size & mob tendencies, it would make for a formidable competitor. It will be interesting to see what happens over time.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

Data! Thanks Pat……. =)

From: “Patricia Weber birder1932@gmail.com [ible]”
To: “IBLE”
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2019 2:58:46 PM
Subject: Re: [IBLE] All Showed Today

Just for your curiosity, in Twin Falls, I had 3 BLJAs with the first observation on November 11, 2017 and the last sighting was on May 5th, 2018. Funny birds!
Pat Weber

Just for your curiosity, in Twin Falls, I had 3 BLJAs with the first
observation on November 11, 2017 and the last sighting was on May 5th,
2018. Funny birds!

Pat Weber

Brian, thanks for your fun observations!

Our main event every morning is 15-20 magpies storming the peanut feeder in a five-minute burst of energy…… =)

Regarding your Blue Jay…. reminds me of an observation that Missy and I had of two of them in Idaho Falls five years ago ( oh ouch, time flies by too fast !! )

our eBird list is here:

Motel West in IF, Bonneville, Idaho, US
May 13 , 2014 2:05 PM
Protocol: Incidental
1 species

Blue Jay 2 1 bird called, flew across parking lot to 2nd bird, together in smallish flowering tree they were right next to each other, one had a beak full of presumed nesting material, looked like shredded plastic netting or nylon rope, we watched them for several minutes and they never departed. Darren mentioned he might try for photos. we did not find them on the following day at that location.

View this checklist online at [ https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S18397496 | https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S18397496 ]

Anyway, I’ve been curious about your BLJA, so I just now peeked at the annual cycle for them in their BNA species account (below). What the authors illustrate is an aggregate of several different populations, so my interpretation of the cycle shown is “loose.” However, we can glean a basic idea of the timing of migration, breeding, and molt, and it will be interesting to see how long your bird remains……. =)

The birds we saw appeared to be kinda sorta on schedule for breeding, but BLJA in Idaho could be “outliers” having their own schedules, eh?

Larry, Boise

Figure 6. Annual cycle of the Blue Jay.

Thick lines show peak activity; thin lines, off-peak.
Citation – Smith, K. G., K. A. Tarvin, and G. E. Woolfenden (2013). Blue Jay ( Cyanocitta cristata ), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F.. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. [ https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.469 | https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.469 ]

From: “lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com [ible]”
To: “IBLE”
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2019 4:21:04 PM
Subject: [IBLE] All Showed Today

The sunshine this weekend brought about a lot of feeder activity. And, today, not only large numbers of birds hitting the feeders but some surprises.

The Blue Jay continues its visits, mostly in the mornings. Then, sporadic visits for spilled seeds by the 2 Harris’ Sparrows continue throughout the day. But, a surprise, was a female Purple Finch. Haven’t seen one in quite a while & then had a 15 minute visit by a female for sunflower seeds this afternoon. A definite contrast to the usual House Finch females.

Pine Siskins appeared at the thistle seed feeder yesterday & continue today.. One very bright yellow individual gives nice contrast to the drab winter phase Am Goldfinches arriving by the droves. Cedar Waxwings were perched in aspen trees, flycatching midges hatching from a Snake River overflow channel.

Combined with some overhead flights of Bald Eagle, a few Red-tailed Hawks, including a dark phase one, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, N Harrier & a Sharp-shinned Hawk, it’s been a good day!

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

I was able to get out and enjoy the beautiful sunshine Sunday morning along
Cusick Creek Trail in Pocatello. One of the highlights was a Sharp-tailed
Grouse atop a dead juniper at the top of a ridge. I have a feeling it was
a sentinel for more birds on the other side of the ridge. I also enjoyed a
flock of about 120 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. Two Golden Eagles, 7
Cassin’s Finches, and a Red Crossbill punctuated the morning as well.

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
!*

The sunshine this weekend brought about a lot of feeder activity. And, today, not only large numbers of birds hitting the feeders but some surprises.

The Blue Jay continues its visits, mostly in the mornings. Then, sporadic visits for spilled seeds by the 2 Harris’ Sparrows continue throughout the day. But, a surprise, was a female Purple Finch. Haven’t seen one in quite a while & then had a 15 minute visit by a female for sunflower seeds this afternoon. A definite contrast to the usual House Finch females.

Pine Siskins appeared at the thistle seed feeder yesterday & continue today. One very bright yellow individual gives nice contrast to the drab winter phase Am Goldfinches arriving by the droves. Cedar Waxwings were perched in aspen trees, flycatching midges hatching from a Snake River overflow channel.

Combined with some overhead flights of Bald Eagle, a few Red-tailed Hawks, including a dark phase one, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, N Harrier & a Sharp-shinned Hawk, it’s been a good day!

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

Bravo! Bravo! Bravissimo!

From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of LARRY ARNOLD larnold47@cableone.net [ible]
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2019 11:39 AM
To: IBLE
Subject: [IBLE] will a bit of Mozart’s magic help ??

i.e., until more song birds arrive…

Bird Song Opera

Larry