As requested, here are Harry’s Cackling Goose pages from the old Idaho
Birds site:
https://idahobirds.net/identification/cackling.html

This is the table of contents to the pages. I recommend opening them in
a new tab or window in order to keep the contents handy. Don’t try to
use the Identification Page link that’s on the pages. That’s broken and
will just re-route you to the Idaho Birds home.

I would like to add Cackling Goose and the rest of Harry’s ID writings
to the new site when I can, but until that’s done the above address
should work. If anyone has any problems viewing it let me know.

Lisa

On 02/05/2018 10:22 AM, ‘Kahl, Steve’ Steve_Kahl@fws.gov [ible] wrote:
> All – Just wanted to say thanks for your input.  I am enjoying the
> process of learning and hoping I can shed some light on the subspecies
> of CANG/CACG that winter in our area, and not just taking for granted
> that they are all moffitti because that is what they are “supposed” to be.
>
> Interestingly, the numbers of these smaller geese continues to climb
> around here. Sat I counted over 700 CANG loafing/preening at the
> Pocatello Water Pollution Control Plant pond. At LEAST 50 were these
> smaller birds.  I especially noted a group of 6 that separated
> themselves from the rest of the masses and took off as a (perhaps
> family) group.
>
> Part of my thought process about these possibly being parvipes birds
> is that the range maps in Baldassare’s Ducks, Geese, and Swans of NA
> (the update to the famous Frank Bellrose tome) shows parvipes
> wintering in all of ID, but the SE.  In contrast, the map for
> Taverner’s CACG show them wintering in far west OR/WA. Thus, it would
> seem to be that the closer wintering population would be more likely
> to show up here.
>
> I did more research on Taverner’s and it underscored the size
> similarity w/ parvipes that has been mentioned.  Coming from the east,
> where Richardson’s is the typical CACG, I am used to cacklers being
> very small and obvious..
>
> I’m working on the pictures, but can’t seem to get close enough to the
> birds to get decent snaps.  The geese around here still seem very
> jittery from the waterfowl season.
>
> I have not been able to find Krueger’s treatise on these birds.  I can
> find Google hits for it.  But they all bring me to the Idaho Birds
> home page and the article does not seem to be located there anymore. 
> If anybody by chance has a hard copy or some other means to see it let
> me know.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Steven F. Kahl
> Deputy Project Leader
> Southeast Idaho National Wildlife Refuge Complex
> 4425 Burley Dr., Ste. A
> Chubbuck, ID 83202
> P (208) 237-6615 ext 112
> F (208) 237-8213
>
> */Like and follow us on Facebook
> !/*
>

—
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com

Hi all! A few days ago, I was driving behind Lake Lowell and saw a field with Snow and Greater White-fronted Geese. This caused me to call out to Fort Boise to see if they were getting activity on their end. As of today, they’re seeing 5,000+ Snow Geese and a few White-fronted between the refuge area and Roswell Marsh. With the warmer temperatures, the officers out in that area aren’t sure what this will mean for the rest of the migration. That being said, I know that GEAS does a yearly field trip out to Fort Boise at the end of March, but my impression is that this time frame may be too late this year. Just thought I’d let you all know about the changes in these birds’ migration.
Kristin A.

—

Greetings, as of ~10am this morning there was no sign of the barred owl in or around the ID Shakespeare Festival grounds. Traveling further upstream of the Boise River (Lucky Peak State Park-Discovery Unit) there were about a dozen red crossbills congregating in the trees around the restrooms building.

Cheers,
Marty Marzinelli

All – Just wanted to say thanks for your input. I am enjoying the process
of learning and hoping I can shed some light on the subspecies of CANG/CACG
that winter in our area, and not just taking for granted that they are all
moffitti because that is what they are “supposed” to be.

Interestingly, the numbers of these smaller geese continues to climb around
here. Sat I counted over 700 CANG loafing/preening at the Pocatello Water
Pollution Control Plant pond. At LEAST 50 were these smaller birds. I
especially noted a group of 6 that separated themselves from the rest of
the masses and took off as a (perhaps family) group.

