Finally back out birding regularly after major back surgery and I was ecstatic to finally see some Yellow Warblers at Foote Park. Spring is finally here?
Monthly Archives: April 2019
[IBLE] Still Here
The Blue Jay came in this AM for 2-3 visits. Others this week have been the arrival of House Wrens, immediately establishing their pair bonds & territories. Sev Red-naped Sapsuckers are now here, as well. A N Flicker has been busy excavating a new cavity in a backyard cottonwood for the past 5 days. Wood Ducks are already quietly nesting.
Yesterday, I had 2 White-crowned Sparrows scratching seeds from around the feeder base along with a full breeding-plumaged Harris’ Sparrow. The American Goldfinches are all in breeding plumage now, too. And, for the past week, I’ve had evening visits by 2 Wild Turkey toms squaring off, gobbling & spurring each other over 6 hens. They’ll all put on a show for nearly an hour. The toms’ heads, waddles & necks turn crimson red with hues of bright blue when they get within a few feet of one another. Then they fan their tails, bristle their back feathers, puff out their chests to show their beards & square off for minutes at a time. Quite the show! Last evening, just the tom with the longer beard appeared with 4 hens. So, guess he’s the main winner of the standoffs.
Appreciate the advice & comments re: eBird. Hoping, the next couple of weeks brings the arrival of some colorful songbirds.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
[IBLE] Hummers near Idaho City
I saw the first one (male Calliope) on the 18th, and today there were quite a few flitting about and coming to feeders. Yesterday I saw a male Rufous briefly – heard it before I saw it, and it didn’t stay long. This evening I even had two at a time on a feeder, so they’re starting to come back! Makes me happy! Most zoom in and out quickly so too hard to identify for sure, but most I’ve seen closely are male Calliopes.
Jennifer Alban
RE: [IBLE] hummingbirds – what are folks seeing and where ???
I had what looked like a Female Rufous Hummer yesterday. FOY Lazuli Buntings showed up today, and FOY Western Kingbirds yesterday, fyi…Jonathan, Horseshoe Bend
Sent from Mail
________________________________
From: ible@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2019 8:03:19 PM
To: LARRY ARNOLD
Cc: IBLE
Subject: Re: [IBLE] hummingbirds – what are folks seeing and where ???
Rich here reporting from S Nampa, no BCHU’s yet, earliest for my yard is 24th.
Cheers, R Rusnak
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 25, 2019, at 6:03 PM, LARRY ARNOLD larnold47@cableone.net
Missy just now got on our FOY male BCHU, our earliest date ever Black-chinned Hummingbird in W Boise… early by three days
so, fresh zuka juice feeders are going out NOW
we saw CAHU a couple days ago along Boise Greenbelt, and our really close best friend Jennifer near Idaho City reported her 1st CAHU to us on Apr 18
Heidi, what are you guys seeing or hearing? and where?
Tom and Susan?
other humnuts like maybe Cheryl and Denise?
cats drool, hummers rule
LA
Re: [IBLE] hummingbirds – what are folks seeing and where ???
Rich here reporting from S Nampa, no BCHU’s yet, earliest for my yard is 24th.
Cheers, R Rusnak
Sent from my iPhone
> On Apr 25, 2019, at 6:03 PM, LARRY ARNOLD larnold47@cableone.net [ible]
>
>
> Missy just now got on our FOY male BCHU, our earliest date ever Black-chinned Hummingbird in W Boise… early by three days
> so, fresh zuka juice feeders are going out NOW
>
> we saw CAHU a couple days ago along Boise Greenbelt, and our really close best friend Jennifer near Idaho City reported her 1st CAHU to us on Apr 18
>
> Heidi, what are you guys seeing or hearing? and where?
>
> Tom and Susan?
>
> other humnuts like maybe Cheryl and Denise?
>
>
> cats drool, hummers rule
>
> LA
>
>
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RE: [IBLE] eBird
Personally, even though the early versions of eBird didn’t attract me, eventually I decided to really give it a try, and it truly has been the tool that has brought me back into full-on birding. It’s simple to use, I enjoy capturing my sightings in it, and the information it contains has been invaluable for researching places to go, important distinctions in bird identification, etc. I would encourage every birder to jump into eBird with both feet and not only help themselves, but the entire birding community. That’s my two bits…Jonathan Barnett, Horseshoe Bend
Sent from Mail
________________________________
From: ible@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 10:21:34 PM
To: lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com; ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [IBLE] eBird
Brian, Tom ,and IBLE,
I would tend to agree. I have issues with eBird as well. In addition to what your issue I personally don’t like limitations to for my own use. For example I tend to record a lot of behavior with my sightings not just a count.. I also record a number of other taxa when I am out birding. I use a program called Birder’s Diary (it’s a PC program so no internet or sign in needed). In part because it allows me to added as much text as I want to every sighting. It also lets me track other taxa. So using that, if I want I can generate a life list or a county, yard list etc. I can generate a list of species seen in National Parks or a particular national park for example. I can do that with birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies, dragonflies, wild trees, wildflowers, etc.
