Category Archives: Listserv Posts

[IBLE] New Yard Bird #69

A few minutes ago, a bird flew onto an open branch of my crabapple tree outside my window, and it was obviously different than the usual Eastern Meadowlark, Brewer’s Blackbird, Western Kingbird, American Robin, Bullock’s Oriole or Cedar Waxwing that frequent the tree. So, I grabbed my nearby binoculars and – to my huge surprise – I was looking at a Red-eyed Vireo – first time I’ve ever seen one come up from Porter Creek to my yard! It didn’t stick around long enough for me to get a pic, unfortunately.

Oh – there’s the Bullock’s Oriole back – carrying food for it’s young…

Everyone have a great day…Jonathan Barnett, Horseshoe Bend

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[IBLE] bird vs. bird

The three young Cooper’s Hawk are calling for food. Bkack-capoed Chickadees
are chittering frequently and visiting my tube feeder. Meanwhile, one of
the he Cooper’s Hawks is stealthily moving limb to limb and tree to tree in
my yard. I love Chickadees and don’t want the hawk to win this one.

Diann Stone Boise Depot Bench

[IBLE] How Many Hummingbirds?

Every year as I watch hummingbirds visit my feeders I wonder “How many different birds are coming by each day?” Of course, at this time of year this means “I wonder how many Black-chinned Hummingbirds are coming by my feeders each day?” as that is the only species I see during the summer. This year I finally decided to move beyond wondering and see what I could do to actually figure it out.

A little searching on the internet found a few estimation methods. The best way is to do local banding to create an identifiable sample of the birds, but that approach is not available for me. The easiest estimation method is to count the maximum number of birds you see at one time and multiply by 6. This was created by someone who had done local banding and discovered this was a reasonable and simple estimate. In my case I often see 4 birds at once, especially in the sunset feeding frenzy. I once saw 5 but 4 seems like a consistent maximum. So, this would get me to somewhere around 24 different hummingbirds coming by during the day. The other estimation method is based on several people’s studies that hummingbirds drink between 0.25 and 0.50 ounces of sugar water a day (based on the typical 1 part sugar to 4 parts water mix). During the last week, birds have been drinking around 12 to 15 ounces of sugar water a day. This approach results in a range of between 24 and 60 different birds coming by each day – and the numbers will be even higher if they are also visiting other feeders in the neighborhood. And there are many neighbors also with feeders.

Where does that leave me? It seems like based on these estimates that I have at least 24 different Black-chinned hummingbirds visiting each day and it would be plausible for this number to be 30 or even a little more. I find that pretty amazing that this many of them are around. A number which will jump dramatically in a few weeks as the young of the year fledge and join their parents in feeder visits.

Scott Tuthill/Boise

[IBLE] Gold Fork Park & Ski Area

Hi birders,
Yesterday Amy Bechtel and I walked the whole trail at Gold Fork (off Hwy 21 near mile marker 59). There is still extensive fire damage following from the 2016 fires in this area, which has created a lot of relatively open areas along the trail. As a result, there is a huge proliferation of wild flowers growing there of many colours and varieties, including geranium species, penstemon, larkspur, mallow, and  Indian paintbrush, to name a few. For birds, it was a good day for woodpecker species, with the burnt areas good for Three-toed and Black-backed woodpeckers. We also had excellent views of a pair of MacGillivray’s Warblers which we watched for several minutes, calling from the low growth along one of the creeks there.
Good birding!John Shortis    

[IBLE] FW: Yampa Valley Crane Festival Registration

In case anyone has interest in this,

‘tis a beautiful best kept secret part of Colorado………. =)

Larry

From: Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition [mailto:coloradocranes=coloradocranes.net@mail122.wdc01.mcdlv.net] On Behalf Of Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 12:00 PM
To: larnold47@cableone.net
Subject: Yampa Valley Crane Festival Registration

Dear Crane Supporter,

Registration for the 2018 Yampa Valley Crane Festival (August 30 – September 2) begins Sunday, July 1 at 8 a.m. MDT. To register and view the full festival schedule, go to www.coloradocranes.org.

Many events for the four-day festival are free and do not require registration. Some events with limited space will require advance registration and a fee. These events are noted in the schedule. Be sure to register early as we expect these events to fill quickly.

Registration is not required for all speaker presentations, films, sketch-a-bird workshop, crane viewing on your own, HawkQuest raptor booth, educational displays, crane yoga, crane story-telling, children activities on the Library Lawn, big sit and nature walk at Yampa River Botanic Park and the Carpenter Ranch Saturday night event (unless you wish to purchase a picnic dinner or take the shuttle).

Registration is required for all guided crane viewing shuttles, birding by boat, guided bird walks, nature-writing workshop, guided nature walk and gondola ride on the Steamboat Ski Mountain, guided “crane and critter” walking tour, HawkQuest live raptor photo shoot, shuttles to the Carpenter Ranch and purchase of a picnic dinner at the Carpenter Ranch event.

Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition, Inc. (CCCC), presenter of the annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival, is dedicated to the conservation and protection of Greater Sandhill Cranes and their habitat in Colorado. When you visit our website www.coloradocranes.org please consider a tax-deductible donation to help fund the annual festival and our on-going educational and conservation programs.

For questions regarding CCCC, festival registration, festival lodging, or the festival itself email us at coloradocranes@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you at this year’s festival.

Sincerely,
Nancy Merrill, President
Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition, Inc.

Mailing Address: 40625 CR 69A Hayden, CO 81639
Phone: 970-276-1933
Email: coloradocranes@gmail.com

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Re: [IBLE] Leucistic or Albino Mallard

Albinism would have a complete lack of pigment and color.

This is a domestic mallard variety. It may be a cross between a wild bird and a Kakhi Campbell. It could very well be one that was purchased as a duckling for the kids and then dumped when it grew up and became a nuisance.

Ken Miracle
chukar28@icloud.com
208-908-9493
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5

> On Jun 29, 2018, at 8:02 AM, Judie jachkr@gmail.com [ible] wrote:
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> [Attachment(s) from Judie included below]
> This is my first attempt to post on this site, so if I am inappropriate, please let me know. We have a “white” mallard in our area. Am wondering how to know if it is albino or Leucistic. These are some pictures of it. I do have more. Thanks for your help
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> Judie
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