Howdy folks
Boise’s CBC was held today in a mix of very foggy (~1/3 to 1/2 of the circle?) to beautiful sunny weather. A number of misses but some great finds. Thanks a ton to everyone who participated, and to the many folks to who helped coordinate!
Preliminary totals:
- participants: ~80
- species: 104 on count day, plus 6 count week species that had been seen Thurs-Sat but not today
Highlights:
- Trumpeter Swan (a 1st) – western greenbelt & ponds on N side
- RB Merganser (only a handful of years) – Barber Park
- Osprey (~7th time)
- Greater Yellowlegs (2nd time?)
- 2 Spotted Sandpipers (only a handful of years)
- Long-eared Owl (1st time?) – high in foothills
- 2 Bushtits (2nd time?) – on Joplin rd across from SW corner of storage facility
- Ovenbird (!!; 2nd time in a row) – private residence, can’t be seen from street
- I don’t know the address but knowing the CBC zone it was in, it can’t be more than ~2 miles from the bird we hosted last winter … same bird or serious coincidence??
- Western Tanager (1st time) – Barber Park
- Lincoln’s Sparrow (~4th time) – canal W of Borah Park
- good variety of finches – Red Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, and Evening Grosbeak
- count week species: Lesser Scaup, Barred Owl, Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Blue Jay, Harris’s Sparrow
Misses (mainly due to fog or access):
- blackbirds (too foggy to see main roost in gravel pits) – Yellow-headed, Brewer’s, and BH Cowbird
- gulls – esp. Mew, Thayer’s (landfill & wastewater treatment facility closed)
- Ring-necked Pheasant (less & less habitat in our circle)
- Rough-legged Hawk
- American Pipit
Please let me know if I missed anything 🙂 & happy new year!
Jay