Part of my thought process about these possibly being parvipes birds is
that the range maps in Baldassare’s Ducks, Geese, and Swans of NA (the
update to the famous Frank Bellrose tome) shows parvipes wintering in all
of ID, but the SE. In contrast, the map for Taverner’s CACG show them
wintering in far west OR/WA. Thus, it would seem to be that the closer
wintering population would be more likely to show up here.

I did more research on Taverner’s and it underscored the size similarity w/
parvipes that has been mentioned. Coming from the east, where Richardson’s
is the typical CACG, I am used to cacklers being very small and obvious.

I’m working on the pictures, but can’t seem to get close enough to the
birds to get decent snaps. The geese around here still seem very jittery
from the waterfowl season.

I have not been able to find Krueger’s treatise on these birds. I can find
Google hits for it. But they all bring me to the Idaho Birds home page and
the article does not seem to be located there anymore. If anybody by
chance has a hard copy or some other means to see it let me know.

Thanks again!

Steven F. Kahl
Deputy Project Leader
Southeast Idaho National Wildlife Refuge Complex
4425 Burley Dr., Ste. A
Chubbuck, ID 83202
P (208) 237-6615 ext 112
F (208) 237-8213

*Like and follow us on Facebook
!*

Good evening all!

The Ruth Melichar Bird Center (AIDA) is preparing for the Spring 2018 baby bird season.

Last week the crow family group that lives in my area delighted me with two days of socialization / begging vocalizations, alerting the world that nesting activities will soon begin.

Last year, our baby bird season began May 1st and lasted through September. However, with the mild temperatures we are experiencing this winter, it is possible that we may be opening earlier.

If anyone notices birds beginning to build nests in the Treasure Valley area, please let me know.

Your help is much appreciated!

Thank you,

Beverly Taylor
Ruth Melichar Bird Center / Animals In Distress Association Inc.

Howdy,
This afternoon I found a Northern Mockingbird about a mile south of Springfield on Chandler Rd., near where it turns into Edwards Rd. It flew into a hedge on the east side of the road. The Danielson Pool (Springfield effluent) is still frozen, as is much of the NE end of the reservoir. Two Bald Eagles were sitting near nests (Edwards Rd. and Strang Rd. on an Osprey platform). It feels like spring is on the way, despite the groundhog’s prediction.
Good Birding!
Chuck Trost

Always forward, never straight…

Cliff,

I don’t know if Harry Kueger’s blog is still accessible, but I used it back in the day as THE guide for figuring out Canada Goose subspecies. I don’t even know how to find it, and my printed copies are in storage. My two cents worth…

Louie Quintana

Enviado desde mi iPhone

> El feb 1, 2018, a las 7:39 AM, Cliff and Lisa Weisse cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com [ible] escribió:
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> I’ve been on the road for the last month and haven’t seen any response to this so I’ll give you my two cents’ worth. Yes, parvipes/Lesser occurs here in Idaho. I’ve seen birds like you describe and to me they fit very well into parvipes based on the longer bill length to head ratio. Of course there will always be intermediate birds you can’t comfortably identify.
> Here are a few links to references for separating Cackling/Canada Goose to subspecies:
> http://www.sibleyguides.com/2007/07/identification-of-cackling-and-canada-goose/
> http://www.sibleyguides.com/2010/09/bill-size-not-shape-distinguishes-cackling-and-canada-goose/
> http://www.utahbirds.org/RecCom/IDhelp/Cackling_Goose-NAB.pdf
> I found the bill size post on Sibley’s site really interesting. Apparently the deeper based appearance of the bill on Cackling Goose is an optical illusion. Actually the bill shape is almost almost identical to Canada. Definitely worth a look.
>
> Cliff
>
>> On 01/21/2018 09:56 PM, Steve Kahl Steve_Kahl@fws.gov [ible] wrote:
>>
>> About 4 weeks ago I started noticing a few Canada geese w/ noticeably smaller bills and shorter/thicker necks among the typical moffitti/maxima. They are also noticeably smaller than the moffitti/maxima but not nearly small enough to be cackling geese. These smaller birds are similarly light chested to the moffitti/maxima.
>>
>>
>> The first week or two I just attributed it to individual variation of a couple individuals. But, this weekend out of over 600 Canadas I counted in three locations, at least 15 stuck out as these small birds. This included birds within flocks of moffitti/maxima flying over, standing along the shoreline preening/loafing, and grazing in a pasture.
>>
>> Can anyone advise on which subspecies this more likely could be? My best guess would be lesser/parvipes. But, I’m well aware of how tricky ID’ing Canada geese to subspecies away from their breeding grounds can be.
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>
> —
> Cliff and Lisa Weisse
> Island Park, Idaho
> cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com
>

