Thanks for the report, Bill. Guess I’ll put a feeder out now. Given the vagaries of weather lately, was tentatively waiting for first of May. My first spring arrivals are usually Black-chinneds. So, will see when one shows up.
First hummer just now, Broad Tail. Feeders have been up three or so days. We also have had Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and Cassins Finches, with their baseball caps.
White-crowned Sparrows arrived this past week in good numbers & have been present daily around the feeder, feeding on scattered black-oil sunflower seeds. One of my faves came into the feeder yesterday, 2 pairs of male & female Cassin’s Finches. Always a spring treat to see.
Today, showed the best bird of the weekend. A Long-billed Curlew near a friend’s grassy pasture. Before all the area farms became laser-leveled & changed to pivots from flood irrigation, the Long-billeds were regular spring arrivals, and stayed well into summer. Now, a rare treat! This one was working a grassy depression along an old fence line.
I live in one of the subdivisions (the smallest one, Eaglecrest) just across the road from the townhomes and bike park. In which neighborhood / subdivision did you see them?
There has been a flock of red crossbill in the pine trees in the neighborhood adjacent to Eagle bike park. Will be interesting to see how long the flock hangs around.
There is or was a dirt road on the west side adjacent the Car Auction Lot; is this still accessible or off limits?
It’s always necessary to curtail trespassing and not lose birding locations because of bad behavior on the part of one renegade birder. Because we all miss the Kuna Sewer Ponds.
Wanted to pass on some access information for Blue Lakes Sewage ponds off of Gowen Road.
The area is open for birding but the access is only to be on foot. The dirt road that runs on the east side of the ponds looks to be open to driving but is not. They are fine with the area being birded from that dirt road but on foot only. You can park along the side of the paved road leading up to the dirt road that can be entered from the trailer court neighborhood. There are two posts (concrete?) you can walk between. Also, if there is ever an open chain-link gate at any of the ponds, it is not ok to go inside the chain-link.
If the next few people that visit could note the “walk-in access only” on their ebird checklist notes it would be helpful in spreading the word.
I’m not a fan of growth or gravel quarries enroaching upon prime wildlife habitat, but from my own experience trying to have gravel delivered to my house, many of the quarries are tapped out because of the huge amount of development happening. 10 years ago I had a dump truck of gravel delivered to my house in the Boise foothills, it cost $80 for 10 yards delivered and it came from the Boise area. More recently I called to order another truckload, it was $375, and they were hauling it out of Middleton, telling me they were no longer providing gravel from the local pits. Every time I head west to the freeway, passing through Star and Middleton, another old farm or pasture has turned into a subdivision. 🙁
