This AM, I’ve been watching the Hummingbird activity at my feeder. A male Black-chinned has been making display flghts for a female which comes into feed, then perches at the feeder watching his displays. Another pair? Same pair, maybe going to nest again? Did read where sometimes, hummers will have two broods a summer. Certainly, more summer still present, after the one successful nesting.

Also, I had a female Rufous Hummingbird come into the feeder earlier, before the Black-chinned Hummingbirds took over. Also, found a male Lazuli Bunting & male Western Tanagers on the place.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot

Best spots for birding at the refuge? We are at the refuge for the day tomorrow.

MaDWhitham
It’s not the years in your life, it’s the life in your years!!!

MaDWhitham
It’s not the years in your life, it’s the life in your years!!!

Thank you to Larry Arnold for posting the Caspian Tern for me yesterday. I
have only seen CATE’s a few times along the river and I got pretty excited
when I realized the large white bird cruising the back pond at ESP was not
just another gull. This was not just a FOY, this was first in several years.

Yesterday’s ride had begun with a slow cruise through Hull’s Gulch, which
was more crowded than usual, but the birds were cooperative. I left there
with over 30 birds, stopped at the house to refuel and headed to the river.
The pair of Western Grebes at Quinn’s Pond were #40 and the Caspian was #41.
I cruised to and through Ann Morrison and found my 2d Cooper’s Hawk of the
day, terrorizing the RWBB’s near the footbridge. By the time I left, I was
up to 49 birds and I was already obsessing about nice round numbers.
Fortunately, #50 came on our evening walk with another noisy flyover by a
Common Nighthawk.

So last week it took 32 miles to get 59 birds, but yesterday it only took 15
miles to get 50. Of course, when it comes to birding from the back of a
bike, I’m not sure cost-benefit analysis is appropriate. They’re all great
days when you’re out there looking for our feathered friends, but some days
you have to work a little harder.

Tom McCabe, Boise

For Latilong 21, I first reported Black-chinned Hummingbird nest building activity on 5/29. This evening, I saw my first juvenile Black-chinned Hummingbird come into the feeder. I looked it up & hummingbirds can go from egg to flying independence in 3-4 wks time. Fast! I believe this one is a male, as it had all the characteristics noted in Sibley’s of a juvenile with about 3 black/dk purple feathers at center base of neck. An adult male & female have been hitting the feeder for a couple of weeks now.

Although, I never saw the nest itself, all the activity centered from spider web gathering to back-&-forth flights by the female Black-chinned to one of our blue spruce trees, until this past weekend, when I watched the female sallying for mid-air insects last Friday. Since then, most flights have occurred to a cottonwood & streamside willows. This progression has been quite fun & rewarding to witness.

Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot/Latilong 21

Tom McCabe asked me to post this bird he’s seeing at the “back pond” at
Esther Simplot, the pond that parallels Veteran’s Pond. Unusual to see this
bird in town per se; I might see it a little more often at Lucky Peak Res
and in the “canyon section” of the greenbelt, upstream of the Diversion Dam,
but downtown is unusual and Tom says he’s only seen a few along the
greenbelt in his birding career.

Thanks for calling, Tom =)

Larry

Howdy,
Today I found six Greater Yellowlegs and two Western Sandpipers on a seep in a wheat field off of Rio Vista Rd. on the Fort Hall Reservation. Also present were eight Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper, a Wilson’s Phalarope, and two Black-necked Stilts. Summer is over (for them).
Good Birding!
Chuck Trost

Always forward, never straight…

Black-capped Chickadees have been coming to my seed feeder yesterday 6/26
and today. I’ve heard but not yet seen the Red-breasted Nuthatch. 2016 I
noted both at my yard feeders on 6/22. Chickadee sounds and antics always
make me smile. Wishing all of you a smile brought to you by birds.

Diann Stone
Boise Depot Bench – Kootenai & Owyhee

Thx Darren, same here, me too, I would have rejected my Idaho obs of Cassin’s Sparrow (Ada County, May 2013) in spite of prior experience elsewhere (see list below, all in expected range)……..

1st and 2nd state records need factual / unambiguous / documentation, eh? Photos and or recordings, with expected local veg in view…?

Next question is this.. do we delete our unexpected rarities or do we save them for future reference? Heidi kind of talked me into the latter…..

