Maybe a late reply to Tom’s note is better than no reply???

We’ve been tracking high counts of rookery nesters thereabouts (west Boise
WTP) during spring/summer since our move from W CO, and here are our data:

2013 – 76 DCCO / 40 GBHE

2014 – 118/54

2015 92/61

2016 – 50/46

2017 – 0/0 – Bald Eagle showed up for nesting, due to development of new
housing areas on Eagle Island, and removal of historic BAEA nesting site
thereon (photo-documented per a trusted correspondent), and noting our eBird
entries.

2018 to date – 0/0

Data!!!

2017 afforded limited access due to flooding and greenbelt closures, but
whenever we could sneak a peek, we peeked…

Note that GBHE attempted occupation of that rookery in both 2017 and 2018,
but short-lived were they, as BAEA kept showing up, eh?!!

FWIW,

LA

From: ible@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ‘Tom
McCabe’ tmccabe9@cableone.net [ible]
Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2018 8:49 PM
To: ible@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] An unintended long ride

When I got to Remington St. today, the infield pond at Les Bois was pretty
much empty (there was a RT Hawk in a tree right above it), and I only had 28
birds. Then, when I got to my usual turnaround spot, there were a number of
people there, so I just kept going.

I didn’t get bird 29 (Cal. Quail) until the first dredge pond-miles past my
usual turnaround– and bird 30 (RN Duck) was on the next to last pond. But
along the way I saw 8 RT Hawks before I got to Laguna Pointe (my ultimate
turnaround), and another 4-5 on the way back. And lots of different plumage
variations. My impression was that they were generally in pairs, especially
the last 2 who were sitting side by side on a branch.

Bird 35 was a Bald Eagle sitting next to a very large nest in the middle of
the Cormorant/Heron rookery. I had been told that the rookery had to move
last year because the Bald Eagles decided to nest in the middle of their
turf, but I had not seen it myself.

I also saw a Black-billed Magpie carrying nest material in its beak, and
when I caught up with it, the bird was doing some home improvement on a
nest. And a pair of C. Ravens were perched together near 49th St. in Garden
City.

I don’t know the “normal” nesting times for all these birds, but it appears
that the warm weather has some birds at least thinking of “making whoopee.”

Final tally was 38 birds in 23 miles and I was glad to get home.

Tom McCabe, Boise