So many raptors, so much joy!
Diann Stone Boise
Monthly Archives: January 2020
Re: JUNK: Re: [IBLE] Arizona birding
The Gilbert Water Ranch Riparian Preserve is a great place to bird. We go there regularly when we are staying in Tempe. It is often listed for unusual or hard-to-see birds on the AZNM list for Maricopa County. Another place with many good birds in Phoenix area is Veterans Oasis Park, and also Hassayampa in Wickenburg about 1 ¼ hours west. There are very good websites for birding both Phoenix and Tucson, and their surrounding areas. Ebird hotspots and checklists are very valuable sources of information.
Nancy Miller
Viola ID (Tempe AZ)
Re: Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch | Town of Gilbert, Arizona
Look at the website, go to More Pages and look at the birds section. Also, The Riparian Preserve is an e-bird Hotspot where you can see a list from Jan. 26 which includes what my group saw plus a few more.
Diann Stone
Boise
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch | Town of Gilbert, Arizona
Re: Arizona birding
Diann Stone–Sounds like an interesting area, tell me more.
Arizona birding
If anyone plans to be in the Phoenix or Tucson area for birding, I recommend the Gilbert Water Ranch Riparian Preserve on Guadalupe Rd.
On Friday, Jan. 24, I birded there with a group of friends. Most of the ponds were filled with water and with birds. We saw 54 species from about 9am to 1pm. We were busy turning heads and alerting each other to the next bird. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Snowy Egret, Sora, Black-crowned Night Herons, and several shorebird species were of particular interest to me. Do yourself a favor and go birding in Gilbert, AZ.
Re: A listworthy day
Thanks for keeping us listing, Tom❣️
You’re on my list for sure!
~k
Pine Siskins
Still have one Mt Chickadee coming into feeder, at least one Blue Jay is still present & Pine Siskins have shown at the thistle feeder. They’re feeding alongside the Am Goldfinches.
Others: House Finches, Spotted Towhees, DE Juncos & a RB Nuthatch. The Bald Eagle pr has been sitting on their nest across the river from us for yr #10 now. An adult N Goshawk was perched back of our place by river last weekend but haven’t seen since. A Harlan’s RT Hawk is a regular visitor to a front pasture cottonwood & a Sharp-shinned Hawk makes the feeders go silent at least once a day. Now, both GH & W Screech Owls are calling at night.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
A listworthy day
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
Lesser Black-backed Gull
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@…