So, Tom, did you count that dead mourning dove. ?
Marla Hicks

Oi, Tom, I always enjoy your calls, never annoying! and you had an impressive tally for the Greenbelt in April… feels like half the species haven’t arrived yet.
as for indecisiveness, ask Missy what it’s like to bird with me, or ask Cheryl about a certain Cooper’s Hawk, or a Snow Bunting (both long ago, far away, in another dimension, on a CBC). 😉
sometimes i think birding is all about how well we can handle embarrassment, eh? it’s something i fail at.
Thanks again for calling, Tom, always.
Larry

—– Original Message —–

From: “‘Tom McCabe’ tmccabe9@cableone.net [ible]”
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 8:12:26 PM
Subject: [IBLE] Hull’s Gulch and beyond

I started the day early in Hull’s Gulch, and left there with 29 birds. I got home in time to add #30 in my back yard—a Cooper’s eating a M. Dove. In Hull’s Gulch I found 2 FOY birds, a Virginia Rail and a Calliope Hummer. The latter bird sat and preened in a nearby bush.

I then headed to Esther Simplot, then to Remington St., then to Laguna Pointe, then to Hyatt Wetlands. When I got back to Esther Simplot, I only had 51 birds and no Mergansers. But then I realized there was a female actively fishing in the main pond. I initially decided it was a Red-breasted, and called Larry Arnold to let him know. Then I had second thoughts, called him back and said Common. But then I spent a long time watching the bird and finally concluded it was, indeed, a Red-breasted. By that point I was too embarrassed to call Larry again, so I headed home with 52 birds. Just across Whitewater Park Blvd., I heard my first A. Crow of the day, and presto! I had 53 birds. It was a 30 mile ride, and I was beat when I got home, but it was also a gorgeous day to be riding my bike all over the place. (And I’ve apologized to Larry for being so indecisive and annoying.)

Tom McCabe, Boise

I started the day early in Hull’s Gulch, and left there with 29 birds. I got
home in time to add #30 in my back yard-a Cooper’s eating a M. Dove. In
Hull’s Gulch I found 2 FOY birds, a Virginia Rail and a Calliope Hummer. The
latter bird sat and preened in a nearby bush.

I then headed to Esther Simplot, then to Remington St., then to Laguna
Pointe, then to Hyatt Wetlands. When I got back to Esther Simplot, I only
had 51 birds and no Mergansers. But then I realized there was a female
actively fishing in the main pond. I initially decided it was a
Red-breasted, and called Larry Arnold to let him know. Then I had second
thoughts, called him back and said Common. But then I spent a long time
watching the bird and finally concluded it was, indeed, a Red-breasted. By
that point I was too embarrassed to call Larry again, so I headed home with
52 birds. Just across Whitewater Park Blvd., I heard my first A. Crow of the
day, and presto! I had 53 birds. It was a 30 mile ride, and I was beat when
I got home, but it was also a gorgeous day to be riding my bike all over the
place. (And I’ve apologized to Larry for being so indecisive and annoying.)

Tom McCabe, Boise

I humbly second this notion (substituting “IBLE” for “Texbirds” in Justin’s note below) about the relevance of our state listserv v. Facebook……. eh?
This is probably not new news? 😉
Larry, Boise

—–Original Message—–
From: texbirds-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:texbirds-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Justin Bosler
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2018 6:02 AM
To: daneferrell@hotmail.com; 4 Texbirds Maillist
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Violet-crowned Hummingbird in Nueces County

Thanks for sharing, Dane. Texbirds is still very relevant (in spite of the

mass migration to Facebook) and much more direct when it comes to sharing

reports of rare birds with the birding community than one of the many

Facebook groups with various titles, access and/or permissions. Who has the

time to hunt through Facebook groups for bits and pieces of information? In

my experience, alerts and notifications aren’t always timely or reliable,

for that matter.

In my opinion, Texbirds is still the go-to source for sharing sightings and

information.

Thanks!

Justin Bosler

currently in Dallas, TX

On Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 7:33 AM Dane Ferrell wrote:

> For those not on Facebook or in touch with the grapevine, there is a VC

> hummer in our back yard since Saturday morning and it remains this morning:

> 4301 Ravine Drive, CC, TX 78410. We are in and out but you can see the

> hummer. Park in the driveway, walk through the carport, through the open

> gate to the chairs. Sit or stand on sidewalk and watch the red glass hummer

> feeder. It perches within 10 feet of the feeder in the mountain laurels or

> hackberry trees. Please do not get too close – relax in the chairs there,

> the bird will come. Also, please be careful not to point binoculars to the

> neighbors feeder – it does not go there and the neighbor is not thrilled

> about the extra attention lately.

