eBird pledge

Thanks to encouragement from Charles Swift (Moscow, ID birder - and blog follower! - who has pledged a donation to IBO on a 'per eBird checklist we submit' basis), several weeks ago we started submitting checklists from all our birding outings to eBird (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/) to ensure that all the birding we do isn't just for our fun but that the information can be put to use by the folks at Cornell & Audubon (see the eBird website for further info) that are trained in utilizing data collected by citizen scientists. And, we encourage all birders to do the same - it's a cool tool that doesn't take long and, who knows, maybe the info Idaho birders generate will help in bird conservation!

Thanks, Charles, for the encouragement, creativity, and generosity!!

Jay

(and, we should take a moment to also thank the other folks who have already made pledges or donations to Idaho Bird Observatory - thank you!!)
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Below is the mapping tool in eBird showing locations where people have birded in Ada County, Idaho ... just a hint at the utility of eBird.

hurry and vote!

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to post a message reminding you to vote on our 'handicap' poll if you havent already
(it's located on the side of this page)
The poll will close on April 1st, which means this week is your last chance to help decide the fate of this competition!
Do you think 20 species for Heidi's handicap doesnt give poor Jay a chance? or do you think Heidi and her birding skills need all the help they can get? You decide!

On a similar note, remember that April 1st is the day to send us your yearlist totals (current up to the birds you see on 3/31) along with your favorite Idaho sighting so far this year. We already have a few birders' lists posted from last month, but hope to continue to get more and more as the year moves on. So, send 'em in!
You can send your list totals and sightings to me at heidithebirdnerd@yahoo.com

~Heidi

MORE gulls!

It's spring break for BSU this week, so you all know what that means.....

That's right! It was time for Heidi and Jay to head to the dump! :)

(what...that's not what you were thinking?)

I was already questioning my own sanity when I woke up this morning...but my doubts were reinforced when, on his way to work, my dad tactfully asked "um...didn't you already see all the gull species this weekend?" (...oh wait...does my family read this? heehee :) Hi daddy!)

ahhh, the dump! (is that Heidi driving that thing? ;-)

Anyway, this time we decided to try the Hidden Hollow landfill in Boise to see what it would turn up.
We got there around 9 this morning, and there were tons of gulls! There were mostly California's (~1600), but also plenty of Ring-billed's(~500). Interestingly, there were very few Herring gulls compared to Pickles Butte: less than 5 individuals, versus around 30 at pickles.

Within a minute of arriving, we spotted one of the cool gull species: Our friend, the Lesser Black-backed gull! He was out in a large group of gulls hanging out around some puddles. (wow, much easier to find than last time!)
This bird was a 3rd winter, so we aren't sure whether this is the same guy we saw on Saturday or not. But here's some of the pics we got today...what'cha think? is it the same dude?

The Lesser Black-backed gull! is he the same one we photographed on Saturday?

A new sub species? the LLLBBG (long-legged lesser black-backed gull)

Seeing what could possibly be the same LBB gull made us wonder how many of the birds from the Boise dump also travel over to Pickles butte. And if that's the case, it also made us wonder more about why there would be more Herrings at Pickles. hmmm...intriguing, eh?
so, only 4 gull species, including just one crazy migrant (gee, are we spoiled or what?) a pretty darn good trip to the dump!

We stayed at the landfill till around 11 (please note that that was only two hours!!), and then headed to a nearby park. Earlier in the year one of our birder friends, Danette, had reported a Eurasian Wigeon in the ponds there, and Jay and I had looked without success for this bird in February. When we pulled up today, we saw plenty of wigeons, and after a few minutes of scanning we spotted him! He was on the banks of the pond, where it begins to narrow into a sort of canal. He definitely stood out among all the green heads and pinkish sides around him! what a sweet bird! Thanks Danette! :)
and he was a year bird to boot!

The Eurasian Wigeon with his American buddies

Well, that's all for now! stay tuned, as Jay and Heidi are (hopefully!) soon headed off to parts unknown (aka Island Park) on what is sure to be a great adventure!

