We are seeing a spate of eBird reports of Semipalmated Sandpiper in Idaho so I thought I’d throw this out there. This is exceedingly early for this species in Idaho. I just pulled up the eBird map for this year and the closest to Idaho there are checklists is in Kansas. I found two photos for Idaho in late April but May is a more typical time for them to come through.
Shorebirds in general can be difficult to ID (to say the least) and Semipalmated Sandpiper is notoriously easy to confuse with/for other species, especially Western Sandpiper. I would encourage everyone to try to get photos if you think you see one before May. Good luck.
Cliff
— Cliff and Lisa Weisse Island Park, Idaho cliffandlisa@…
A few new spring arrivals past couple of days: numerous American Robins, more male Red-winged Blackbirds calling & a few White Pelicans along the river. Tundra Swans flying over, headed North. And, Sandhill Cranes calling while flying over.
Rich, I had four trumpeter swans segregated separately from thirty or so tundras on the south side. On the north side there were at least 100 tundras but too distant to ID for trumpeters. And two BAEA across the bay in a tall ponderosa.
Today there was an Osprey, my first of the season, harassing a Canada Goose on a nest on top of a light tower at Willow Lane Athletic Complex. He made multiple swoops with little benefit, before flying away.
Also, there were 2 DC Cormorants on the 2 perches out in the middle of Veterans Pond. I had a flyby yesterday, also my first of the season, but these two were more like what I’m used to on Veterans.
It is indeed the same as Lake Harbor, but you want to go to the river side of the lake. There is an entrance there to “Lake River,” a gated community. You don’t want to enter Lake River, but there is parking there if you go in a vehicle. Out in the lake there
are a couple of logs that seem popular with all three Merganser species, as well as the Shovelers. In prior winters there were pretty large flocks of Shovelers, but only a handful of birds this year. At other times of the year, it also has Western Grebes.
Tom
Home of Idaho Birding and the Idaho Bird Records Committee
