Thanks, Brian…fun to hear about the Snake River side of Blackfoot. We’ve also had new arrivals south of Blackfoot by the Blackfoot River. YH Blackbirds 12-15 at a time come to the platform feeder every morning. Other newbies include Pine Siskin, Cassin’s Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting, Bullock’s Oriole, Evening Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow Rumped Warbler, House Wren, Killdeer. Evening Grosbeaks stayed all summer last year for the first time. We’ll see what this year brings. Eight California Quail come to clean up under the feeders every evening. Hummer feeders are out but no takers yet.
There’s been a Spring push of birds through our place today. Cassin’s Finches, Chipping Sparrows, Pine Siskins & White-crowned Sparrows have all come through. At least one Black-headed Grosbeak has arrived, as well as, a couple of Red-naped Sapsuckers. No Black-chinned Hummingbirds, as of yet.
I have 2 Wild Turkey hens coming in which feed on scattered sunflower seeds from the platform feeder. And, as soon as they show, a few hen Ring-necked Pheasants appear, too. Both Tree & Violet-green Swallows are overhead.
We hiked out to the west end of Island Park Res. today for some shorebirding. There wasn’t much out there but we did have a group of five Sanderlings, I think the most I’ve seen up here at one time. There was also a group of Long-billed Dowitchers but we couldn’t make any of them into Short-billeds, try as we might. A Wilson’s Snipe, a pair of Long-billed Curlews and a few Willets were the only other shorebirds we saw. Three days ago we had a good sized flock of American Avocets, five Black-necked Stilts (not terribly common up here), and a few Killdeer.
On our way home we had three Lesser Yellowlegs and fifteen or so Wilson’s Phalaropes on a snow melt pond out in the sagebrush. The next couple weeks will be prime time for shorebirds here so I’ll try to get out there a few more times.
Cliff
— Cliff and Lisa Weisse Island Park, Idaho cliffandlisa@…
Thanks for the report! Have RW Blackbirds, Mourning Doves & Cassin’s Finches are pushing through. Swainson’s Hawks are arriving, first arrived mid-April on neighbor’s farm, & Ospreys have staked out their pole nests. Hearing GH Owls & W Screech, no Saw-whet as of yet. Although, Boreal Chorus frogs are calling at night along Spring channel in back. But, no BC Hummingbirds & no BH Grosbeaks, as of yet…definitely late, compared to last yr. Keep watching daily for them.
Got it … I should have said I was wondering if more photos were needed because I have culled my photos taken 5-1-25 after 6 pm in horrible light with lots of weeds in the way down to 84 with a lot of angles.
I thought the ones from the AM covered what was needed so I processed my photos from a church event after I got home that I needed to get out.
Then I have been birding some more instead of processing the raw images 🙂
On May 3, 2025, at 1:28 PM, Cliff Weisse via groups.io <cliffandlisa@…> wrote:
I’m not asking for anything. I just thought there would be
interest in the ID criteria.
Cliff
On 5/3/25 01:20PM, Ken Miracle via
groups.io wrote:
I have seen that comparison of the primaries and tail on several
ebird checklists including RLRowlands and others who saw the bird
and many better photos than Kent’s that show what you are asking
to see so not sure what you are asking for?
On May 3, 2025, at 1:06 PM, Cliff Weisse via groups.io <cliffandlisa@…> wrote:
I’ve looked at more than 20 eBird checklists for the
Pacific Golden Plover at Black’s Creek. I don’t see much
mention of the relative length of
Primaries/Tertails/Tail that is the only reliable way to
separate American and Pacific without calls. It works in
any plumage with the only caveat being that it may not
work for molting birds.
Breeding plumage Americans with no white on the flanks
are straight forward but during molt they can look like
much like Pacifics, and juveniles are very similar. The
long bill and long legs can be helpful but a good look
at the Primary/Tertial/Tail relationship can make it
easy. Here are the important points taken from this
article “Morphometric features of Pacific and
American Golden-Plovers with comments on field
identification”
(https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9bc92b3f984f118928e8f292158d19a586cc53ea):
– Pacific has 2-3 primaries visible beyond tertials,
American has 4-5
– tertials extend to distal third of tail, ending at or
near tail tip in most Pacific, from half to distal third
of tail on American
– wing tip extends past end of tail more on American
than Pacific, with little or no overlap
– tips of outer two primaries are closer together on
Pacific, with some overlap.
With a good look at the rear end of the bird these
differences create a different overall look, even if you
can’t see the details clearly. Kent’s original photo
that was posted to IBLE is a good example – it hints at
Pacific with tertials appearing to extend nearly to end
of tail and very short primary tips visible. You can’t
quite see the details but there is enough to suggest the
need for a closer look. After reviewing the above linked
article I did a Google search for photos and these
features are clearly visible in countless examples of
both species. If you want to get a better handle on
Golden Plovers I’d recommend reading the article and
spending some time looking at photos.
Ken
Miracle chukar28@…
208-570-2780
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as
coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
I’m not asking for anything. I just thought there would be
interest in the ID criteria.
Cliff
On 5/3/25 01:20PM, Ken Miracle via
groups.io wrote:
I have seen that comparison of the primaries and tail on several
ebird checklists including RLRowlands and others who saw the bird
and many better photos than Kent’s that show what you are asking
to see so not sure what you are asking for?
