Well, Tom let’s keep that seed trail going from SE ID to Boise & back. ‘Cause it was fun having the Pine Siskins so close. They practically did eat out of my hand, as they were clinging to the thistle feeder, while I was still holding it. Tame & ravenous little birds! My sister sent me a photo of an Anna’s Hummingbird visiting their feeder outside Gig Harbor, WA with 6 inches of snow in the background. Interesting winter!

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

Tom –

Same thing on my FOY Pine Siskins yesterday. Caught them going and coming
on my morning walk to Hyde Park. I noted on my eBird checklist for the day
that I also had other flocks of finches, though strangely no American
Robins, European Starlings, or House Sparrows, in addition to other “sure
things”. Blowing snow and cold temps, in my analysis, seemed to contribute
to the absences. (That’s a data point of one of course!)

—
Jim Lyons
jflyons@gmail.com
208-340-0533

On Sun, Feb 10, 2019 at 10:38 AM ‘Tom McCabe’ tmccabe9@cableone.net [ible] < ible-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

>
>
> Apparently the trail of bread crumbs and seeds that I put out from my
> house to Brian’s in Blackfoot has finally worked. Today I had my first Pine
> Siskin in ages. He didn’t stay long, but now I know they’re here. I’m
> hoping we’ll get the numbers we had a few years ago where they would eat
> out of my hand. 😉
>
> Tom McCabe, Boise
>
>
>

Apparently the trail of bread crumbs and seeds that I put out from my house
to Brian’s in Blackfoot has finally worked. Today I had my first Pine Siskin
in ages. He didn’t stay long, but now I know they’re here. I’m hoping we’ll
get the numbers we had a few years ago where they would eat out of my hand.
😉

Tom McCabe, Boise

Just got home from spending Fri & Sat taking our annual winter trip by snowcoach into Yellowstone. One of the birding highlights was seeing a total of 30 Trumpeter Swans yesterday, scattered along the Madison & Firehole Rivers. For those keeping up with the Trumpeters, Yellowstone summer nesting success numbers have dropped significantly the past few years.

That’s believed to be related to lake trout in Yellowstone Lake. (Hope I understood the dynamics correctly, Ruth Shea). The lake trout eat cutthroat trout, which the Bald Eagles usually eat. Hence, Bald numbers are down & those remaining have been eating Swan Cygnets. To the point, that last year, not a single Trumpeter Cygnet survived. Hopefully, as the lake trout numbers are continued to be exterminated, cutthroats &, hence, Eagles, Osprey & Swans will rebound. And the Eagles will move back to cutthroat trout & leave the young Swans alone.

So, it was good to observe a number of Trumpeters wintering in the Park and, might explain, why I see almost daily overhead flights of Trumpeter Swans here along the Snake River. No lake trout.

This morning, I went out to fill my empty feeders. While walking out with a scoop of thistle seed, to fill the feeder, I was bombarded by a half dozen Pine Siskins. They literally landed on the feeder while I was filling it within inches of my hands! Could hardly focus on them with my bifocals, they were so close. Quite a satisfying homecoming.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot