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

hmmmmm…

IBLE, wasn’t Whimbrel reported hereabouts recently?

as well as SBDO…. 😉

LA, Boise

From: CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Brian Sullivan heraldpetrel@gmail.com [CALBIRDS]
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2019 6:46 AM
To: CALBIRDS
Subject: [CALBIRDS] Odd weather event–heads up for vagrant shorebirds!

Hi Everyone,

We’re about to experience a fairly odd weather pattern with 2-3 significant fronts stacked up very late in the season. It could be nothing, but it bears keeping our thoughts and eyes open for trans-oceanic shorebirds that could be affected on their way north. Species such as Bar-tailed Godwit and Bristle-thighed Curlew come to mind. I wasn’t living in California in 1998, but I did manage to see the Kehoe Beach Bristle-thighed Curlew. The timing here is similar. There was a lot of discussion then around the fallout of BTCU from California north through Washington due to odd weather. A subsequent paper is here:

[ http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~sbf1/papers/Mlodinow_Feldstein_Tweit_1999.pdf | http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~sbf1/papers/Mlodinow_Feldstein_Tweit_1999.pdf ]

In any case, it’ll be an interesting week. Double-check those Whimbrel on your local beaches!

Thanks

Brian

—

——————————
Brian L. Sullivan

Digital Publications Lead
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

——————————-

RL Rowland called and said the Scoter is still present above and close to the dam on the far side.

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

On Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 12:19 PM, Eric Hynes erichynes28@gmail.com [ible] wrote:

Hello Again Idaho Birders:
My apologies for no signature on the earlier email from my phone.
Here is a link to the eBird checklist with photos of the White-winged Scoter.https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56275229

Cheers,Eric…………………Eric Hynes
Placerville, CO———————Field Guides Birding Tourswww.fieldguides.comhttp://fieldguides.com/guides/eric-hynes
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From Audubon magazine new study thru u c Berkeley and ornithologist using
new technology they dive at a rate at 385 body lengths a second speedier
then the peregrine migrating 78 million body lengths relative further
than the artic tern

On Wed, May 15, 2019, 12:24 PM Robert Kiernan wrote:

> From Audubon magazine new study u c Berkeley and ornithologist sheds some
> new
>

From Audubon magazine new study u c Berkeley and ornithologist sheds some
new

This evening, I witnessed what has to be in my top 5 of bird “fascinomas”. “Gynandromorphism” is the term for both sexes expressed in a single individual. Sometimes, this can be expressed, as a Cardinal photo which made the circuit sev yrs ago, as a distinct half & half (extremely rare) or as a patch-work of both features.

I saw a Lazuli Bunting at the feeder that had the body markings of a female: brownish with buffy breast & buffy wing bars. And the male turquoise blue coloration on the top of the head/throat & rump of the same bird. The sides of the head & the tail of this bird were female grayish brown. So, a gynandromorphic Lazuli Bunting! Just plain…fascinating.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

So, for biking my usual eBird patch (nearest section of Boise River Greenbelt, just west of Glenwood), I’m still wearing my knee-high Tingley’s because water on the path is 10” deep in places. Water is receding though. And I discovered it’s time to begin carrying DEET.

I noticed all three HY Great-horned Owls have departed from their nest, in fact may have departed their tree. I took another “sound level reading” at the site and recorded 60-80+ dBA, then asked the Bird Gods why owls in particular would nest this close to active gravel operations. ??

Also saw a few Wild Turkeys, adults with poults, at the West Boise Biosolids Recycling Site (basically looks like a pasture, has in the past hosted horses, cows, sheep, goats. Onward to some 45 species for my slow-motion morning bike ride. =)

Still no Willow Flycatchers in my patch, not a surprise because in prior years (n=6) they didn’t arrive until 22-29 May. And the last migrant/breeder I expect to arrive here is Common Nighthawk, typically 26 May to 05 Jun.

In an overwhelming moment of agony, I realized that during our six yrs here, many of the remaining remnants of habitat along the greenbelt have succumbed to development, improvement, “progress!” Like Ada County’s mission statement is to “redefine or remake every square foot if possible.”

But I thought of a more serious problem: that of using four-letter alpha codes on my bird lists. Suppose I see or hear a Killdeer, then something happens to me, like an accident that leaves me unconscious, and someone discover my bird list… I’m pretty sure I’d be added to a terrorist watch list. Ya think?

Hey Ken, thank you for being a fabulous host when Missy and I were there looking for your Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Big smiles and g reat memories of that!

Good boid’n all,

Larry

Hello Again Idaho Birders:

My apologies for no signature on the earlier email from my phone.

Here is a link to the eBird checklist with photos of the White-winged
Scoter.
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56275229

Cheers,
Eric
………………….
Eric Hynes
Placerville, CO
———————
Field Guides Birding Tours
www.fieldguides.com

Eric Hynes

Hello Idaho Birders:

Todd Day and I just left Swan Falls Dam on the Snake River where we observed an immature male White-winged Scoter. It was on the upstream of the dam. More than a dozen Common Goldeneye were present as well.

Good birding,
Eric

Sent from my iPhone

us too…. four months !! =)

From: “Susan Patla susan_patla@hotmail.com [ible]”
To: “IBLE”
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2019 8:50:41 PM
Subject: [IBLE] Teton Valley, Packsaddle Estates

This morning had a few singing Yellow Warblers (FOY), Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-headed Grosbeaks and one Warbling Vireo.

The Green-tailed Towhees are back in force also and in full song as are the House Wrens.

One Hammond’s Flycatcher singing also. And a pair of Northern Harriers yacking at me.

Getting pretty noisy out here! May need ear plugs soon.

Wish spring could last four months!

Susan