This stunning raptor made my day. Bird perched at about six feet above ground near the intersection of Smith Road and stateHwy. 51 just inside the city limit of Mountain Home, Elmore County. The eyes of this bird are telling a story; that was my first thought.
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
I’ve noticed my feeders have been unusually quiet this past week. I did see a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the tail of a House Finch last wkend, but the feeders have seen less use than just for a Sharpie.
Today, I discovered the culprit. There’s a Bald Eagle pr that has nested across the river from us for 8 yrs now. They’ll be nesting soon, already adjusting their 3 y/o nest (previous one blew down). I was watching the pr soar from back deck thru my binocs, when I scanned across a cottonwood & my first reaction was…Osprey (& thought that can’t be right!). I left the eagles & adjusted my glasses to the new bird.
A beautiful, adult N Goshawk with very fine gray barring on chest, so fine, the chest was almost pure white, except through the spotting scope. Also, sharp contrast between white & very dark gray on its head. According to Sibley, must be male, as female should have coarser gray markings on breast. In any case, allowed great looks for nearly an hr thru scope. And my feeders were silent, until it left. Always a treat to see!
There is a Lapland Longspur in a large flock of Horned Larks near railroad tracks east of Blacks Creek. In field without sagebrush, South side of road.
is a plastic life-sized GB heron that guards our little bird pond, has been well chewed by our daughter’s dog, was collecting snow today, 1st appeared as a tetradactyl, later morphed into a penguin 😉
we have a smallish back yard, but 40+ RW blackbirds were here for awhile, emptied all of our feeders except suet
Jay, excellent note and a very important reminder.
Inspired me to revisit the BOW species accounts (Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY) of owls that have been documented in Idaho, mainly to refresh my understanding of their breeding seasons, e.g., species-specific dates for the onset of pair-bonding, nest site inspection and selection, etc. I took a few notes and compared them with eBird bar charts for Idaho (migrant owls in particular), and although these are just “rough draft notes” I thought I’d share them with birders on IBLE (see attached).
Thanks Larry. I have been posting pics and field notes of roadkill to Idaho Fish and Game, through its web site. And I talked with an agency biologist at one point. She, in turn, sent me links to academic/research papers. In 1989, upon settling in Pennsylvania, I began keeping a journal in which I listed the species, date and location of any wildlife (birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and butterflies) I found during walks. I am in my fifth journal now and my tally of species is well over 250 now.
I believe Stoddard Davenport reported some crazy high numbers of roadkill Barn Owls along I-84 that he had found with a bit of research ? and my hunch is that Stoddard was referencing the two docs that Karl K mentioned earlier today ?
Anyway, on one of our trips from Boise to Twin Falls to visit our daughter and family, we counted them along both directions of I-84…
I’m not finding my notes at the moment, but I think we tallied abt 130 easily visible dead Barn Owls… very sad to see
Larry Arnold
Home of Idaho Birding and the Idaho Bird Records Committee