That being said one could say I am an eBird hypocrite because even though I don’t enter lists I do regularly look at it. I frequently check it out to see what others are seeing on the refuge where I work as well as the county where I am.
Mike Munts
Colville, WA
PS Brian, Always enjoy your posts. Too bad I never had a chance to meet you when I lived in Arco.
From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com [ible]
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2019 10:37 AM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] eBird
Have to admit, I have not entered data into eBird in many years. Suppose two reasons. First is probably just laziness on my part. As it means another sign in & navigation of a site. Second is the last time I tried data entry into eBird was sev winters ago & attempted to enter approx 100 Trumpeter Swans wintering just east of Springfield & kept getting a msg pop-up stating the number was out of ordinary for location & I couldn’t get the number entered. So, I exited the site in frustration & have made no further attempts at data entry on the site.
Perhaps, there was a way to get the entry accepted but just felt it wasn’t worth my time. So, I have not entered any of my blue jay data. Probably not very good reasons for not entering eBird data. However, I do also just plain enjoy IBLE & just haven’t felt the urge to try eBird again.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
RE: [IBLE] eBird
Brian, Tom ,and IBLE,
I would tend to agree. I have issues with eBird as well. In addition to what your issue I personally don’t like limitations to for my own use. For example I tend to record a lot of behavior with my sightings not just a count. I also record a number of other taxa when I am out birding. I use a program called Birder’s Diary (it’s a PC program so no internet or sign in needed). In part because it allows me to added as much text as I want to every sighting. It also lets me track other taxa. So using that, if I want I can generate a life list or a county, yard list etc. I can generate a list of species seen in National Parks or a particular national park for example. I can do that with birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies, dragonflies, wild trees, wildflowers, etc.
That being said one could say I am an eBird hypocrite because even though I don’t enter lists I do regularly look at it. I frequently check it out to see what others are seeing on the refuge where I work as well as the county where I am.
Mike Munts
Colville, WA
PS Brian, Always enjoy your posts. Too bad I never had a chance to meet you when I lived in Arco.
From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com [ible]
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2019 10:37 AM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] eBird
Have to admit, I have not entered data into eBird in many years. Suppose two reasons. First is probably just laziness on my part. As it means another sign in & navigation of a site. Second is the last time I tried data entry into eBird was sev winters ago & attempted to enter approx 100 Trumpeter Swans wintering just east of Springfield & kept getting a msg pop-up stating the number was out of ordinary for location & I couldn’t get the number entered. So, I exited the site in frustration & have made no further attempts at data entry on the site.
Perhaps, there was a way to get the entry accepted but just felt it wasn’t worth my time. So, I have not entered any of my blue jay data. Probably not very good reasons for not entering eBird data. However, I do also just plain enjoy IBLE & just haven’t felt the urge to try eBird again.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
[IBLE] National audubon app
E.bird section did my other e mail plea for aid go thru someone please
respond
Re: [IBLE] eBird
us too, OFF our keasters and biking/birding more often, with or without eBird 😉
BTW, Tom and Kim, Missy and I saw our FOY hummer along the greenbelt today, male Calliope
woohoo….!!
LA
From: “Kim Liebich birdkimliebich@gmail.com [ible]”
To: “Tom McCabe”
Cc: “lcarrigan_55”
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 5:12:19 PM
Subject: Re: [IBLE] eBird
Tom – I just need to get off my keaster and ride with you… =)
On Apr 23, 2019, at 4:32 PM, Tom McCabe < [ mailto:tmccabe9@cableone.net | tmccabe9@cableone.net ] > wrote:
Brian:
I’ll have to admit that my experience with eBird was similar to yours. A number of years ago, I tried to report the 5 Pied-billed Grebes I’d seen on my bike ride, and I was told that was too many for that time of year. Plus, I was told I went too far on my bike ride. Apparently eBird likes 5 mile segments.
Plus, I don’t write down my birds as I go along, I simply write them down after I get home, in the order I saw them. That makes inputting location a problem. And now that there is an app to enter the data and the location (apparently), that would require stopping every time I saw or heard a bird so I could futz around with my phone.
