Yesterday, I saw my first juv American Robin of the year, spotted breast & begging parent for food, hopping around the backyard. I know of one Robin pair just starting their nest. Believe this juv Robin is probably the earliest I’ve seen here. Looking it up, had to have come from an egg laid in April. Shows how mild our winter was this year.
Believe a Black-chinned Hummingbird pair is working on, if not already, nesting, as well. They definitely hit the nectar feeder, but are great at fly-catching, too. Have watched them sallying forth from a high tree limb perch to nab midges mid-air. As they arrive, before much is blooming, think insects make up a large part of their diet, esp in early Spring.
Sitting on back deck with my morning coffee, watching Black-chinned Hummingbirds come into feeder. And, movement in a tree caught my eye: beautiful male Western Tanager. So, all my Spring birds have arrived!
There have been several reports of Broad-winged Hawk already this spring so they were on my radar screen. Yesterday afternoon I was getting gas in Ashton and looked up to see a distant interaction between hawks. A Red-tailed was chasing a much smaller buteo so I immediately thought Broad-winged. I watched for a minute or two and the smaller bird behaved just like the Red-tailed only with faster wing beats. All I could really make out from the distance was stark white under side of the wings and a white band on or near the base of the tail. Northern Harrier crossed my mind but the whole shape and behavior was wrong. There really isn’t anything else it could have been so I’m confident in the ID despite the distance and short duration of the observation. This is the second Broad-winged I’ve seen here in spring. I’ve seen three in the area in October and one in June hunting stone flies that were hatching from the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River downstream from Island Park dam. Not anywhere near as cool as the Little Blue Heron seen earlier this week (unfortunately not by me) but still a pretty good bird.
Cliff
— Cliff and Lisa Weisse Island Park, Idaho cliffandlisa@…
Saw my first group of little yellow fluffy goslings sandwiched between parents at front & back, all in a line, down on the Snake this AM. Had gone down to check on fishing conditions. River came up a bit during the night. Did see a couple of good rises. Water’s supposed to drop again mid-week.
All my usual bird harbingers of Spring are now here (House Wren, Yellow Warbler, Bullock’s Oriole, BH Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Swainson’s Hawk, RW Blackbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird) except for Western Tanager. Tanager can be fickle along the Snake River Bottoms. Sometimes, passing through in large numbers, other times…one or two & have to be at right place at right time. If I miss at home, will head into mountains to a spot that never fails me to locate one.
This evening, first Swainson’s Hawk of season came overhead. Others, over past week: Black-headed Grosbeak, female Red-winged Blackbird (males arrived over a month ago), numerous Chipping & White-crowned Sparrows pushing through, Red-naped Sapsucker, Tree Swallows & Violet-green Swallows. Best bird was a Black-backed Woodpecker pounding on a dead fir tree, near Island Park Reservoir, this weekend.
Dean, that is incredibly gracious thanks for the offer. I think I’ll be OK. It’s only minimally opaque, like 95% perfect image. I’ll just get it repaired after I return from Malhuer. Take care, and have a great spring birding time. Cheers, Rich
