Moscow, 5/14/09, big migrant movement, esp. Chipping Sparrows

Hi All -

Lots of migrants moving through Moscow this morning stalled out presumably by this strong front after favorable migration conditions overnight (and birds bottled up to our south). I had 34 species in an hour this morning in a couple blocks around my house (complete list below) w/ several new arrivals such Wilson's and MacGillivray's Warbler.

Especially evident this morning was a large number of Chipping Sparrows including a *huge* flock in the Heritage Grove in front of the UI Administration conservatively estimated at 250. I also had 60+ near my house and another ~80 in the Shattuck Arboretum. Also in the Shattuck were 3 more Hermit Thrushes, a Lincoln's Sparrow, and a smattering of other migrants.

I expect this wind may drop some shorebird as well. I'd be getting out to sheltered locations and shorebird spots to see what's around (just wish I could be out all morning!).

Charles.

Location:     Moscow - East Side (My Home)
Observation date:     5/14/09
Notes:     Great movement of migrants this morning. House Wrens (2) were new yard birds (somewhat amazingly). Hermit Thrushes were singing and 1 gave interesting towhee-like (zwhee) call and chuk notes.
Number of species:     34

Rock Pigeon     3
Mourning Dove     2
Black-chinned Hummingbird     1
Rufous Hummingbird     2
Downy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     4
Hammond's Flycatcher     4
Dusky Flycatcher     2
Cassin's Vireo     1
Warbling Vireo     1
American Crow     4
Black-capped Chickadee     1
Red-breasted Nuthatch     2
House Wren     4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     7
Hermit Thrush     2
American Robin     8
European Starling     15
Orange-crowned Warbler     1
Yellow-rumped Warbler     1
Townsend's Warbler     4
MacGillivray's Warbler     2
Wilson's Warbler     3
Western Tanager     4
Chipping Sparrow     60
White-crowned Sparrow     2
Black-headed Grosbeak     2
Lazuli Bunting     1
Brown-headed Cowbird     2
Cassin's Finch     1
House Finch     8
Pine Siskin     3
American Goldfinch     1
House Sparrow     5

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow Lewis's Woodpecker, etc., 5/13/09

Hi All -

I had a Lewis's Woodpecker in one of the large Maple trees around my yard this yard this morning. Unfortunately when I ran into the house for the camera it disappeared. This is the second for my yard, also had one down the street in 2006. I think the Hoff's (a couple blocks away) get them from time to time in spring and they've showed up on campus before. Always nice to see.

[Another showed up in the yard on 5/22 and this time I had the camera at the ready and was able to get this image.]

Not much else in the way of migrants except 1 each Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers (both vocalizing), 1 each Cassin's and Warbling Vireos, and a Townsend's Warbler singing somewhere nearby. A Rufous Humminbird has been in the lilacs since yesterday - attracted probably by the blooming Oregon Grape. I put a couple feeders up yesterday and saw him at it in the evening.

thanks, Charles.
--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: eBird Report - Wakodahatchee Wetlands , 5/6/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: Thu, May 7, 2009 at 6:12 PM
Subject: eBird Report - Wakodahatchee Wetlands , 5/6/09
To: chaetura@gmail.com




Location:     Wakodahatchee Wetlands
Observation date:     5/6/09
Notes:     With Sam Hunter, Tshering Tsherpa, Deb, and Iris. A nice walk around the wetlands - first visit for me. Hot (mid 80's) but good cloud cover and nice breeze plus low humidity made it reasonable. Loads of birds - most Anhingas I've seen in one place! Only sort of miss was Little Ble Heron (where are they - nesting??) and generally low numbers of herons except for the few that were nesting there. The fairly low number of species made up by the high quality including a couple Least Bitterns and Purple Gallinules.
Number of species:     33