On May 3, 2025, at 1:06 PM, Cliff Weisse via groups.io <cliffandlisa@…> wrote:
I’ve looked at more than 20 eBird checklists for the
Pacific Golden Plover at Black’s Creek. I don’t see much
mention of the relative length of
Primaries/Tertails/Tail that is the only reliable way to
separate American and Pacific without calls. It works in
any plumage with the only caveat being that it may not
work for molting birds.
Breeding plumage Americans with no white on the flanks
are straight forward but during molt they can look like
much like Pacifics, and juveniles are very similar. The
long bill and long legs can be helpful but a good look
at the Primary/Tertial/Tail relationship can make it
easy. Here are the important points taken from this
article “Morphometric features of Pacific and
American Golden-Plovers with comments on field
identification”
(https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9bc92b3f984f118928e8f292158d19a586cc53ea):
– Pacific has 2-3 primaries visible beyond tertials,
American has 4-5
– tertials extend to distal third of tail, ending at or
near tail tip in most Pacific, from half to distal third
of tail on American
– wing tip extends past end of tail more on American
than Pacific, with little or no overlap
– tips of outer two primaries are closer together on
Pacific, with some overlap.
With a good look at the rear end of the bird these
differences create a different overall look, even if you
can’t see the details clearly. Kent’s original photo
that was posted to IBLE is a good example – it hints at
Pacific with tertials appearing to extend nearly to end
of tail and very short primary tips visible. You can’t
quite see the details but there is enough to suggest the
need for a closer look. After reviewing the above linked
article I did a Google search for photos and these
features are clearly visible in countless examples of
both species. If you want to get a better handle on
Golden Plovers I’d recommend reading the article and
spending some time looking at photos.
Ken
Miracle chukar28@…
208-570-2780
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as
coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
I have seen that comparison of the primaries and tail on several ebird checklists including RLRowlands and others who saw the bird and many better photos than Kent’s that show what you are asking to see so not sure what you are asking for?
On May 3, 2025, at 1:06 PM, Cliff Weisse via groups.io <cliffandlisa@…> wrote:
I’ve looked at more than 20 eBird checklists for the Pacific
Golden Plover at Black’s Creek. I don’t see much mention of the
relative length of Primaries/Tertails/Tail that is the only
reliable way to separate American and Pacific without calls. It
works in any plumage with the only caveat being that it may not
work for molting birds.
Breeding plumage Americans with no white on the flanks are
straight forward but during molt they can look like much like
Pacifics, and juveniles are very similar. The long bill and long
legs can be helpful but a good look at the Primary/Tertial/Tail
relationship can make it easy. Here are the important points taken
from this article “Morphometric features of Pacific and
American Golden-Plovers with comments on field identification”
(https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9bc92b3f984f118928e8f292158d19a586cc53ea):
– Pacific has 2-3 primaries visible beyond tertials, American has
4-5
– tertials extend to distal third of tail, ending at or near tail
tip in most Pacific, from half to distal third of tail on American
– wing tip extends past end of tail more on American than Pacific,
with little or no overlap
– tips of outer two primaries are closer together on Pacific, with
some overlap.
With a good look at the rear end of the bird these differences
create a different overall look, even if you can’t see the details
clearly. Kent’s original photo that was posted to IBLE is a good
example – it hints at Pacific with tertials appearing to extend
nearly to end of tail and very short primary tips visible. You
can’t quite see the details but there is enough to suggest the
need for a closer look. After reviewing the above linked article I
did a Google search for photos and these features are clearly
visible in countless examples of both species. If you want to get
a better handle on Golden Plovers I’d recommend reading the
article and spending some time looking at photos.
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
I’ve looked at more than 20 eBird checklists for the Pacific
Golden Plover at Black’s Creek. I don’t see much mention of the
relative length of Primaries/Tertails/Tail that is the only
reliable way to separate American and Pacific without calls. It
works in any plumage with the only caveat being that it may not
work for molting birds.
Breeding plumage Americans with no white on the flanks are
straight forward but during molt they can look like much like
Pacifics, and juveniles are very similar. The long bill and long
legs can be helpful but a good look at the Primary/Tertial/Tail
relationship can make it easy. Here are the important points taken
from this article “Morphometric features of Pacific and
American Golden-Plovers with comments on field identification”
(https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9bc92b3f984f118928e8f292158d19a586cc53ea):
– Pacific has 2-3 primaries visible beyond tertials, American has
4-5
– tertials extend to distal third of tail, ending at or near tail
tip in most Pacific, from half to distal third of tail on American
– wing tip extends past end of tail more on American than Pacific,
with little or no overlap
– tips of outer two primaries are closer together on Pacific, with
some overlap.
With a good look at the rear end of the bird these differences
create a different overall look, even if you can’t see the details
clearly. Kent’s original photo that was posted to IBLE is a good
example – it hints at Pacific with tertials appearing to extend
nearly to end of tail and very short primary tips visible. You
can’t quite see the details but there is enough to suggest the
need for a closer look. After reviewing the above linked article I
did a Google search for photos and these features are clearly
visible in countless examples of both species. If you want to get
a better handle on Golden Plovers I’d recommend reading the
article and spending some time looking at photos.
