It was cold and windy today, but the only snow falling was coming off the trees. I figured the weather would bring in more visitors, and I was right. Quinn’s Pond, at Esther Simplot, had a large raft of N. Shovelers, but the real treat
was all three types of Teal: Cinnamon, Blue-winged, and Green-winged. Later, on the way back, I found a Ruddy Duck as well. VG and NRW Swallows were zooming around, and the Say’s Phoebes were active.
Sadly, I don’t have a Cassin’s today (yet), but final tally was 43 species in 12 miles.
Tom McCabe, Boise
P.S. Thanks for all the kind words. 😉
I’ll add to that thanks, Tom. I’d been alerted by a gentleman who feeds birds not far from me a few days ago. He said he’d been seeing the Cassins, too. So, I kept a closer look at my own feeders. Sure enough, two were there. Happy at clams at high tide, feeding on the sunflower hearts. Thanks for your post, Tom. It read a bit like poetry for me. Love your observations.
Kerry
Tom,
Thank you for your report. There has been a feeding frenzy at my feeders this morning. Amongst the goldfinches, house finches, pine siskins, doves, song sparrows, etc., I saw a pair of Cassin’s Finches. Might not have noticed them except for your post which made me more vigilent.
Tom Rennebaum
Boise
Very cool! Thanks for the update! 😀
I also saw my first Swainson’s Hawk of the year at my house in west Caldwell yesterday. It looked like the same male that has nested here for the past four or five years, at least. It amazed me that after having flown ~ 6,000 miles from Argentina, the SWHA was just flapping and soaring in the strong winds that we had here. I didn’t see him touch down at all in the 20 minutes I was watching him. They must love flying! 😀
In case anyone’s interested, here is a blog post I wrote last year summarizing the life cycle of a Swainson’s Hawk. The post is illustrated with photos of our breeding pair over the last few years. 🙂
Happy spring birding!! 😀
—
Aidan Lorenz
Caldwell
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