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck     5
Mottled Duck     2
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Anhinga     120     on nest w/ young
Least Bittern     2
Great Blue Heron     15     on nest w/ young
Great Egret     5     on nest
Snowy Egret     1
Tricolored Heron     25     on nest w/ downy young
Cattle Egret     5     on nest
Green Heron     5
White Ibis     7
Glossy Ibis     3
Black Vulture     1
Turkey Vulture     5
Osprey     1
Cooper's Hawk     1
Purple Gallinule     2
Common Moorhen     70     many young including some downy young
Black-necked Stilt     4
Least Tern     2
Eurasian Collared-Dove     25
White-winged Dove     1
Mourning Dove     2
Chimney Swift     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Blue Jay     1
Fish Crow     10
Purple Martin     2
Northern Mockingbird     2
Northern Cardinal     1
Red-winged Blackbird     20
Boat-tailed Grackle     80

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow birds, 4/30/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Subject: Moscow birds, 4/30/09
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

Not much going on migrant-wise in Moscow as it's been most of April. The UI Arboreta were fairly quiet today as they've been most days that I visited the past few weeks - just a few kinglets of both species, WC Sparrows, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler or 2. I did have a couple singing Nashville Warblers on the way in to work this morning and have had a few Cassin's Vireos, RC Kinglets, and YR Warblers around my house fairly regularly in the past couple of weeks.

This morning I had a flock of some 25 Red Crossbills in my yard which was pretty exciting. They were initially picking at buds on Maple and Apple trees and then later coming in to the feeders. Also w/ the crossbills at the feeders was at least 1 Cassin's Finches, a siskin, and a number of goldfinches, not to mention the ever-present House Finches - a very finchy morning at our place. Red Crossbills are pretty regular fly overs here but they don't often stop in the yard and have only visited the feeders a few times while we've lived in Moscow. I was able to stufy the crossbills pretty carefully and there were no juveniles w/ female types out numbering males. The adult (or near adult) males varied in intesnsity of red and some had yellow in a few places. My early morning yard surveys are paying off!

Good bird'n,

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow yard birds and eBird import tool

Hi All -

I had a Lincoln's Sparrow in my backyard lilac hedge this morning and it was still skulking around just a few minutes ago when I stepped out the back door. I put some bird seed down a few days ago so perhaps that is keeping it around. It's not the first for my yard but it's been quite a while so was nice to see (and I never get tired of seeing Lincoln's Sparrows).

Not coincidentally I started doing 5-15 minute morning bird surveys (species list below) a few weeks ago - it's a nice way to start the day. I'm recording all birds seen or heard from right around the yard and recording them in an excel spread sheet. Then every couple weeks I will import them into eBird using the import tool. It's much easier and quicker than submitting a checklist to eBird. I'm also doing this for some of the water spots around Moscow that I check somewhat regularly keeping those data in a separate excel file. (This is also a good way to import sightings from Avisys or other listing programs.) Complete instructions and record formats are on the eBird web site here: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/using-the-ebird-data-import-tool

good bird'n,
Charles.


birds species seen/heard on morning bird surveys near my east Moscow yard since 4/20/09

Canada Goose

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Ring-necked Pheasant

California Quail

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Common Raven

American Crow

Varied Thrush

American Robin

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Cassin's Vireo

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

House Finch

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch

Pine Grosbeak

Red Crossbill

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Sparrow

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow birds, 4/20/09

 
First off I had a single Pine Grosbeak calling and then flying over my house this morning around 0700 on the east side of Moscow.

Later in the morning I took a hike across campus through the old arboretum, the new arboretum/botanical gardens, down to the Sand Rd. wetlands at the south end of the arb and then back to my office. It was about 65 F by 10:30 and on warm days like this birding can be kind of slow on campus.

