[IBLE] Custer County Big Day, 5/13/17

Thx Kathy! =)

I just uncovered last year’s list for Elmore County, when on 14 May 2016 we tallied 107 species over 11.5 hrs and 97 miles

I’m fairly certain Chuck Trost has tallied big day lists that smoke these numbers, but I don’t have details in front of me… Ouch, I should have kept notes on that! Maybe he’ll chime in?

Larry

From: Kathleen Lopez [mailto:kathylopez80@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2017 8:13 AM
To: Larry Arnold
Cc: damnempid; IBLE To Post
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Custer County Big Day, 5/13/17

Impressive lists Larry & Wendy!

Kathy Lopez

Nampa

On May 17, 2017, at 7:23 AM, ‘Larry Arnold’ larnold47@cableone.net [ible] <ible-noreply@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Impressive list, Wendy!

Saturday was a driving day for us (in a blizzard while crossing Caribou County, low temp was 22F), so Missy and I did our Bear Lake County “little big day” on Sunday, and tallied 101 species during ten hours of roaming 68 miles.

Larry

From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of damnempid damnempid@yahoo.com [ible]
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2017 11:31 PM
To: IBLE To Post
Subject: [IBLE] Custer County Big Day, 5/13/17

I also participated in eBird’s Global Big Day on Saturday. I wanted to improve on the 13 species reported for Custer County during last year’s Big Day, even though I’ve only been in Idaho for a month. I came up with a game plan for Saturday to try to maximize sightings by going to as many of the places I’ve explored in Custer County as possible.

I spent 17 long and cold hours in the field, covering a variety of habitats from Mackay Reservoir to Pennal Gulch, including a short ways up the Mt. Borah trail, Chilly Slough, and Bar-D Reservoir. On Hwy 75, I visited Land of the Yankee Fork State Park and the Bayhorse Recreation Site.

Two species I see regularly eluded me on Saturday: Bald Eagle and Lewis’s Woodpecker. I’d also hoped for a calling Virginia Rail but they were silent until Sunday. However, as the sole participant in the county, I’m pleased with what I did find and the fact that I moved Custer County up to third position in Idaho for this year’s Big Day.

I’m rather surprised to see that I apparently had the most sightings for the day at 106 species, one of which is yet to be approved*. My Big Day species list is below. The 21 checklists I submitted can be viewed at <ebird.org/ebird/subnational2/US-ID-037?yr=BIGDAY_2017a> ebird.org/ebird/subnational2/US-ID-037?yr=BIGDAY_2017a.

Good birding,

Wendy McCrady

Challis, ID

Custer County Big Day 5/13/17

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Green-winged Teal

Canvasback

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Wild Turkey

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Clark’s Grebe

American Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Golden Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Sora

American Coot

Sandhill Crane

Killdeer

Long-billed Dowitcher

Wilson’s Snipe

Wilson’s Phalarope

Spotted Sandpiper

Willet

Franklin’s Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Short-eared Owl

Common Poorwill

White-throated Swift

Belted Kingfisher

Red-naped Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

American Kestrel

Prairie Falcon

Western Wood-Pewee

*Hammond’s Flycatcher

Dusky Flycatcher

Say’s Phoebe

Western Kingbird

Gray Jay

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Bank Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Rock Wren

House Wren

Marsh Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Mountain Bluebird

Townsend’s Solitaire

American Robin

Sage Thrasher

European Starling

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer’s Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

White-crowned Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Western Tanager

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Finch

Cassin’s Finch

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow