Actually I did the road trip to Texas for this species in 2004, but at the time it was “Green Violetear”

I see in Wiki that it was split to Mexican and Lesser, and learned that i have both
so i gained a hum species whilst sitting here! 😉

Larry

Mexican Violetear (Colibri thalassinus) (1) CONFIRMED

– Reported May 15, 2019 09:55 by Dina Perry

– Private Residence, West San Antonio US-TX, Bexar, Texas

– Map: [ http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=29.476122,-98.711293&ll=29.476122,-98.711293 | http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=29.476122,-98.711293&ll=29.476122,-98.711293 ]

– Checklist: [ https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56308074 | https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56308074 ]

– Media: 2 Photos

– Comments: “Continuing immature bird coming to feeder abt every 20 min.”

this just in from one of my corespondents on the West Coast……

was news to me!

soothing gentle rain this afternoon here in River City =)

[ https://theweek.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=533a8449522e198f5a133e200&id=bc321e7d9e&e=f82734e4ee | Scientists discover formerly extinct bird species made a comeback ]

A previously extinct species of bird made a miraculous return from the dead, scientists write in a new study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . The white-throated rail previously inhabited the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean, but when the island disappeared below the sea about 136,000 years ago, the bird died out, CNN reports. Scientists digging around found fossils from before and after the island slipped under the sea, and discovered the bird reappeared several thousand years later after sea levels declined; it still inhabits the island today. Scientists call this phenomenon of a species repeatedly evolving from the same ancestor “iterative evolution,” and this marks one of the “most significant” instances of it occurring in a bird species, CNN says. In both cases, the white-throated rail colonized the island and evolved to be flightless due to a lack of competing predators. [ [ https://theweek.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=533a8449522e198f5a133e200&id=bbd6c8925a&e=f82734e4ee | CNN ] ]

I always hope to see a YB Chat in the spring on our place but, over the years, chats have always been rare. When I saw Larry’s post the other day mentioning chats, I was hopeful.

Today, I had one give some of the best views I’ve ever enjoyed of this elusive spring visitor. I spotted it in some willows, working through a particular patch. I backed away, found a spot to sit & enjoyed the show. It was gleaning insects from the willows, working back & forth, then started its noisy “chatting” calls. A good 20 minutes of entertainment.

My last visit from the Blue Jay was 5/12, 3 days shy of a full 7 months. Now that I’ve posted, it will probably show again! But, I’m thinking the jay may actually have moved on. I like to think its semi-circle flight around the yard at my last sighting was the jay’s way of thanking me, before heading off, for feeding it through & helping it survive a long winter.

I’ve watched for answers to Larry’s question if folks still post their lists to IBLE & not seeing a lot of responses. Think Facebook, Twitter, etc may have made inroads to the likes of forums on Yahoo Groups. I leave Facebook to my wife & personally avoid it. And, as have previously noted, not returned to eBird. Sure hope the lights don’t shut for IBLE, as it’s been an enjoyable way to share birding observations & info from around the state. Guess time will tell.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

I read the posts in IBLE faithfully every day. I also love to see the pictures and sightings in Facebook. But I think I use the daily alerts from eBird to do most of my planning for my next outing. Of course FB and eBird are lacking Larry’s humor and stories which make me smile every time!!

Yvonne Motherwell
Meridian, Idaho

> On May 15, 2019, at 10:41 PM, LARRY ARNOLD larnold47@cableone.net [ible] wrote:
>
>
> Darren, sorry, no TURNSTONE. T’would be a good one, eh? that was just an azimuth check. wicked grin. before moving back to Idaho 7 yrs ago i got on IBLE and noticed it was quite active. but since then, i see that other state listservs have also caved to FB, so IBLE isn’t alone in going by the wayside. sad we have no single “bird channel” any more, but it’s our new reality.
>
> From: “Darren Clark”
> To: “Larry Arnold”
> Cc: “IBLE”
> Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2019 10:21:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [IBLE] Turnstone !!
>
> So there’s no Tunstone?…
> Anyway, To be honest, I rarely check or post to IBLE anymore. It’s sort of sad, because in its early days I found a great community of birders and learned a lot about the birds of Idaho. For better or worse, Facebook is much more convenient (posting and viewing photos is really cumbersome in IBLE) and it’s what I use to share and receive news about recent Idaho bird sightings and information (as well as Ebird).
>
> My apologies to my friends Cliff and Steve (a couple of serious Idaho listers) who don’t use Facebook.
>
> Darren
>
>
> On May 15, 2019, at 9:30 PM, LARRY ARNOLD larnold47@cableone.net [ible] wrote:
>
>
>
> Behzinga!
>
> Do Idaho listers read or post IBLE anymore? Just checking…
>
> Our agenda today was Elmore County, as much and as long as we could handle. We missed most of our eight target species, snagging only two, but the sheer abundance of Lazuli Buntings, chats and snakes (yes snakes) was insane and worth the trip, plus we snagged 70 sp +/- by noon.
>
> The recent Short-billed Dowitcher spot was not on today’s radar screen, but since we would be driving by it on our way home, and since we had never heard of the place, we had to find it and look for birds. One of the first things we saw made me LOL…. A Red-winged Blackbird along the shore of Pond 3 was turning every stone the size of golf balls and tennis balls….. what a hoot!!
>
> After scanning the visible shorelines 40 minutes or so, THE dowitcher appeared on the SE corner of Pond 3, having the shortest bill (relative to head) of any dowitcher I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a zillion LBDO across the country and many SBDO on the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. But of course, relative bill length “isn’t a field mark per se” so we focused on the flanks and belly, and soon realized that even Sibley doesn’t do justice to the species. This bird made sense here in brackish water (likely) and it was alone among the ducks and a few other shorebird species. We hadn’t seen recent reports on IBLE or eBird (since Sunday), so we weren’t expecting the bird to be here.
>
> Happy campers are us =)
> Larry
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Hi all – I was told that the attachment doesn’t work in this yahoo arrangement, so I went to the website and pulled off the link, here it is for your convenience. Sorry about that…JB

https://www.rockjumperbirding.com/tourinfo/brazil-atlantic-coastal-forest-ii-2019

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

________________________________
From: ible@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Jonathan Barnett jrb4jc@hotmail.com [ible]
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2019 10:26:07 AM
To: IBLE
Subject: [IBLE] Birding in Brazil – who wants to go with me? [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Jonathan Barnett included below]
Hello all – I have signed up for a reasonably-priced, 1 week (8 days) RockJumper birding tour for the Brazil Atlantic Coastal Forest in early October – summary details below. I would love some fellow Idahoan birders to join me, and I also would like to have a male roommate. Really great news is that Brazil is dropping their VISA requirement for US citizens, as of June 17th, I have been told. That makes travel to Brazil so much easier! This tour covers a really special area, and you can read about it in the attached brochure. Please let me know! Thx…Jonathan, Horseshoe Bend

Brazil – Atlantic Coastal Forest II 2019
Tour Dates: 4 Oct 2019 – 11 Oct 2019 (8 days)
Tour Price (Per Person): GBP1,825 / Approximately USD2,360
A booking form and the required deposit of US$800 will secure your booking.

Hello all – I have signed up for a reasonably-priced, 1 week (8 days) RockJumper birding tour for the Brazil Atlantic Coastal Forest in early October – summary details below. I would love some fellow Idahoan birders to join me, and I also would like to have a male roommate. Really great news is that Brazil is dropping their VISA requirement for US citizens, as of June 17th, I have been told. That makes travel to Brazil so much easier! This tour covers a really special area, and you can read about it in the attached brochure. Please let me know! Thx…Jonathan, Horseshoe Bend

Brazil – Atlantic Coastal Forest II 2019
Tour Dates: 4 Oct 2019 – 11 Oct 2019 (8 days)
Tour Price (Per Person): GBP1,825 / Approximately USD2,360
A booking form and the required deposit of US$800 will secure your booking.