early spring on the Palouse (birds, bugs, and herps)

I was able to get out this afternoon w/ Tom Besser for hikes at Phillips Farm County Park and at his property on the west end of Moscow Mountain. It was a typical spring day hereabouts - cloudy and cool at times but pleasant when the sun came out. Heading up US 95 north of Moscow I noticed the Loch 95 seasonal ponds was mostly cleared out of the ~250 ducks present yesterday. We had a nice hike at Phillip's (eBird list below) and in addition to birds noted swarming ladybugs, calling Pacific Chorus/Tree Frogs, and silent Columbia Spotted Frogs. Later at the Foothill Rd. lower pond we found a drake Cinnamon Teal, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs among others. We noted and confirmed in Sibley the strong flank markings on the breeding plumage Greater Yellowlegs and lack of the same on the Lesser (in addition to bill differences and overall size this appears to be useful characteristic for separating breeding plumage yellowlegs). A nice variety of species were around Tom's place including a couple Ruffed Grouse flushed by his dog, an impressively close Cooper's Hawk rocketing through his feeders, and a "white belly" immature Bald Eagle heading south over Moscow Mountain.

Phillip's Farm eBird list

Canada Goose  2
Northern Harrier  3     appeared to migrating in a small group
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-naped Sapsucker  1     heard drumming
Northern Flicker  6
Common Raven  2
Black-capped Chickadee  4
Red-breasted Nuthatch  5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
Western Bluebird  2
American Robin  25
European Starling  1
Spotted Towhee  2
Song Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  40
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Western Meadowlark  2
House Finch  5
Red Crossbill  2
Evening Grosbeak  25

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org) 

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, Idaho
46°43′54″ N, 116°59′50″ W
email: chaetura@gmail.com
skype: charles.swift
google voice: 208-991-2473

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, Idaho
46°43′54″ N, 116°59′50″ W
email: chaetura@gmail.com
skype: charles.swift
google voice: 208-991-2473