LA

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download (csv)

United States – Life Observations – Cassin’s Sparrow

Alphabetic Taxonomic

Location

S/P

Date

1

Cassin’s Sparrow

Nueces

US-TX

22 Nov 2002

2

Cassin’s Sparrow

Edwards

US-TX

23 Nov 2002

3

Cassin’s Sparrow

Santa Cruz

US-AZ

22 Mar 2003

4

Cassin’s Sparrow

Texas

US-TX

15 Apr 2003

5

Cassin’s Sparrow

Uvalde

US-TX

23 Apr 2003

6

Cassin’s Sparrow

Edwards

US-TX

20 May 2004

7

Cassin’s Sparrow

Granada area

US-CO

27 Apr 2005

8

Cassin’s Sparrow

Texas

US-TX

10 Apr 2006

9

Cassin’s Sparrow

Cochise

US-AZ

16 Apr 2006

10

Cassin’s Sparrow 2

ditch around Cedar H Cemetery

US-CO

07 Jul 2011

11

Cassin’s Sparrow

Neenoshe Reservoir

US-CO

30 Jul 2011

12

Cassin’s Sparrow

county roads off of 385

US-CO

30 Jul 2011

13

Cassin’s Sparrow

Pawnee National Grassland–Murphy’s Pasture area & auto tour stops 2 & 3

US-CO

01 Aug 2011

14

Cassin’s Sparrow 2

Holbrook Reservoir

US-CO

07 Jun 2012

15

Cassin’s Sparrow

Baca County – CR10

US-CO

09 Jun 2012

16

Cassin’s Sparrow

Bac County – M Rd

US-CO

09 Jun 2012

17

Cassin’s Sparrow

Bonny Reservoir–State Wildlife Area–south side of lake

US-CO

10 Jun 2012

18

Cassin’s Sparrow 1

Holyoke Cemetery

US-CO

01 Sep 2012

19

Cassin’s Sparrow 1

Ada – Joplin Rd

US-ID

19 May 2013

From: Darren Clark [mailto:darrenclarkbird@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 8:00 PM
To: Larry Arnold
Cc: Jay Carlisle; ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [IBLE] from Inland NW listserv: Probable Alder Flycatcher in Coolin (Priest Lake)

I feel good about mine, but I didn’t get a recording or photo. If I was voting I would have rejected it. A recording should be easy enough. My bird just shut up after it sung a couple of times.

Darren

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 26, 2017, at 1:09 PM, ‘Larry Arnold’ larnold47@cableone.net [ible] wrote:

Interesting…….. previous reports by Darren and Cliff are believable to me, and IBRC should maybe reconsider them?

Big picture is that they have been happening in other western states, last 10-20 yrs

Pls, let’s pay more attention to Big Picture migration events, maybe consider such factors, and be open minded, folks, ja?

Not impossible I say………

Crazy I’ve been discussing this sp with Cliff last day or so, and Darren how’d you feel about yours?

LA

From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jay Carlisle carlislejay@yahoo.com [ible]
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2017 8:19 AM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] from Inland NW listserv: Probable Alder Flycatcher in Coolin (Priest Lake)

Paul Sieracki just shared this on Facebook too … wish it wasn’t 8+ hours away ? Jay

Date: Sat Jun 24 2017 19:16 pm
From: gandrbond AT gmail.com

“This morning near our cabin at Coolin on Priest Lake, we encountered what almost certainly is an Alder Flycatcher. The call matched the call on our recording of Alder Flycatcher and could easily be differentiated from the Willow Flycatchers calling nearby. We then played the Alder Flycatcher call and the bird immediately flew right at us and lit on a branch so I could photograph it. The bird has a definite thin eye ring, definitely more of an eye ring than I have ever seen on a Willow Flycatcher and I am convinced it is an Alder Flycatcher. We walk this road every day I this is the first time we have heard this bird. On this 3/4 mile road this spring we have now identified 6 Empids, which includes a Least Flycatcher that has been calling daily for the last week. As best I can tell there are no records of Alder Flycatcher for the state of Idaho.

Bob Bond”

Ditto the one I heard. Two song renditions then nothing further.