Hi Steve,

I’ve been on the road for the last month and haven’t seen any response
to this so I’ll give you my two cents’ worth. Yes, parvipes/Lesser
occurs here in Idaho. I’ve seen birds like you describe and to me they
fit very well into parvipes based on the longer bill length to head
ratio. Of course there will always be intermediate birds you can’t
comfortably identify.

Here are a few links to references for separating Cackling/Canada Goose
to subspecies:

Distinguishing Cackling and Canada Goose

Bill size, not shape, distinguishes Cackling and Canada Goose

http://www.utahbirds.org/RecCom/IDhelp/Cackling_Goose-NAB.pdf

I found the bill size post on Sibley’s site really interesting.
Apparently the deeper based appearance of the bill on Cackling Goose is
an optical illusion. Actually the bill shape is almost almost identical
to Canada. Definitely worth a look.

Cliff

On 01/21/2018 09:56 PM, Steve Kahl Steve_Kahl@fws.gov [ible] wrote:
>
> About 4 weeks ago I started noticing a few Canada geese w/ noticeably
> smaller bills and shorter/thicker necks among the typical
> moffitti/maxima.  They are also noticeably smaller than the
> moffitti/maxima but not nearly small enough to be cackling geese.
> These smaller birds are similarly light chested to the moffitti/maxima.
>
>
> The first week or two I just attributed it to individual variation of
> a couple individuals. But, this weekend out of over 600 Canadas I
> counted in three locations, at least 15 stuck out as these small
> birds. This included birds within flocks of moffitti/maxima flying
> over, standing along the shoreline preening/loafing, and grazing in a
> pasture.
>
> Can anyone advise on which subspecies this more likely could be? My
> best guess would be lesser/parvipes. But, I’m well aware of how tricky
> ID’ing Canada geese to subspecies away from their breeding grounds can be.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>

—
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa@octobersetters.com

could be fun!

________________________________
From: obol-bounce@freelists.org on behalf of Joe Liebezeit
Sent: Thursday, February 1, 2018 10:10 AM
To: Oregon Birders OnLine; BOO List
Subject: [obol] job notice of interest

Hi all,

Just wanted to make folks aware that Portland Audubon is recruiting for a full time position to be located in Harney County to support conservation work of the High Desert Partnership and other Audubon initiatives in the area.. Please share this announcement with anybody you think might be interested..

http://audubonportland.org/files/employment/malheur-field-coordinator-2018-final

Cheers,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe Liebezeit
Avian Conservation Program Manager
Audubon Society of Portland
5151 NW Cornell Road
Portland, OR 97210
971-222-6121
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saw it early this morning … same area … we were behind the gate on left of parking lot. Photographed it then someone came up from below toward the river and it flew into the dense conifers between the parking lot and the stage/back stage area. Did not see it again before we left about 8:55 AM

> On Jan 31, 2018, at 5:55 PM, Bird birdkimliebich@gmail.com [ible] wrote:
>
> Boise
>
> As of 5:45 the Barred has moved from where we found him earlier. Did not snoop around to re-find him… he may just be out getting dinner. A Great-horned out there was making quiet a bit of noise.
> =)k
> ____________________
> Kim Liebich =)
>
> On Jan 31, 2018, at 10:16 AM, Jason Talbot jason.talbot1@yahoo.com [ible] > wrote:
>
> RL called and said he had a Barred Owl at Shakespeare Festival Grounds. I imagine the Wednesday morning group. He said to go left instead of past the ticket gate from the main parking lot. Will update with better details later. People will be there for a little while.
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
>
>
>

Ken Miracle
chukar28@icloud.com
208-908-9493
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5