Carl,
Your BIRD reports are always awesome, dreamy, smile-inducing! =)
AND
I’m delinquent in thanking you for birding ideas whilst camping recently on the Continental Divide (ID-WY), where we enjoyed constant CLNU music, had a yuge raft of EAGR on New Fork Lakes (7900 ft), and other delights, war stories around the camp fire, yikes….
Teton Pass was way crowded with humans, so we skipped that, preferring mellow birding as you say in your eBird Profile ” My birding interests include traveling widely and getting off the beaten path. ” Missy and I get this!!!
Thanks again for Panhandle reporting – happens to be our favorite destination in the state! Both geologically and ornithologically……….. =)
Larry,
W Boise
—– Original Message —–
From: “Carl Lundblad carl.lundblad@gmail.com [ible]”
To: “inland birders” , “ible”
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 8:38:02 PM
Subject: [IBLE] Northern Panhandle: 8-9 September 2018
I spent the weekend in Bonner and Boundary Counties beginning Saturday morning at Sandpoint City Beach, which produced my Bonner-first PECTORAL SANDPIPER and not much else except a few expected land bird migrants flitting about. More expected migrant land birds were along Oden Bay/Sunnyside Road including a Willow Flycatcher on the late end of their passage window. Small numbers of Red-necked Grebes were beginning to assemble, but there’s not yet much suggestion of the thousands of waterfowl and dozens of grebes and loons that will pile into that area in coming weeks. The Clark Fork Delta Driftwood Yard had a VIRGINIA RAIL, VESPER SPARROW, and other migrant sparrows. In Bonners Ferry, a flock of 10 BLACK-NECKED STILT (my Boundary County first) were on the Kootenai River just downstream from the US-95 bridge (below the brewery). At Boundary Creek WMA, 123 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were right on time (for that location) and twice that many AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS was my highest-ever count in the Idaho panhandle. An evening stop at Kootenai NWR was pretty quiet but 3 Long-billed Dowitchers, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, and a Lesser Yellowlegs brought my World Shorebird Day list to 7 species.
Sunday, I undertook my favorite hike in north Idaho, hiking to Harrison Lake, then continuing off-trail along the Selkirk Crest to Upper Beehive Lake, and finishing at the Beehive Lakes trailhead. Consistent with other recent reports from our region, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS seem to be making a good showing in the Spruce-zone this season. I had several groups between the Beehive trailhead and Harrison Lake, including a group of 9 on the road separating Beehive and Harrison trailheads (1 mile walk to complete the 10-11 mile loop hike). 2 NORTHERN PYGMY-OWLS were vocal along the trail to Harrison Lake, and the shore of Harrison was teaming with migrant American Pipits, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Savannah and White-crowned Sparrows. American Pipits were abundant in the treeless granite rubble of the Seven Sisters crest area along with one Horned Lark (no Longspurs). A lone Pine Grosbeak flew over, but this species has been unusually hard for me to find in suitable breeding habitat of north Idaho over the last 2 years (maybe I’ve just been in the wrong places at the wrong times).
A final stop at Sandpoint City Beach on Sunday evening produced about 9 COMMON TERNS. Non-avian highlights from Sunday included a huge bull Elk nearby (location withheld), lots of American Pikas, and a confiding Short-tailed Weasel in a boulder field over the ridge north of Upper Beehive Lake.
Good Birding,
Carl Lundblad
Moscow, ID
