On my daily bike ride, I go up 24th St. in the North End, hoping to find the resident flock of W. Turkeys. I didn’t encounter them today, but on the way back down 24th, I heard an unfamiliar call. I started to head
east on Heron when I saw 3 gray birds running along the ground. My initial reaction was that they were some kind of quail. They disappeared under a trailer, and I stopped in the street and activated Merlin. The unfamiliar call was still coming from somewhere
nearby, so I waited to see Merlin’s opinion. I was quite surprised when it said Gray Partridge. The call continued, but the 3 birds never showed themselves again. From what I saw, they were consistent with a Gray Partridge, but other than color and behavior,
I didn’t see any field marks.
Needless to say, I will be looking for them (and the turkeys) tomorrow.
Read that same article, Bill. Haven’t seen nor heard any Sandhills flying over yet, my way. And, haven’t headed to Camas to look. Just finished a long walk back in our woods & along the river. A few flyovers by Canada Geese, couple of Bald Eagles, but otherwise unusually quiet.
Best birding event was an ongoing, repetitive 2-note “conversation” I carried on for over 5 minutes with a Townsend’s Solitaire located at the tip-top of a cottonwood. The Solitaire wasn’t disturbed in the least. Always amazed at how a Solitaire can project its calls in 3 or 4 different directions from a single location!
I saw an article by Bill Scheiss about a thousand far northern Sandhills staging by Camas and Market Lake. Interesting I didn’t realize they staged nearby. Are they still there? Anyone go look?
Timing and locations to view. Today would have been day to go with weather deteriorating per forecast.
A couple of Fall arrivals this weekend: Pine Siskins & a White-throated Sparrow.
Plus, more small columns of Red-tailed Hawks overhead.
And, a Sharp-shinned Hawk has kept House Finches away from the platform feeder for a 2nd day now. I noticed yesterday afternoon the only visitors coming into the feeder were all BC Chickadees. And, most were giving alarm “chatters”. Plus, all the DE Juncos were gone. Toward evening, House Finches returned &, suddenly, there was the streaking missile flight of a bird with a screeching whistling through its feathers as it pulled up suddenly at the feeder! A Sharp-shinned Hawk attack…unsuccessful. This morning, it must have had better luck, as I found a small pile of Junco feathers under a spruce tree in the yard. And, once again, other than Chickadees, feeder activity was quiet.
Looks like our amazing Fall is about to move more toward Winter conditions, as the week progresses. But, what a mild & colorful Fall it has been!
Over the years, I have advertised vacant winter raptor survey routes in Idaho on IBLE. In one week we are about to embark on our 21st season of surveys for the Winter Raptor Survey Project sponsored by the East Cascades Bird Alliance (formerly Audubon Society). Surveys will be conducted on 580+ survey routes covering more than 34,000 miles of transects throughout all of ID, OR, and WA, through the northern tier of CA and UT, and throughout western MT. More than 470 primary volunteers will do once a month surveys from December through February, with additional options to survey in November and March.
I would like you to know that the following survey routes, with their mileage lengths, are still available for volunteers to be assigned to this winter :
Winchester 73 Craigmont – Mohler. 60 Nez Perce 71 Troy – Deary 78 Churchill – Oakley 68 Dietrich 63 Richfield 44 Heyburn 41 Acequia. 39 Rupert North 69 Burley East – Lake Walcott 67 Burley SW 51
The fact that we have 153 routes throughout Idaho and that we only need these 12 routes to fill the entire state for this project says volumes regarding the dedication that Idaho volunteers in this project put forth 🙂
To participate, I ask that our volunteers commit to one survey per month during the primary survey period from December through February. Volunteers can select survey dates each month to dovetail with their own life schedules. November and March are also available for surveying but these are optional months as they do contain migrational activity and this is a wintering project. You should have at least a pair of binoculars to help you find and ID the birds, spotting scopes are encouraged but not mandatory.
If this sounds like something that you would like to do, I encourage you to email me soon so that you can hopefully cover the route(s) of your choice, I will necessarily fill these on a first come first served basis. If you make that decision, I will provide additional information and instruction to get you properly prepared for what you will be doing on these surveys. This is a fun way to enjoy winter birding while at the same time collecting valuable population data for this wonderful family of birds, I hope that you will join us this winter! :). Thank you,
Jeff Fleischer Project Developer / Coordinator Winter Raptor Survey Project East Cascades Bird Alliance (formerly Audubon Society) Bend, OR
Since I see RT Hawks year-round, guess I just hadn’t given it much thought & assumed they stay within a local area. Will see both Rough-legged & Red-tailed Hawks in winter, as well. And, as noted, oftentimes the Rough-leggeds will noticeably outnumber the Red-taileds. But, had never really put 2 & 2 together, to think that a number of Red-taileds had simply left for milder climates. Until today, when watching small kettles of Red-tailed Hawks soaring overhead. Fascinating thing about nature & birds, specifically…always something new to learn.
In Valley Cointy the RTHWs tend to migrate out in winter, replaced by rough-legged hawks, which stay until snow has started to open up in March or so. That said, some red-tails do winter here.
Got up early this AM, started fire in the woodstove, ground & made my coffee & took a long walk along the Snake River. Saw my Bald Eagle couple perched in their favorite riverside snag. Heard Townsend’s Solitaires calling & DE Juncos are numerous. Common Ravens are sure boisterous this morning!
Now, on back deck & had an observation I haven’t paid that much attention to in the past. Have seen 4 small groups of Red-tailed Hawks (8-12 birds each) in flight overhead, headed South. Looked it up & RT Hawks are classed as “partial migrants” mainly in the Fall & Spring. I had just assumed they all stayed in an area year-round. Indeed, some do remain year-round, but others also migrate. With the explosion of mice & vole numbers we had this summer, must have been a good year for the Red-tails!
Now, given the last post, hoping some of Pocatello’s Evening Grosbeaks find their way north to my place! My sunflower seeds are ready in the feeder.
I finally heard from.enforcement F.G THEY SAID VERY BUSY HUNTING SEASON THEY SAID CALL POACHING # 800 6325999. SHOULD BE SOMEONE WHO SEEN THE DEAD GREBE WHICH I DIDN’T ITS. THE BEST I COULD DO
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