Quick Update

Both Yellow & Yellow Yellow-rumped Warblers arrived en masse today. And, walked out on deck after most recent round of thunderstorms pushed thru & was met face-to-face by a male Black-chinned Hummingbird buzzing me to fill & out out the nectar feeder, lol! Did so & he was hitting it 5 minutes later!
 
Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

Re: A Spring Migration Push

Wow, Patty! That’s an impressive group of spring migrants. The bunting, oriole, warbler & grosbeaks haven’t found my feeders yet. But, good to know they’re in the area. 
 
This AM, a group of Cedar Waxwings that have nested in a widrow of Rocky Mtn Junipers, I planted yrs ago, have been scoping out the trees. Funny how birds can get on the “wrong side” of another. A robin kept chasing only one particular waxwing through the trees! Lasted about 5 minutes. Don’t know what that waxwing did to upset the robin, but it was entertaining to watch.
 
Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot

Re: Golden Plover ID (reviving thread from last week)

Very late to the party but I’ll just quickly say that most of the reason we went out to Blacks Creek too look for the potential Pacific Golden – present 9-10 days ago – is because people like Cliff (IBLE) & Carter (on Facebook, has been seeing lots of Pacific in Hawaii) helped suggest this bird could be a Pacific in the first place!  Thus, I was already pretty convinced it was Pacific, and some of the photos from earlier in the day on May 1 show the fieldmarks really well (i.e., ebird.org/checklist/S231624819 & ebird.org/checklist/S231731944 but others too), so hearing the call was the icing on the cake for me.
Fun to see pics of 2 American Golden-plovers from eastern Idaho today https://ebird.org/checklist/S236005390

 – notice how much more elongated (longer wings) they look than the Pacific.

Thanks Cliff for sharing the detail behind this challenging ID!
Jay

On Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 07:04:44 PM MDT, Louisa Evers via groups.io <elouisa603@…> wrote:
Jay Carlisle confirmed the bird as a Pacific based on the call.

Louisa Evers
Take care of the birds and you take care of the world

Re: A Spring Migration Push

Island Park is a little behind but I’ve been hearing Cassin’s
Finches, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers for the
past few days. The finches have probably been here for a while but
I only started hearing them recently. Tree Swallows have also
arrived and are claiming nest cavities. It’s hot up here and feels
like summer but we still have more arrivals to come.

Cliff

On 5/10/25 02:26PM, Bill Moore via
groups.io wrote:

We’ve got more migrants showing up. Calliope and
Broad Tailed hummers arrived, joining the BC. Numbers are
increasing and they’re working feeder now, not just a high speed
fly by. BG swallows showed yesterday and I just saw a Lazuli. GB
Heron down in stream. Kestrel working the back, now if they’d
just use house I put up.
Bill Moore
Hoot Owl 
Inkom

On May 9, 2025, at 6:49 PM, lcarrigan_55
via groups.io <carriganbw@…> wrote:



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. 
 
Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

-- 
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@...

Re: A Spring Migration Push

We’ve got more migrants showing up. Calliope and Broad Tailed hummers arrived, joining the BC. Numbers are increasing and they’re working feeder now, not just a high speed fly by. BG swallows showed yesterday and I just saw a Lazuli. GB Heron down in stream. Kestrel working the back, now if they’d just use house I put up.
Bill Moore
Hoot Owl 
Inkom

Re: A Spring Migration Push

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.
Patty Gailey
South of Blackfoot
 

A Spring Migration Push

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. 
 
Brian Carrigan 
Blackfoot 

Island Park Reservoir

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@…

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