~Heidi

More gulls and the awe-inspiring Snake River canyon

Earlier in the winter on a visit to the Swan Falls area, I'd mentioned to Heidi that a visit to the Snake River canyon in early spring is very worthwhile for the great views of Prairie Falcons & other raptors flying at eye level. Thus, we'd penciled a late March return to this area on the calendar .... and, although we'd heard both a Canyon Wren & a Rock Wren back in January while looking in vain for Gray-crowned Rosy-finches near Lucky Peak dam, Heidi was itching to get a good look at both species. Thus, it was decided that we'd head towards the canyon. BUT, the gull frenzy that started almost 3 weeks ago (with Cliff's find of that interesting, 1st-winter 'Iceland-like' Gull) had continued in the past week and 1/2 with RL Rowland (another admitted 'gull-a-holic') and other birders finding not one, but two Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Pickle's Butte landfill (the first one was found one the same day that RL was able to see the Iceland Gull adult - not a bad day!). And, neither of us had gotten a chance to look so we both agreed that a quick stop at the dump on the way to the canyon was in order.

Thus, en route to the Snake River canyon, Heidi & I stopped to study gulls at Pickle's Butte (Canyon Co) Saturday morning and ended up staying for 4 hours (yeah, quick stop, huh?!). Many birds left the area not long after we arrived but they kept coming back in and it took a while until we finally located some rarities. A couple times (once we'd been there a couple hours) I wondered if Heidi was getting bored so would ask, "Whad'ya think, should we move on?" to which she'd reply, "I don't know, what if something else good is about to fly in?". Morale of the story (much as this might sound crazy to non-birders): it's hard to pull yourself away from the dump when the gulling is good! Overall there was slightly less diversity than a couple weeks ago but we did succeed in finding 1 of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls (an apparent 3rd-winter bird - lifer for Heidi!) as well as 1 Glaucous-winged Gull (1st-winter), 5 Thayer's (including 1 photographed adult), 30 Herring, and loads of Ring-billed (450) and California (>1500).

Lesser Black-backed Gull (3rd-winter - i.e., not quite full adult; top-center facing left). In the same picture are several adult Ring-billed and California Gulls as well as a 1st-winter Thayer's Gull.

Here's the adult Thayer's Gull stretching its wing (though Thayer's appears to be annual in Idaho, the vast majority have been immature [1st-winter] birds and this is the 2nd adult I've photographed this year!)

We also located an apparent Glaucous-winged x Western hybrid 1st-winter bird ... I still need to study it more but, much as I wanted it to be a pure Western, hybrid was my first instinct and that was Cliff's best guess after looking at my crummy digi-scoped photos (of which one is below).

1st-winter probable hybrid Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (the big, dark dude in back). I'm still getting up to speed on the complex world of gull hybrids and their ID but this bird had a larger bill, different head shape, and chunkier overall appearance than nearby Herring Gulls. Also, although the bird appears dark enough to suggest a Western Gull, it's primaries look dark brown with a pale edge (as opposed to black) which suggests it's not a pure Western. Bumber b/c I've never seen a Western in Idaho but it's the first gull with any 'Western blood' that I've seen in the state so at least I'm headed in the right direction!

From there we headed towards Celebration Park (along the Snake S of Melba) and saw a migrating flock of 9 Long-billed Curlews just a couple miles N of the park (!!) and a female Yellow-headed Blackbird at the feedlot N of the park. At the park, we had great views of singing Rock & Canyon Wrens (lifer views for Heidi), Bushtits (another Heidi lifer!) building a nest, courting Say's Phoebes, tons of Violet-green Swallows, a Lincoln's Sparrow in with White-crowns, and a surprise Caspian Tern (another Heidi lifer!) along the river.

Between Celebration Park & Dedication Point, we enjoyed some very cooperative raptors including an adult Harlan's Red-tail and 2 Ferruginous Hawks. Dedication Point was awesome for close views of Prairie Falcons, Red-tails, & more ... we also saw/heard a calling pair of White-throated Swifts (the 6th life bird for Heidi on the day!).

Heidi & Jay at Dedication Point overlook with the awesome Snake River canyon behind.

View down the Snake River canyon from Dedication Point

View up the Snake River canyon from just above Swans Falls dam

We ended the day searching for recently-returned Sage Sparrows (just above where the road leads down towards Swan Falls dam) and struck out as a storm was on its way in. But, we did enjoy more Say's Phoebes, Prairie Falcons, Turkey Vultures, and Red-tailed & Rough-legged Hawks. Hawk migration (especially Red-tails and some Turkey Vultures) was apparent throughout the day.

A great day that yielded 6 lifers for Heidi, including a rare gull and some fun new arrivals! Oh, and (b/c I had already seen VG Swallow last week in Lewiston) that species pulled Heidi one closer in the fierce competition ;-).