> Dane Ferrell

> Corpus Christi, Texas

>

>

I’ve been waiting for some spring migrants to show. And, in the meantime, donating pounds of black-oil sunflower seeds to 30+ American Goldfinches at a time.

Well, this afternoon while watching goldfinches, an adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak came into the feeder. Quite a surprise but welcome sight! My first Idaho sightings of this species were sev juveniles & probably one Rose-breasted/Black-headed hybrid last fall at my feeders. It will be exciting to see what happens this year with Rose-breasteds.

Others this past week: Swainson’s Hawks, Wood Ducks, Sandhill Crane, White-faced Ibis, White Pelicans, Osprey, numerous Eared Grebes, Ruddy Duck & Western Meadowlark. Also, little brown bats have returned to their roost box & both N Leopard Frogs & Great Basin Spadefoot Toads are calling at night. Still waiting for the Chorus Frogs to get going, sometimes by the hundreds.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

Susan has seen lots of great birds!

I saw two Long-billed Curlew this morning on Packsaddle Road.

I have Cassin’s Finches and Evening Grosbeaks at my feeder on Stateline Rd.
along with the normal chickadees. Also have had one Red-breasted Nuthatch
here for several weeks.

Greetings,

Yesterday and today on my weekend forays in the northwest section of Teton Valley, I observed a few new species of the year:

Ruby-crowned Kinglets heard at 3 sites near Packsaddle and Horsehoe Creek drainages. They were giving only partial, short songs.

Red-naped Sapsucker one male on an older aspen. Close to a drumming Downy Woodpecker.

Brewer’s Blackbird a few showed up in a yard near highway 33

Fox Sparrow heard two males singing along Horseshoe Creek

Swainson’s Hawk–saw my first one last weekend but a few more around today.

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch-all gone except for one I found in a forested stand.. Was surprised to see it there.

Interesting that Clark’s nutcrackers continue to hit the suet feeders in our neighborhood very hard this spring. High count of 6 and they are quite aggressive towards each other.

Also Steller’s Jays continue to feed regularly.

Cassin’s Finch–numbers continue to build at the feeders. They park on the sunflower seed tubes until flushed off by another finch.

And heard of one Great Gray Owl that is on a nest incubating. This is an old goshawk nest that I originally found back in the early 90s.

Happy Earth Day, Susan

Yesterday saw a big push by N. Shovelers who were present on every pond from
Quinn’s to Esther Simplot to Veterans to Silver Lake. They were accompanied
by Ruddy Ducks and some other stragglers looking for company.

Today I saw almost every kind of duck that passes through Boise. N. Shoveler
at Quinn’s, Bufflehead, RN Duck and C. Goldeneye at Esther Simplot, and L.
Scaup and Cinnamon Teal (FOY) at Silver Lake, to name just a few. Gadwall,
Wood Duck, A. Wigeon, H. Merganser, Mallard and C. Merganser were also out
and about.

The real treat was a Black-necked Stilt (FOY)standing on a log out on Silver
Lake. Quite a shock for me since there is no shallow water for his kind at
Silver Lake.

When I got back to Veterans, I found 3 of the brightest Cinnamon Teal I’ve
ever seen floating around with a pair of GW Teal. The Cinnamons were redder
than any of their ilk that I’ve ever seen.

YR Warblers were also pretty common today, including one Myrtle subspecies
between Veterans and the back pond at ESP. Plus I was able to identify 4
species of swallow, missing only Cliff and Bank.

Thanks to all the new arrivals and all the old standbys, I was able to
identify 51 species in 16 miles. And it only rained on me a little bit. 😉

Tom McCabe, Boise

I stopped by Jensen Grove Park yesterday and encountered 6 great-tailed
grackles. Perhaps they have colonized this area as there were a few reports
w/ photos from here last fall. The local pair of osprey has returned. Many
eared grebes were present, some close to shore and in grand breeding
plumage. A few red-breasted mergansers were also present.

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

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Fox Sparrow singing continuously just west of 8th St parking lot Hulls Gulch

Sent from my iPhone