meeting Bob Davis and Terry, abt 1350 hrs, seeing both COLO and YBLO in same scope view, side-by-side, just hanging, no discernible interaction between them, N side of Bell rapids boat launch among so many fishers, oblivious to our excitement, lifer for Missy, apparently we just missed Jay at the alleged scene… amazingly calm and room-temperature day on Rock #3…. Hagerman area winter birding rocks !!!!!
Thank you for initial find, Lauren, and sincere thx Denise for reporting on IBLE =) always ~ ~ ~ ~
thence homeward to Winter Solstice and the Great Conjunction, shhhh, Jupiter and Saturn kissing, like seriously? an 800-yr event ???? =)
I patrolled along Idaho Hwy. 51, Mountain Home to Grasmere, Owyhee County, this morning. A good day to see raptors. Here are a Red-tailed Hawk, Golden Eagle and American Kestrel, all perched on roadside utility poles.
Alan Gregory
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Alan C Gregory Lt. Col., USAF, Ret. Mountain Home, ID Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association, life member Member, North American Butterfly Association
Thanks for pointing that out. I just never thought of seeing a Loggerhead in winter, and it has been a few years since I last saw a Northern, and that was in Pennsylvania.
I participated in today’s Lewiston-Clarkston CBC, covering the north side of the Clearwater River from Memorial Bridge to the eastern edge of the circle near Spalding. My highlight was a shocking DUSKY FLYCATCHER at the Upper Hog Island Boat Ramp: https://ebird.org/checklist/S77758521. There is only one previous winter record of this species in eBird for the northwestern US north of California, one that I found nearby (at Mann Lake) on Thanksgiving 2018 and that lingered until early December. Other highlights in my territory included a HARRIS’S SPARROW and WHITE-THROATED SPARROW at nearby Goose Pasture Habitat Management Unit: https://ebird.org/checklist/S77758548.
Very cool – shrikes are some of the coolest birds! This actually looks like a Loggerhead Shrike (most migrate away for the winter but this area usually has at least a few all winter) based on the smaller and less-hooked beak, the black mask that fully encompasses the eye, and the darker gray color.
Jay
Home of Idaho Birding and the Idaho Bird Records Committee