Happy birding,

Jay

Grouse-n-about

Yesterday morning, Jay and I headed out for an exciting early morning adventure to Midvale, ID! We joined up with Dave Hazelton, Bruce Ackerman, and Mike Morrison, along with our special visitors Kenn and Kim Kaufman at the entirely too early hour of 6 AM, to head out in search of Greater Sage-grouse. A busy week and about 4 hours of sleep the night before made both Jay and me pretty tired, but we were looking forward to a fun day. (We were also thankful that daylight savings came early, since that meant our meeting time was at 6 instead of 5!).

We started from Meridian, driving to Midvale and taking the highway through Oregon to get there. Luckily it was dark, so no “list-birding” time was lost in Oregon ;) We did run the risk of seeing some Oregon owls , but we were back on the Idaho side by the time it was light enough to see a Great-Horned fly across the highway in front of us. Since he was driving, Jay didn’t see the bird well enough to ID it, but Kenn and I coulda’ sworn it was an Eastern Screech Owl, and I was just about to jot it down on my year list when Jay said he wouldn’t accept it! He wouldn’t believe either of the very reliable and un-biased witnesses who saw the bird. What’s up with that? :)

Kenn and Heidi: perhaps finding yearbirds without Jay :)

"What do you mean you didn't see the Steller's Eider, Jay? it was right there!"
Steller's Eider and Eastern Screech Owl were only a few of the dozens of birds Jay wouldn't let us add to my list...and just because we were paying better attention than him! (hmm...who do you think Kenn is rooting for in this competition? ;)

Once in Midvale, Dave took us to the spot he had scouted the day before. On the way there, we spotted a flock of Wild Turkeys perched in some trees along the roadside. Not only was it cool because I had not seen Turkeys perched that high before, but they were also one of the species Jay picked up in Moscow. (That’s ONE down NINE to go for Heidi to regain the lead!) We reached one of the spots, and sure enough, there were 5 Greater Sage-grouse (including one female)! LIFER for Kim and I!! I’d seen them in photos and stuff before, but nothing prepares you for how really silly (…er…sexy?) they look. They looked so poofy and soft that I just wanted to squeeze them! (I won’t speak for Kim as to what she wanted to do with them, but as she’s now been famously quoted: “I’m no grouse, but I’m kinda diggin’ it!”) I don’t know about the other car (Dave, Bruce and Mike) but there was sure a lot of giggling going on in ours!

At the next lek Dave brought us to, there were 9 grouse, this time all males, and they were really strutting their stuff! The giggles continued, and cameras clicked away as we watched these guys do their thing.

One of the macho Greater Sage-Grouse at the lek.
This photo taken by Kim Kaufman! (see more of her photos on the Kaufman's blog)

In the background here, and throughout the day, were other boy birds showing off in perhaps the more conventional way. Meadowlarks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewers Blackbirds, and Horned Larks were singing everywhere! While watching the grouse we also saw a couple hundred Snow Geese and Canada Geese, with of course a few Ross’ Geese mixed in. My favorite part of the stop though, was another visitor to the lek. In the same field of view with my first lifer of the day (the sage grouse) was a Say’s Phoebe!! Second Lifer for the day! Hooray! :D

The obligatory "Bird Nerd Salute" photo :)
are these birders confused? or were there just a lot of birds?

The gang enjoying some delicious flan (courtesy of Sue Hazelton) by the lek. Now that's some gourmet birding!
Bruce, Mike, Heidi, Kenn, Kim, and Dave (once again Jay is hiding behind the camera :)

Okay, I just had to add this photo...you're welcome Mike and Bruce :)
mmmm, flannnn...

After our stop at the lek, we parted ways with Dave, Bruce and the Kaufmans, who had to leave to prepare for the GEAS banquet that evening. So Jay, Mike and I headed off on our own to explore the back roads of the area. We searched barns for Barn Owls, and looked around for anything else we might see. We spotted some Western Bluebirds, and saw our first Vesper Sparrow of the year. We also saw some beautiful raptors, including plenty of Red-tailed Hawks, a few Rough-Leggeds, and some Ferruginous hawks, including one bird in some sort of display flight! Very cool!

On the hill out of Midvale we stopped to watch as 2 Red-Tailed adults (1 rufous morph), 1 Golden eagle, and 3 immature Bald Eagles circled overhead! Also, within less than 10 minutes, we had a Prairie Falcon buzz through! How cool!

A short distance up the road from there, at a patch of water called Devil's Elbow we thought we spotted a Eurasian Wigeon which turned out to be a hybrid (are we allowed to count it as a ‘half-bird’ and combine it with our hybrid sapsucker for our list?) We also spotted other waterfowl including Tundra Swans, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Gadwall, Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canada Geese, C. Goldeneye, and a group of male Ring-necked ducks hanging around with one female Canvasback.

