A (mostly) friendly competition between 2 avid birdwatchers that are also friends/co-workers. Who can observe more bird species in Idaho in 2009? Will they still be friends at year's end? ;-)

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Garden Valley Birding

Howdy everyone!
Just got back from another of our Saturday birding excursions! (but don't worry, this post will be much shorter than our last ones!! :)
We wanted to go for a more subdued day of birding today after a crazy week for the both of us (how long till school's out?) so we decided to head up to Garden Valley.
At a bridge over the river on the way up, we stopped to look for American Dippers, and found 'em! woohoo! a Heidi year bird! (uh oh, that means Heidi is catchin' up!) it was fun for me because this is the first time I've heard them since I really started paying attention to bird calls :) Dippers are sweet!
In Garden Valley we met up with a birding buddy, Spencer Walters, who was awesome enough to show us around today!! We searched for White-headed Woodpeckers, and ended up stopping by Michael Wiegand's house (thanks Michael!) to look for them. While there, we had a fun time hangin' out, and had some torturous 'listens' of the White-head's and a White-breasted Nuthatch. But with an adorable toddler, some goofy dogs, and tons of Red Crossbills around, we certainly weren't bored! :) Finally after a few hours of hanging around, we were able to see a male White-headed Woodpecker on the suet feeder! yay, Lifer!!
Waiting for the woodpecker to show up!
Our awesome hosts Michael & Serena, Heidi, Spencer "The Guide", and one of the dogs :)
The White-headed Woodpecker! he finally showed up!!
Before heading home, we stopped for a quick visit to Ralph and Sheri Foote's house, where we were able to see lots of birds! It was cool to see a single pine tree full of all the colors: yellow, orange, and red Red Crossbills, Cassin's Finches, Goldfinches, and some awesome male Evening Grosbeaks! I'd never had a close view of those guys before, so that was pretty sweet :) thanks guys!
all in all, a fun day with some super fun birders!

Just a few of the Siskins and Crossbills at the Foote's house

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