i.e., until more song birds arrive…

[ http://volkerpannes.de/portfolio/bird-song-opera/ | http://volkerpannes.de/portfolio/bird-song-opera/ ]

Larry

My feeder visitor Blue Jay arrived on 10/21/18 and is still here. Fascinated by that. In spite of a week of sub-zero temps in Dec, lots of snow & now crusty snow/icy conditions, the jay makes daily forays for seeds & corn. Perhaps, my feeders are the only reason it is still present.

Also, the 2 first-winter Harris’ Sparrows still arrive daily to feed on ground-spread black-oil sunflower seeds. Other than the jay & sparrows, not much else to report. Keep hoping for a flight of crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks or redpolls to show.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

Way to go Tom! I love that the church pigeons saved the day!

Not that I’m obsessive about birding, but I do try to reach my Recommended
Daily Allowance every day. So that means 30 birds. And so far this year I’ve
not missed a day. 😉

But trying to get to my Highly Recommended Daily allowance of 40 birds,
that’s been a struggle. I’ve come close several times, but #40 has eluded me
so far-until today.

My first treat of the day was a very cooperative Cooper’s Hawk hanging out
at 24th and Brumback. A first of year bird to boot. Then, just off Stewart I
found an immature Sharp-shinned who preened for me as I made sure he wasn’t
another Cooper’s. Yet another FOY bird was the Double-crested Cormorant in a
tree overlooking the back pond at Esther Simplot (ESP). (AKA the “Cormorant
Tree”) And a Bufflehead on the back pond was an additional treat. The rest
of the birds at ESP were the usual waterfowl, but also a Red-winged BB.

So by the time I left ESP, I had spotted a total of 27 birds. That’s a
pretty good total for winter birding, but not a record breaker. Additional
birds were slow in coming (GBH in the river above Veteran’s Pkwy bridge,
Cedar Waxwings at Willow Lane, and a Red-tail just past Willow Lane). But
once I had a solid 30, then I started thinking 40 was possible.

Chickadees and a Downy boosted my hopes, then A. Coots were visible from the
river side of Silver Lake, and Common Goldeneye were in the river below the
closed bridge. So I headed back and detoured to the apartment complex that
sits on the State St. side of Silver Lake. There I found the Northern
Shovelers that have been fairly consistent at the big spray fountain that
keeps the water moving (and kept it from freezing during the coldest
weather). I also found a pair of A. Wigeons that I’d missed at ESP, so I was
at 36 and getting even more optimistic.

On the way down Wylie Lane, heading back to the greenbelt, I heard, and then
saw, a C. Raven, followed quickly by the call of a N. Flicker. So now I was
at 38 birds, at least 4 miles from home, but getting worried that I was
again going to come up short. Fortunately, a Pacific Wren objected to my
presence at the wooden footbridge just downstream from Veteran’s Pkwy, and
now I HAD to find another bird.

But I got all the way back to State St. without seeing or hearing a new
bird. Then I realized that the group of Rock Pigeons sitting on top of the
steeple at St. Mary’s was bird #40! I hadn’t seen any sign of them on the
way out, but they saved me from an ignominious failure on the way back.
(Blessed be the church pigeons for they shall save the obsessed!)

Forty birds in 14 miles and I’m a happy camper.

Tom McCabe, Boise

This morning I saw one male Cassin’s Finch hanging out near the feeder with a group of 10 Pine Grosbeak. This is the first one of the winter. Yesterday I observed one Evening Grosbeak also FOY.

Have to wonder where the other Cassin’s are this winter. Was 15 degrees here this morning.

Cheers, Susan
Packsaddle Estates, Tetonia (foothills of the Big Holes)

Greetings, for anyone interested there was a male RNS seen this afternoon in the SW corner of Morris Hill Cemetery in one of the really large pine trees.

Cheers,
Marty Marzinelli

Finally, the first group of Bohemian Waxwings in our neighborhood here in the NW end of Teton Valley. I had been seeing a few Cedar Waxwings the past month but today with snow falling, a large group of Bohemians were foraging on service berries with the robins and pine grosbeaks.

Packsaddle Estates, Teton, Idaho, US
Jan 10, 2019 12:55 PM – 3:55 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Comments: snow falling, temp > 35 degrees, foggy in valley
11 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 6 flew over subdivision heading NW
Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) 3 in service berry shrub habitat in subdivision, heard them fly and call
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus) 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) (Colaptes auratus [cafer Group]) 1
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) 1
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 5
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 40
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 10
Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) 55
Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) 10

If anyone wants to see grackles there are 9 birds hanging out at the Walmart parking lot in Ontario. I saw 4 males and 5 females today.

Denise Hughes
Caldwell, Idaho

I found 4 Greater Yellowlegs at Birding Island South in Payette County. They r on the pond on the right hand side as you drive. As also seen Killdeer and a Wilson’s Snipe.

Happy Birding,
Tim Teal

Took a quick look at Remington St (by ex Les Bois) in Garden City today. I am hoping Evening Grosbeaks I saw here a year ago will turn up again. Not yet though. Then I took a look at the river where I saw a pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye. They were at the river junction, right where the red bridge use to be that is still sitting by the abandoned stables on the race track. This seems to be a good spot for them, and I wonder if this pair could be one of the pairs present here a couple or 3 years ago. 
Good 2019 birding!John Shortis