With an hour’s drive back to Boise ahead of us and the GEAS banquet coming up at 6, we nixed our plans to once again visit the dump and made a dash for home. We all were ready for a nap after our early morning, but didn’t have much success with that!

I have to throw in a note here that I would have had a much easier time with my nap, but had to go take care of a ‘coned’ bulldog I’m babysitting this weekend…did you know that when a dog is scratching one of those plastic cones, it can get kinda loud? :) Ironically, as I type this, the accused nap-robber is snoring away on my lap! and now for your viewing pleasure: poor Bubba, the cone headed doggy

~Heidi

Uh-oh ....

I should have posted this a couple days ago but between getting ready for my talk Wed and attending talks/networking with many biologists at the TWS meetings, I didn't have time ... sorry for keeping Heidi (& readers) in suspense!!

I never thought I could be so gleeful at the sight of an exotic (non-native) species like a Gray Partridge (sometimes known as 'Huns' or Hungarian Partridge) ... After all, as anyone's who birded with me knows, I have a great disdain for non-native species and the impacts they can have on native birds - and I can get downright whiny if I see too many non-natives (such as the growing number of Eurasian Collared-doves along the Snake River Plain in SW Idaho - and elsewhere - that we've been seeing in #s on virtually every birding trip this year). I should say that it's not the birds' fault and I don't blame them - I'm just not happy that, for example, the European Starling is now the most abundant bird in the US. ... Then why, you might ask, would I have been so pleased to see a group of 6 Gray Partidge in an agricultural field just S of Moscow (the destination for the TWS conference) on Monday afternoon? Because, after almost 2 months of playing catch-up in this year-list competition (I was 'out-of-bounds' in Venezuela until Jan 17) and after a fly-over Clark's Nutcracker along Hwy 55 earlier in the day, these Gray Partridge vaulted me into my first lead over the upstart challenger (otherwise known as Heidi) in the year list competition. "Woo-hoo!!", I thought to myself as my two Idaho Fish & Game traveling companions continued along completely unaware of this momentous event ....

As it turns out, this was just the start & Heidi now has some work to do to get even! On Tuesday morning, I was picked up at my hotel by the avid birder & photographer Terry Gray and another area birder, Diana Jones, for an AM of birding before I returned to my hotel (b/c I still had to practice the talk that I was invited here for ... but I couldn't miss this opportunity to get ahead, right?) around noon. I had met Terry briefly a couple summers ago and both he & Diana were great company and excited to be helping me find year birds as well as just enjoying a great winter day's birding.

March 10 birding team: Diana, Terry, and Jay ... Diana and Terry were a lot of fun and very enthusiastic birding partners!

We explored some areas E & NE of Moscow - including feeders and other birding areas that Terry is very familiar with. We saw a great bunch of very active birds - probably especially active b/c of the snowfall the night before - including an adult Northern Goshawk hunting California Quail (an exotic species - guess who I was rooting for!), loads of Varied Thrushes (at least 30 during the morning including 12 in one area!), and good numbers of finches, chickadees, and nuthatches.

Varied Thrush male - one of many seen throughout the AM (photo by Terry Gray)

One of many very cooperative, and sometimes vocal, Pygmy Nuthatches that we saw on Tuesday (photo by Terry Gray)

In all, Terry and Diana helped me find 6 'year-birds' during the morning, including Wild Turkey, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch (lots!), White-breasted Nuthatch, Evening Grosbeak, and Pine Grosbeak. Not a bad morning - and the snowy scenery was great! I should note that I'm sure Terry and Diana would be glad to show some of these same birds to Heidi ... but maybe for a price!

But, much as I was gleeful about the partridges, excited to see all the birds on Tuesday AM and finally be in the lead, (beware - Heidi might falsely claim that this is just a sympathy ploy on my part!) I did wish that Heidi could have been along and enjoyed the birds as well - especially because several species are would-be (and much desired - see her wishlist on the 'stats' link) 'life birds' for her and she would have been at least as excited as I was to see/hear them. She'll see them soon enough .... it just might take her a little while to catch up!!!

Jay

The Suspense is Killin' Me!

Jay has just hit the road, and is headed for Moscow to speak at a meeting of the Idaho Chapter of The Wildlife Society (http://www.ictws.org/meeting.php).

Uh-oh!! This means a chance for Jay to pick up some of those 'mountain birds' without me!
I'm shakin' in my boots!

cross your fingers guys! Heidi's fate hangs in the balance! ;)

~(a very nervous) Heidi