For the 4th time in the last 7 days, I heard and then saw a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying over. Today I was just going down the path next to Veterans Pond when I heard that wonderful sound. It took me a moment but then I located a flock of about 30 cranes that seemed to be circling in a thermal to get elevation. Unfortunately there was no one to share them with. 🙁
And yesterday I was at Les Bois race track when I heard that delightful sound. The flock yesterday consisted of just 6 birds, in a “vee” formation, heading generally upriver. In retrospect, I would have to say that each of the 4 flocks I’ve seen were heading generally upriver.
Also, today was the 11th day in a row where I found at least 40 species on my bike ride. The highest count was 46, which is quite surprising to me for this time of year. Surprise birds have included Hairy Woodpeckers, WB Nuthatches, Merlins, and, of course, Sandhill Cranes. And today I encountered a pair of Cooper’s Hawks noisily cruising around in an area where they nested last year. 😉
Well this might be a bit of a stretch based on this one photo but
it strikes me as possibly a Brambling. Do you remember seeing this
bird? Any possibility of more photos?
Cliff
On 2/25/20 12:10 PM, Elizabeth Medes
wrote:
I was cleaning out old media files and I found this photo, sorry
for the lack of quality, from Nov 11 2019. Haven’t sighted any
rosy-finches here in the area before. I am captured by the black
markings on the leading edges of the coverts – so I’m wondering if
this isn’t a juvenile, going into first winter. Any feedback?
I’m unsure how this photo is going to post, so if it’s wonky, I’ll
retry. Thanks, Liz, Emmett ID
I was cleaning out old media files and I found this photo, sorry for the lack of quality, from Nov 11 2019. Haven’t sighted any rosy-finches here in the area before. I am captured by the black markings on the leading edges of the coverts – so I’m wondering if this isn’t a juvenile, going into first winter. Any feedback? I’m unsure how this photo is going to post, so if it’s wonky, I’ll retry. Thanks, Liz, Emmett ID
The Red-winged Blackbirds have always been the first migrating birds to show up at my place. Today there are 4 of them foraging under my feeder. Jeff Brough north of Idaho Falls near Ucon
We just watched a flock of about 30 Pinyon Jays flying back and forth across the road just east of Howe and in and out of the junipers, calling, and then up the hill and away.
I was on the return leg of my bike ride around 1 pm today when I again heard that wonderful sound of Sandhill Cranes. I was at Willow Lane, with trees obscuring the sky, so I jumped off my bike. Two passing bicyclists apparently thought I was crazy, until I yelled “Sandhill Cranes” and pointed to the circling flock of at least 20 birds. Then the 2 cyclists got excited too when they saw the flock. The birds seemed to be circling somewhere over Garden City (maybe they needed a beer?) but I couldn’t tell exactly where. Way cool.
