I believe a flock of about 22 red crossbills came through this afternoon. I didn’t see most of them up close but heard the kip type call in the top of conifers and then as the flock flew away. One with finch shape was on wire close to house.
Nancy miller
Viola ID
Sent from my iPhone
I was interested to see Brian’s post this morning on the flocks moving through the sage/grassland.
Yesterday when wet snow and rain was falling intermittently , I saw 3 Pink-sided Juncos and one Yellow-rumped warbler behind our house feeding on the ground in the cover of tall grass in a remnant wood pile. They then all stopped for a while and appeared to be resting but I could see their bills open and close so suspect they were making soft calls. The day before flocks of yellow-rumps, juncos and sparrows were feeding and moving through the aspen stands in our neighborhood. The aspens are just starting to turn now in the valley..very late this year. Still plenty of berries on the serviceberry, chokecherry and Hawthorne bushes. This morning a few robins, Cassin’s finch and pine siskin hanging out in the front yard. Plus one magpie.
Susan, Packsaddle Estates
I was at the Portneuf Wellness Complex (Chubbuck) Saturday morning and saw
a distant flock of large birds. I immediately thought Canada goose, but
when I got my binoculars on them I knew right away that the flock formation
was all wrong for this species. The birds were not in any version of a V,
more like a broad U with multiple tendrils of varying lengths. They then
started molding into 2 large condensed flocks and started to behave like a
starling murmuration – the boiling, rolling movement of many birds acting
as one when a predator is nearby.
I immediately began to worry that I would get a good enough look at the
birds to identify them. They were far too large to be starlings. They
were fortunately were drifting my way. It appeared to be about 700-1000
birds, sometimes splitting into 2 large flocks and a third small one.
Sometimes all gathering in one flock.
I was very fortunate that the birds came in directly over my head and I was
able to ID them as Franklin’s gulls. I am pretty new to the west. Is this
unusual for this species? They continued this behavior until they drifted
out of sight to the west. I looked around for something like a peregrine
to cause this behavior, but the closest thing I saw to a predator near them
was an osprey.
I was able to get pictures and will get a more accurate count for my eBird
checklist.
Pretty neat!
Steven F. Kahl
Deputy Project Leader
Southeast Idaho National Wildlife Refuge Complex
4425 Burley Dr., Ste. A
Chubbuck, ID 83202
P (208) 237-6615 ext 112
F (208) 237-8213
I tried to send the message below after noon today (Sunday), right after getting the photos loaded to my computer, but I just now found it still in my Outbox – it didn’t send for some reason. So, I will limit the email to one photo and see if it fares better this time…sorry for the delay…
===========
This morning, between 11:30-12:00, I decided to check out a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers that were coming through my yard, and then noticed one in my rock garden that was constantly flicking it’s tail, and spending more of it’s time near the ground. After getting my binoculars on it, I realized it was a Palm Warbler, so I ran and got my camera. Attached are a few shots. Sorry they aren’t better. The bird was moving around a lot, and I was just trying to capture something quick to prove what I was seeing. Anyway, during my photo-shoot, the flock disappeared and I haven’t seen them since, but it would be a good bet that they will move through Boise or Emmett. Fyi…Jonathan Barnett, Horseshoe Bend
Sent from Mail
This AM’s birding started with a Hermit Thrush, its rusty tail evident. A handful of Yellow-rumped Warblers were working through the trees & a RB Nuthatch was calling. When I got to our sagebrush/rabbitbush area, sparrows erupted from ground level in every direction. A conservative count of 200 DE Juncos (Oregons), 100 White-crowned Sparrows with one lone White-throated Sparrow, 2 Lincoln’s, a couple of Chipping Sparrows & 2-3 Brewer’s were present.
30 minutes later, a lower temp & scattered showers in the same area, found only the juncos remaining.. A fast-moving storm system to the north must have been pushing the sparrows, fast & furious, ahead of its arrival. Also, I had 2 or 3 House Wrens push through, which is a late date for my home. There were a couple of Spotted Towhees working with the sparrows & a few Towhees will stay as winter residents.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
Warblers are rapidly tapering. I’ve seen one each Wilson’s & MacGillivray’s yesterday, the rest have been Yellow-rumpeds (Audubon’s). White-crowned Sparrows were common yesterday & just about absent today, being replaced by DE Juncos. Still a few RB Nuthatches about. Best bird today was a Swainson’s Thrush, but it’s appearance heralds the beginning of the end of fall migration, at least in my immediate area.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your experiences and sightings with us. Your
emails were enthusiastic and encouraging. It was really fun seeing birds
from your point of view even though I wasn’t free to go see them for
myself. Safe travels. It’s clear you’ll enjoy birding wherever you go.
Diann Stone
Boise Depot Bench
On Sep 29, 2017 7:01 PM, “damnempid damnempid@yahoo.com [ible]” < ible-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>
> Greetings, Birders!
>
> We crossed the Idaho border into Nevada today so my opportunities to add
> more birds to my Idaho list have ended. We had a grand time exploring and
> birding, primarily in Custer County, and can highly recommend the area for
> birders and nature enthusiasts. For you folks that always travel the major
> freeways north-south through the state, might I recommend you try Hwy 93 on
> your next trip, especially through Custer County.
>
> We don’t plan to return anytime soon so I will be unsubscribing from the
> listserv. Thanks for all the great birding info over the past five months!
>
> Good birding,
> Wendy McCrady
>
>
Greetings, Birders!
We crossed the Idaho border into Nevada today so my opportunities to add more birds to my Idaho list have ended. We had a grand time exploring and birding, primarily in Custer County, and can highly recommend the area for birders and nature enthusiasts. For you folks that always travel the major freeways north-south through the state, might I recommend you try Hwy 93 on your next trip, especially through Custer County.
We don’t plan to return anytime soon so I will be unsubscribing from the listserv. Thanks for all the great birding info over the past five months!
Good birding,Wendy McCrady
They were indeed! Just as we were heading out on our bike ride. Bird #8 out of my daily 30 (and not seen since last spring).
Tom McCabe, Boise
From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jflyons@gmail.com [ible]
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2017 10:41 AM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] A fine kettle of Turkey Vultures – over Boise’s North End
This morning (9/27/17) about 10:15 I spotted a few soaring birds, leading up to a gathering of about 12, soaring over Boise’s North End. They did the circling-at-different-levels thing, then before I could get to my good camera, they had headed south, stringing out in something more like single file. The iPhone out-the-upstairs-window was the shot that will have to do, and thinking back they may have been kettling directly over Tom McCabe’s house!
See link below – hummingbirds rock!
But so do magpies – we had one go off in the dark recently, 0600 hrs. Way better than any alarm clock!
Larry
From: obol-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:obol-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of 5hats@peak.org
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2017 1:58 PM
To: obol
Subject: [obol] Fwd: Bamboozled hummingbird
Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything quite like this before..
Darrel
_____
From: “Tina”>
To: “Darrel “>
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2017 1:48:09 PM
Subject: Bamboozled hummingbird
This is great.
Blessings,
Tina