On Nov 13, 2021, at 1:07 PM, Jay Carlisle via groups.io <carlislejay@…> wrote:
Red-throated Loon still present today at Lake Lowell/Deer Flat NWR – seen ~due N (a bit east of north) from parking lot 7. Keeping company with Western & Clark’s Grebe – still quite distant and photos are hard but glassy water 👍On Sunday, November 7, 2021, 8:38 PM, bike4birds <tmccabe9@…> wrote:
He/she continues to hang out. Two days ago, it let me get to within 3 feet of it. It seems to like fishermen. I watched it follow a hooked fish all the way to the dock at the west end. The fisherman took a few swats at it with a second fishing pole, then threw the caught fish to the Loon, who immediately wolfed it down.
The bird’s plumage has gone dull for the winter. We go every day to check its status.
Tom McCabe
From: IBLE@groups.io <IBLE@groups.io> On Behalf Of Diann Stone
Sent: Sunday, November 7, 2021 6:30 PM
To: IBLE@groups.io
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Red-throated Loon at Deer Flat NWR lower damWhat’s the status of the Common Loon at Riverside park in Boise?
On Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 11:07 AM Jay Carlisle via groups.io <carlislejay=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
A juvenile – currently floating NE seen from ~middle of dam. Lighting less than ideal.
Also a late Common Tern, a Least Sandpiper, etc. so far.
Jay
Yesterday, for the first time since late May, I couldn’t find the Common Loon that’s been hanging out in a pond just off Glenwood. Today, I again couldn’t find it, so I asked a fisherman if he had seen the bird. He said that Idaho F&G had
captured the bird because they thought the pond was too short for the bird to take off from. He said he had helped them try to capture it once before, but they were unsuccessful at that time. He also said that they were concerned that the bird was consuming
so many fish that it was getting too fat to take off. (?)
I’m sad that I will no longer get to see such a rare visitor. I also wonder if F&G was catering to the fisherman by eliminating their main competition. 🙁
Fortunately, there are lots of winter visitors still arriving.
Tom McCabe, Boise
Reminds me of what Edward Abbey , one of my heroes, said” the hermit thrush is one of the most beautiful sounds in nature”.
Any other favorites?
Pam Marcum
Boise.
First, the bird is in juvenal plumage. Yes Herring Gulls
typically have blackish primaries and tail. Any hybrid with GWGU
would have paler primaries and typically with extensive pale tips.
Head shape with flat crown and eye set well forward are typical
for HEGU. Paleness of rump is hard to judge because some of the
photos are somewhat overexposed. Look at the amount of white in
the wing coverts in all the photos and there is considerable
variation in appearance. That said HEGU is quite variable and can
have a pale/whitish rump. While the bill is quite long and has a
strong gonys it doesn’t look bulbous like a WEGU to my eye. The
unusual thing to me is the amount of pale/pinkish on the bill this
early in winter. That’s unusual for HEGU and really so for GWGU or
WEGU.
Cliff
Assuming it is a first winter, which I think is a good
assumption this early in the winter, do Herring Gull
primaries, tail, and secondaries get that dark? I am sure they
can but the flight feathers on this bird seem really dark.
Also, you can see the rump in a photo and it looks paler than
what I typically see on first winter Herrings. Maybe that is a
factor of the lighting. For me, the combo of big bill, rather
dark flight feathers and tail, blocky head, and rather pale
rump lead to this bird feeling a bit off for Herring for me.
Also, that this bird reasonably stood out from the other gulls
more than once.For the record, I hold that loosely. I think it is
reasonable that it is a Herring. I just do not have much
experience with Western Gulls either or gull hybrids.That bill is pretty long but the extensively pale base
this early in winter doesn’t really fit anything this bird
could be (any hybrid with Glaucous would have paler
primaries). Aside from the bill what’s wrong with this
bird for Herring Gull? My guess from these photos is a
Herring with unusual bill.Cliff
On 11/11/21 8:40 PM, Jason Talbot via groups.io wrote:Any thoughts on the gull species from
this checklist? https://ebird.org/checklist/S97454489Jason Talbot-- Cliff and Lisa Weisse Island Park, Idaho cliffandlisa@...
-- Cliff and Lisa Weisse Island Park, Idaho cliffandlisa@...