Monthly Archives: June 2022

Listserv Posts

Re: Possible Purple Martins in Fremont County

FWIW, I spent about an hour and a half last night and again this morning at Silver Lake and did not find any Purple Martins. Most of the swallows were pretty high but the light was good today and I could easily identify them even at the furthest distance of observation. It might be worth taking a look from time to time but I won’t be able to get there again for three or four days. As a consolation the Red-necked Grebes are present and were calling last night and I heard a Virginia Rail call several times at dusk.

Cliff

Listserv Posts

I.D.

Montour w.m.a today cannot I.D. THIS FLY Ct I was swarmed by skeeters.Seems i forgot my repel.the thougt of sitting in my vehicle window’s rolled up no way the only thing in my vehicle was hand cleaner for covid

  So it worked pretty well no more swarming & no bites
Listserv Posts

Re: Idaho birding trip RFI

Good Morning Christian,
Glad you are coming to Idaho to bird and making the Cassia Crossbill your target bird.  I’m with the Prairie Falcon Audubon located in Twin Falls. Please access our website for birding hotspots and contact information  :
We would be more than happy to assist you in your search for the Cassia Crossbill and many other wonderful species located in our area.  (We helped Texas’s Tiffany Kersten in her record setting year)…..
Hope to hear from you soon.
Pat Weber
Conservation Chair/Birding Pal
Prairie Falcon Audubon
Listserv Posts

Re: Idaho birding trip RFI

Hi Christian! 

In regards to Cassias and goshawks: 
– there are goshawks in the South Hills (the area you’ll be for crossbills), I don’t have specific locations but just keep an eye out when you’re there. 
– Diamondfield Jack Campground is another good place for Cassias if Porcupine Springs doesn’t work out – but they shouldn’t be too hard at either spot. If you’re wanting to pay for camping, I’d go with Porcupine Springs, it’s a nice campground. But Diamondfield Jack is free, just not as nice and usually lots of people on ATVs so it can be loud. There’s also free primitive camping. 
– There are Red Crossbills in the South Hills, primarily Type 2 and 5. They’re less common than Cassias but definitely could be present. So I’d recommend getting recordings of flight calls you can reference to make sure you got Cassias instead of Reds. They are indistinguishable visually. There’s no cell service in the South Hills so I’d download Merlin or Sibley in advance if you’ll need something to play recordings for reference. I don’t know how much experience you have with crossbills in general, so apologies if this is obvious, but you’ll probably hear them before you see them, make sure you’re familiar with their flight call. You can also listen for the sound of them picking apart pine cones in the treetops, it will be a kind of crunching sound (sounds silly I know, but I’ve found them that way before!). 
Let me know if you have any follow up questions! 
-Lucian Davis