Does anyone know how often they water them like every Monday ect.or what. ? boise river rd.
Black-legged Kittiwake / Deer Flat
There’s an eBird checklist from Deer Flat with photos of what appears to be a Black-legged Kittiwake. Thought I should post it in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S106909239
https://ebird.org/checklist/S106909239
Cliff
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Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com
Gem County hotspot closed
Passing this along…
Regrettably, Fish & Game will no longer manage Emmett’s Airport Pond, which not only afforded birders a chance to stroll and observe 60+ species of waders, waterfowl, flycatchers, nesting osprey, bald eagles, even an AM bittern, etc., all the while watching small aircraft land and take-off down the middle of the municipal golf course. There was, literally, something for everyone. No Trespassing signs are in place and I’ve heard the site goes back to the Idaho Lands Dept., but I’m going to make a request to see if the State would allow small birding groups on foot one last time this Spring. I will keep IBLE informed.
In the meantime, if there is an ebird reviewer reading this who can inform me what happens to hotspots in these cases, please DM me. And thanks.
Liz Medes
Emmett ID
Snowy Plover at Deer Flat Refuge Upper Dam
There’s a Snowy Plover being seen at Upper Dam VC side. Walk to right along lake edge to view it.
Cheryl Huizinga
Cheryl Huizinga
Cheryl Huizinga
Caldwell, Idaho
Re: No rain on my parade
Hi all, & Thanks for the info Tom!
We had 5 male and 3 female Cassin’s Finches at our feeders yesterday, & we’ve had a few this morning also.
Yesterday I refilled the feeder, but the wind caused a lot of it to spill onto the ground.
As a consequence, we’ve been getting around 30 birds at a time on the ground below, most of them Pine Siskins, some House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, and Mourning Doves, but for some reason no American Goldfinches.
I presume the snow has driven the Cassin’s to lower elevations.
John Shortis
No rain on my parade
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. 😉
Re: Biking/Birding in the rain
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
North End, Boise
Re: Biking/Birding in the rain
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
Re: Biking/Birding in the rain
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!! 😀
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Aidan Lorenz
Caldwell
Biking/Birding in the rain
For the last 3 weeks I have been averaging 40 species every day on my rides, thanks to new arrivals. Two of those days were only 39, but a bunch, including today, were over 40. A few days ago, VG Swallows and NRW Swallows decided to stick
around, and a pair of Cinnamon Teal have been hanging out at the pond at Lander St. (the area where the Williamson’s Sapsucker made a brief appearance). So, little by little, the variety of species has been making it easier for me to reach 40. Of course, biking
on a day like today, when the rain is falling –literally—in sheets, makes birding interesting, but it also clears out the greenbelt. 😉 Of course, the snow yesterday also cleared out the greenbelt—on a Sunday, no less.
Today, though, was special because I arrived at Esther Simplot Park to find my first Swainson’s Hawk of the year. It was sitting in a small tree near the back pond, just before the downhill to Veterans Park Pond. Strangely enough, there
was also a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in another tree about 10 yards away. They had moved by the time I got back, but then I found the Swainson’s sitting on the arm of a light pole at the entrance to ESP. I’m hoping the Swainson’s will nest in my neighborhood
again.
My final treat was when I walked into my back yard. I’m still hosting approximately 50 Pine Siskins every day, and at least 10 A. Goldfinches, but the noise from all those birds is amazing, and it caused me to pause and peek around the
corner of the house. There, along with all the Pine Siskins and Goldfinches, were 2 male Cassin’s Finches. Their red caps were blazing! Another bird, that I took to be a female CAFI, touched beaks with one of the males. She looked like an oversized Siskin,
and I wouldn’t have thought of CAFI if the males weren’t there.
Final tally was 43 species in 12 ½ miles.
Tom McCabe, Boise