While I appreciate the importance of all the citizen science data that is being accumulated, my first experience turned me off, and I haven’t had the desire to go back. And Kim has repeatedly encouraged me. Could it be that I’m getting old and resisting change?
Tom McCabe, Boise
From: [ mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com | ible@yahoogroups.com ] [ [ mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com | mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com ] ] On Behalf Of Kim Liebich [ mailto:birdkimliebich@gmail.com | birdkimliebich@gmail.com ] [ible]
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 2:58 PM
To: [ mailto:lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com | lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com ]
Cc: < [ mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com | ible@yahoogroups.com ] > < [ mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com | ible@yahoogroups.com ] >
Subject: Re: [IBLE] eBird
Hey Brian – I’m writing to offer encouragement. Give it another try! =). You can do it. Honestly, they’ve made the website and the Phone App much easier to navigate. You got this. Write back if you need assistance. =)kim
AND – if you’re in Boise area… fun to see 2 avocets out by the cows at Harris Ranch. Probably some other nifty leggy things out there, but I need to go back and look.
Happy Spring. =)k
BQ_BEGIN
On Apr 22, 2019, at 11:37 AM, [ mailto:lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com | lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com ] [ible] < [ mailto:ible-noreply@yahoogroups.com | ible-noreply@yahoogroups.com ] > wrote:
Have to admit, I have not entered data into eBird in many years. Suppose two reasons. First is probably just laziness on my part. As it means another sign in & navigation of a site. Second is the last time I tried data entry into eBird was sev winters ago & attempted to enter approx 100 Trumpeter Swans wintering just east of Springfield & kept getting a msg pop-up stating the number was out of ordinary for location & I couldn’t get the number entered. So, I exited the site in frustration & have made no further attempts at data entry on the site.
Perhaps, there was a way to get the entry accepted but just felt it wasn’t worth my time. So, I have not entered any of my blue jay data. Probably not very good reasons for not entering eBird data. However, I do also just plain enjoy IBLE & just haven’t felt the urge to try eBird again.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
BQ_END
Re: [IBLE] eBird
Tom – I just need to get off my keaster and ride with you… =)
> On Apr 23, 2019, at 4:32 PM, Tom McCabe
>
> Brian:
> I’ll have to admit that my experience with eBird was similar to yours. A number of years ago, I tried to report the 5 Pied-billed Grebes I’d seen on my bike ride, and I was told that was too many for that time of year. Plus, I was told I went too far on my bike ride. Apparently eBird likes 5 mile segments.
> Plus, I don’t write down my birds as I go along, I simply write them down after I get home, in the order I saw them. That makes inputting location a problem. And now that there is an app to enter the data and the location (apparently), that would require stopping every time I saw or heard a bird so I could futz around with my phone.
> While I appreciate the importance of all the citizen science data that is being accumulated, my first experience turned me off, and I haven’t had the desire to go back. And Kim has repeatedly encouraged me. Could it be that I’m getting old and resisting change?
> Tom McCabe, Boise
>
> From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kim Liebich birdkimliebich@gmail.com [ible]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 2:58 PM
> To: lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: [IBLE] eBird
>
>
> Hey Brian – I’m writing to offer encouragement. Give it another try! =). You can do it. Honestly, they’ve made the website and the Phone App much easier to navigate. You got this. Write back if you need assistance. =)kim
>
> AND – if you’re in Boise area… fun to see 2 avocets out by the cows at Harris Ranch. Probably some other nifty leggy things out there, but I need to go back and look.
>
> Happy Spring. =)k
>
>
>> On Apr 22, 2019, at 11:37 AM, lcarrigan_55@yahoo.com
>>
>> Have to admit, I have not entered data into eBird in many years. Suppose two reasons. First is probably just laziness on my part. As it means another sign in & navigation of a site. Second is the last time I tried data entry into eBird was sev winters ago & attempted to enter approx 100 Trumpeter Swans wintering just east of Springfield & kept getting a msg pop-up stating the number was out of ordinary for location & I couldn’t get the number entered. So, I exited the site in frustration & have made no further attempts at data entry on the site.
>>
>> Perhaps, there was a way to get the entry accepted but just felt it wasn’t worth my time. So, I have not entered any of my blue jay data. Probably not very good reasons for not entering eBird data. However, I do also just plain enjoy IBLE & just haven’t felt the urge to try eBird again.
>>
>> Brian Carrigan
>> Blackfoot
>>
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