Out of about 25 species total I only had a handful of migrants - Ruby-crowned Kinglet (6), Golden-crowned Kinglet (2) and a couple White-crowned Sparrows (and another small flock of WCSP on the way into work this AM). I also had a local FOY Barn Swallow along Sand Rd. that is perhaps a few days earlier than normal up here at 2500'. Also of interest a Say's Phoebe on Sand Rd., a snipe calling in the wetlands, a coot eating the rapidly growing aquatic veg. in the upper arboretum pond, and a single light morph Swainson's Hawk cruising around the general area. I was hoping for a hummingbird but there are no trees or shrubs blooming in the arboretum yet.

I've seen very few reports of the usual mid-April neo-trpoical migrants so far - Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Nashville Warbler, Cassin's Vireo, etc. Are they just passing through quickly w/ the fair weather??

thanks,
Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: eBird Report - Moscow - East City Area (centered on E. City Park) , 4/12/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Moscow - East City Area (centered on E. City Park) , 4/12/09
To: chaetura@gmail.com




Location:     Moscow - East City Area (centered on E. City Park)
Observation date:     4/12/09
Notes:     AM walk w/ Sarah de la Rue around the Ft. Russel and over to Seventh in search of finches etc. Pine Grosbeak was at E. City Park, GH Owl at Moore & Homestead, a few migrants detected.
Number of species:     21

Ring-necked Pheasant     3
California Quail     6
Eurasian Collared-Dove     3
Mourning Dove     3
Great Horned Owl     1
Northern Flicker     6
American Crow     10
Black-capped Chickadee     5
Red-breasted Nuthatch     2
Golden-crowned Kinglet     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     2
American Robin     30
European Starling     20
Yellow-rumped Warbler     1
Song Sparrow     1
Dark-eyed Junco     5
Pine Grosbeak     1
House Finch     30
Red Crossbill     5
Pine Siskin     20
House Sparrow     X

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: crossbill vocalizations

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Subject: crossbill vocalizations
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

I tracked down a Red Crossbill near my house  this morning which I initially thought might be a White-winged giving a series of notes (essentially a song I'd say) including some chet-chet notes . In retrospect it was a typical Red Crossbill "song" but the interspersed call notes were more subdued than the typical sharp, high jip notes of Red Crossbills. It was a first year male so perhaps this had something to do with it but I suppose one should be careful with anything that sounds like a jip-jip (or chip-chip, chet-chet, etc.), subdued or otherwise. I'm sure in the past I've always erred on the side of assuming any crossbill like call was most likely a Red Crossbill but have become a bit complacent this early spring with the White-winged Crossbill invasion.

In any case I'm feeling less confident about some of the birds I've been hearing since March that I'd thought were White-winged (although I don't doubt there were (are?) some still around since the January-February time frame). The White-winged Crossbill flocks give a distinctive harsh chatter (described as static by some and similar to redpoll flock chatter). It's the individual fly-over birds that seem to be more problematic and I haven't quite nailed down the "cheit-cheit-cheit " call described below.

Here is how BNA descirbes White-winged Crossbill calls:
"One, a distinctive call often given in flight, described as "a very dry, rapid chut-chut-chut-chut " (Russell 1976), similar to the chatter of redpolls. Another flight call "a nasal, querulous cheit-cheit-cheit " (Russell 1976). Distinctive alarm calls made when disturbed; one described as a rough and burry " tchet, tchet, tchet " (Austin 1968). Also, a call given by solitary birds to attract other crossbills (Fig. 3 bottom). Juveniles give a distinct single note begging call (chit; Groth 1992)."

I'd be interested to hear impressions of others who had a chance to study the White-winged Crossbill vocalizations this winter or from other experience.

thanks, Charles.


--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow area sightings, 4/10-11/09

Great to see all the posts of spring arrivals around the region. Yesterday I had a few hours in the PM to drive around a bit north of Moscow.

Black-necked Stilts - still present at the lower Foothill Rd pond as Terry mentioned - I counted 6 around 3 PM.

