Let’s face it, we all keep lists. In fact, IBLE is itself a list for people who keep lists. We keep day lists, location lists, year lists, etc. (I confess, I even keep lists of miles biked, by the day, week, month, and year.)

Anyway, my list for my little portion of the Boise Greenbelt includes just 56 birds since January 1, 2020. Not that big a deal, but the big deal for me is that today, 1-23-20, I saw 46 of those birds. And I missed some easy ones (A. Goldfinch) but found some hard ones (Canvasback, Pacific Wren, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, GH Owl). I report this just because it amazed me (and challenged my short term memory since I don’t write them down until I get home).

So despite it allegedly being winter and with migration nowhere in sight, there are lots of birds out there for you to put on your year list—or any other list you want to keep. 😉

Tom McCabe, Boise

The Lesser Black-backed Gull was still on the Snake River in American Falls today.  Teresa Meachum and I first saw it from the northern part of the cemetery.  Then we could see it closer and better from the boat ramp just upstream from the cemetery.  First it was sitting on a rock in the river with several Ring-billed Gulls.  Then a fishing boat flushed it, and we watched it fly around for several minutes.  Finally it landed again with the other smaller gulls.  It definitely had a darker back than any of the others, yellow legs, and yellow bill with red dot near the tip.

Kit

Kit Struthers

Idaho Falls, ID

kit619@…