Paradise Ridge, Latah Co., sparrows, 6/13/09

Paradise Ridge, photo Sam Hunter

I took a group from the UI Evolution meetings up to Kas's place on the west end of Paradise Ridge. We had good looks at Grasshopper, Clay-colored (pair), and Vesper Sparrows and I heard at least 1 Brewer's Sparrow. The main crowd-pleasers (not all present were keen birders) were Eastern Kingbirds, Bullock's Orioles, the Violet-green Swallows and Mountain Bluebirds around Kas's house, and of course the Palouse wild flowers currently in peak form and great views of the Palouse to the north and west. What a great way to introduce the Palouse to this group of mostly out-of-town visitors! The Mountain Bluebirds near Kas's house were carrying food around (confirms breeding) and the Clay-colored Sparrows have to be strongly suspected of breeding at this point. This would be nice to confirm as there are very few confirmed breeding records for Idaho.

Here is a link to a slideshow of images taken by one of the participants:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shunter/0613_Birding_with_Charles_and_Evolution2009#

Location: Paradise Ridge West
Observation date: 6/13/09
Notes: Evolution mtg field trip to Kas's. A pretty good showing of birds despite breezy conditions and large (~20) suze of group. Clay-colored Sparrow pair were seen well.
Number of species: 34

Ring-necked Pheasant 2
California Quail 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Mourning Dove 5
Western Wood-Pewee 3
Willow Flycatcher 1
Western Kingbird 1
Eastern Kingbird 3
Black-billed Magpie 3
Violet-green Swallow 4
Pygmy Nuthatch X
House Wren 4
Mountain Bluebird 2
American Robin 4
Cedar Waxwing 2
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 2
Spotted Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 4
Clay-colored Sparrow 2
Brewer's Sparrow 1
Vesper Sparrow 2
Grasshopper Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Black-headed Grosbeak 1
Lazuli Bunting 2
Western Meadowlark 3
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Bullock's Oriole 3
House Finch 3
Pine Siskin 4
American Goldfinch 4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com