Wilson's Snipe - 1 calling at the Sora spot

Northern Harrier - a nice male ("gray ghost") near Potlatch just south of the bridge over the Potlatch River (also interestingly I watched a Red-tailed Hawk fly under this bridge to join its mate on the other side) any male at this date might be suspected of breeding nearby

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - first of spring for me singing along Pine Crest Rd.

also of interest around my east Moscow house today & yesterday -

Eurasian Collared-Dove - heard one nearby this morning, no doubt its origin is the group that has been hanging near Ray & Bettie Hoff's, a new yard bird (gets me close to 100 species heard or seen from or in the yard), briefly made me think I was in Florida!

possible (probable??) Bohemian Waxwing flyby, typical low trilling call, plenty of starlings in the area although I'm not sure this call could be readily mimiced

Varried Thrush - an individual has been singing on and off near our house for a couple of weeks now, nice to have one even though we haven't seen it yet

Pine Siskins - seem to be a lot around town now and they are very noisy!

White-winged Crossbills - I've continued to hear small flocks and individual birds flying over almost daily that I presumed were these but figured I better check some out and managed to track down a male and female near the house atop tall spruces, they appear to be still in the lowlands and breeding should be watched for (not unusual after irruption years), have been giving a variety of calls incl. harsh flight calls

thanks, Charles.


--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: eBird Report - Moscow - U. of Idaho Main Campus , 4/7/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Subject: eBird Report - Moscow - U. of Idaho Main Campus , 4/7/09
To: chaetura@gmail.com




Location:     Moscow - U. of Idaho Main Campus
Observation date:     4/7/09
Notes:     First walk of spring through the Arboretum on a warm (almost too warm) early April day. Ran into Terry and chatted for 15 minutes or so.
Number of species:     13

Canada Goose     1
Ring-necked Pheasant     1
California Quail     6
Northern Flicker     1
American Crow     3
Black-capped Chickadee     1
Mountain Chickadee     1
Red-breasted Nuthatch     1
American Robin     1
Spotted Towhee     1
Dark-eyed Junco     20
House Finch     X
Pine Siskin     15

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: eBird Google gadget

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Subject: eBird Google gadget
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

With the increasing use of eBird folks might want to check out the eBird google gadget. This is a "feed" from eBird that shows review species that have been submitted to eBird in recent days, the review status of the sighting, the observer, and a link to a google map w/ the exact location of the sighting. The google map also can generate directions to the location fairly easily. The only caveat is that the location might be misleading if it is for a travelling count or the observer does not specify an exact location (for example uses only the county in which case the observation will show up in the geographical center of the county - something the Cornell eBird folks have been trying to discourage).

There are other ways to explore eBird data and generate distribution maps and bar charts showing seasonal abundance that are available to anyone who has a (free) eBird user account. The Google gadget is available regardless.

More information here - http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/Google_Gadget.html. You do need a (free) google account to create an iGoogle home page where you can install the gadget.

thanks,
Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Idaho Mountain Quail

This was in response to an RFI posted on the Idaho birders email list.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Mountain Quail RFI
To: ible@yahoogroups.com


Jay & all -

You might check w/ Rita Dixon at the IDFG conservation data center (or whatever it's called now) for recent sightings. Although there have not been any recent reports from birders from the Rapid River area (probably mostly because nobody looks very much) that population had been fairly stable and likely persists. Actually a bit upstream on either side of the Little Salmon R. near Pollock and the Pinehurst Resort is probably the better place to check. The Birder's Guide to Idaho (pp. 110-111) mentions a number of roads worth checking in this area - FR 624 and Denny Creek Rd. in particular (FR 624 also has White-headed Woodpeckers). A house on the west side of the Little Salmon R. near Pinehurst used to have a flock of M. Quail that wintered in their yard which is where I saw them in April about 7 or 8 years ago. (It's an adobe style house visible from US95 - might be worth asking permission to look around there.)

