Saw my first ever Swamp Sparrow at Ted Trueblood Wildlife Management area yesterday 12-10-20. Also Sora, and Virginia Rail and the usual Marsh Wrens.
Off the first access road coming from the north. Just south of the main parking lot (where the viewing stand is) is a closed road not gated that takes off to the west … there were two Swamp Sparrows in the first 100 yards down that road.
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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
Outlet canal 3:15. 3 dunlin killdeer 1 great blue Heron Russian olives 2 red tail hawk 1 n.harrier 2 pheasant in trees. Lions pond 1house finch 1blk.crown night Heron why would he be there with no open water I guess safe place to roost
I’ve seen GBHE’s scarfing up rodents in a grassy area. I couldn’t figure out what the heron was after, and then it did its darting behavior and came up with a little fur ball with a naked tail. Then it did what the heron in the video did, it swallowed the critter whole. It was an eye-opener for me.
I’ve seen a lot of Great Blue Herons over the years, but cannot remember ever seeing one (two actually) foraging in a dry mowed farm field. Saw and photographed one of the two on Dec. 3 about four miles southeast of Grand View, Owyhee County (near Idaho highway 78).
Three Dunlins were observed this afternoon at the outlet by both myself and Wayne S. They were medium-sized, grayish shorebirds with long, black bills. They had white superciliums. They flew over the causeway once or twice while I was there, but always came back to the mossy part of the canal in front of the spillway. They vocalized several times.
I thought I would just give another update on these birds, which are a Life List species for me! 🙂
Interesting bird. My guess is that this is a bit of leucism and/or part of the range of variation we see due to cross-breeding between junco subspecies. Every year I see a number of “oddballs” that I’ve interpreted to be something other than a “pure” Oregon or Slate-colored – and assume that this hybridization between subspecies produces plumage anomalies.
But, that’s just an educated guess … and I don’t see anything structurally that suggests a different shape than a usual junco.
Thanks,
Jay
Home of Idaho Birding and the Idaho Bird Records Committee
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