Cliff

On 06/26/2017 07:59 PM, Darren Clark darrenclarkbird@gmail.com [ible] wrote:
> I feel good about mine, but I didn’t get a recording or photo. If I
> was voting I would have rejected it. A recording should be easy
> enough. My bird just shut up after it sung a couple of times.
>
> Darren
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 26, 2017, at 1:09 PM, ‘Larry Arnold’ larnold47@cableone.net
> [ible] > wrote:
>
>> Interesting…….. previous reports by Darren and Cliff are believable
>> to me, and IBRC should maybe reconsider them?
>>
>> Big picture is that they have been happening in other western states,
>> last 10-20 yrs
>>
>> Pls, let’s pay more attention and be open minded, folks, ja?
>>
>> Not impossible I say………
>>
>> Crazy I’ve been discussing this sp with Cliff last day or so, and
>> Darren how’d you feel about yours?
>>
>> LA
>>
>> *From:*ible@yahoogroups.com
>> [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Jay Carlisle
>> carlislejay@yahoo.com [ible]
>> *Sent:* Sunday, June 25, 2017 8:19 AM
>> *To:* ible@yahoogroups.com
>> *Subject:* [IBLE] from Inland NW listserv: Probable Alder Flycatcher
>> in Coolin (Priest Lake)
>>
>> Paul Sieracki just shared this on Facebook too … wish it wasn’t 8+
>> hours away ? Jay
>>
>>
>> Date: Sat Jun 24 2017 19:16 pm
>> From: gandrbond AT gmail.com
>>
>> “This morning near our cabin at Coolin on Priest Lake, we encountered
>> what almost certainly is an Alder Flycatcher. The call matched the
>> call on our recording of Alder Flycatcher and could easily be
>> differentiated from the Willow Flycatchers calling nearby. We then
>> played the Alder Flycatcher call and the bird immediately flew right
>> at us and lit on a branch so I could photograph it. The bird has a
>> definite thin eye ring, definitely more of an eye ring than I have
>> ever seen on a Willow Flycatcher and I am convinced it is an Alder
>> Flycatcher. We walk this road every day I this is the first time we
>> have heard this bird. On this 3/4 mile road this spring we have now
>> identified 6 Empids, which includes a Least Flycatcher that has been
>> calling daily for the last week. As best I can tell there are no
>> records of Alder Flycatcher for the state of Idaho. Bob Bond”
>>
>

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

I feel good about mine, but I didn’t get a recording or photo. If I was voting I would have rejected it. A recording should be easy enough. My bird just shut up after it sung a couple of times.

Darren

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 26, 2017, at 1:09 PM, ‘Larry Arnold’ larnold47@cableone.net [ible] wrote:
>
>
>
> Interesting…….. previous reports by Darren and Cliff are believable to me, and IBRC should maybe reconsider them?
>
> Big picture is that they have been happening in other western states, last 10-20 yrs
>
> Pls, let’s pay more attention and be open minded, folks, ja?
>
> Not impossible I say………
>
> Crazy I’ve been discussing this sp with Cliff last day or so, and Darren how’d you feel about yours?
>
> LA
>
>
>
> From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jay Carlisle carlislejay@yahoo.com [ible]
> Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2017 8:19 AM
> To: ible@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [IBLE] from Inland NW listserv: Probable Alder Flycatcher in Coolin (Priest Lake)
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul Sieracki just shared this on Facebook too … wish it wasn’t 8+ hours away ? Jay
>
>
> Date: Sat Jun 24 2017 19:16 pm
> From: gandrbond AT gmail.com
>
>
>
> “This morning near our cabin at Coolin on Priest Lake, we encountered what almost certainly is an Alder Flycatcher. The call matched the call on our recording of Alder Flycatcher and could easily be differentiated from the Willow Flycatchers calling nearby. We then played the Alder Flycatcher call and the bird immediately flew right at us and lit on a branch so I could photograph it. The bird has a definite thin eye ring, definitely more of an eye ring than I have ever seen on a Willow Flycatcher and I am convinced it is an Alder Flycatcher. We walk this road every day I this is the first time we have heard this bird. On this 3/4 mile road this spring we have now identified 6 Empids, which includes a Least Flycatcher that has been calling daily for the last week. As best I can tell there are no records of Alder Flycatcher for the state of Idaho.
>
> Bob Bond”
>
>