Otherwise Mountain Quail has probably been more or less extirpated from other parts of their former range in Idaho except the following. There are occasional reports from the area near the confluence of the Salmon & Snake Rivers (which is pretty difficult to access) and some recent reintroduction efforts near here at Craig Mountain (which have been more or less unsuccessful due to high initial predation rates). There may also be some recent reports from deeper in Hells Canyon (Rita would know) but of course access is a problem there as well. There are also occasional reports from eastern Latah Co. Tantalizing but unconfirmed and California Quail occasionally show up in odd places away from human habitation. So all in all I'd say Rigins/Pollock area is about the only place that one would actually have a chance of looking for and seeing (or hearing) Mountain Quail.

BTW there is some debate as to whether Mountain Quail are actually native to Idaho or were introduced at some time in the past. I think most authorities consider it likely that they are native to parts of Idaho but there is enough doubt about WA (Blue Mountains) populations that the USFWS has cited this as one reason for not listing the interior populations (it's also not clear if the interior populations represent a distinct subspecies).

Here is a link to the USFWS decision - http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/03-1283.html

Here's a link to a fact sheet from USFWS Oregon office - http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/MountainQuail/default.asp


Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 8:50 PM, carlislejay <carlislejay@yahoo.com> wrote:

I'll admit up front that this e-mail is partly (mostly?) motivated purely by selfish reasoning (i.e., my birding pleasure) ... but I also continue to be concerned for the status of this species in the region (still common in coast ranges but apparently still nose-diving inland - including Idaho).

I'm wondering of anyone has searched for (successfully or not) Mountain Quail in the last year or two and if anyone has any suggestions for where a crazy birder might try to hear one singing at this time of year. Aside from reintroduction efforts in a couple places in the state, the last sightings I'd heard about (2 yrs ago) were in the Rapid River drainage ...

Thanks in advance and please feel free to reply to me only (so as not to clutter IBLE).

Cheers,

Jay

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--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co birding 3/29/09

Hi All -

Iris and I took a drive this afternoon east of Moscow to Troy and down Little Bear Ridge Rd. to Kendrick and Juliaetta along the Potlatch R. (elevation ~1200' about 1300' lower than Moscow) and then back up via American Ridge Rd.. We had ~4 " of heavy, wet snow up on top and there were scads of American Robins in the fields along with lesser scads of Red-winged Blackbirds and Starlings, a few W. Meadowlarks, etc.

There was a lot of standing water in the fields (and the Potlatch R. was bank full) but few waterfowl - perhaps spread out a bit all the standing water. There were 5 Bufflehead at Little Bear Pond (along w/ Mallards, pintail, and wigeon) and 11 at Kendrick sewage ponds, and 10 Ring-necked Ducks at the Syringa ponds.

Of most interest was a nice size flock of Savannah Sparrows just up American Ridge Rd. out of Juliaetta. It was hard to get a count estimate as they kept flushing ahead of me but there must have been 30 birds in the group - perhaps more. These birds were presumably hanging down at lower elevations due to the weather. Also in the group were a couple of White-crowned Sparrows - hard to know if these were migrants (a bit early) or local wintering birds.

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow White-winged Crossbills & misc area sightings, 3/27/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 9:35 PM
Subject: Moscow White-winged Crossbills & misc area sightings, 3/27/09
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Howdy -

I had a small flock of White-winged Crossbills fly over my house mid-morning today. They were giving their rapid-fire dry chet-chet flight calls, although not well seen I'd guess there were around 20 or so birds.

Later this afternoon I did a couple hours of birding in e. Whitman Co and w. Latah Co. and found a few birds. It was very windy in most parts except down along the Palouse R. east of Palouse which was somewhat sheltered. In addition to birds listed below I noted a number of large junco flocks which appear to be moving through in good number at the moment (many are singing right now which is pretty cool to hear). There were also Killdeer widely scattered including right in Pullman near the Palouse Science Center.

Whitman Co.:

Western Bluebird - near Kamiak Butte
Spotted Towhee - 2 just east of Palouse aong the Palouse R.

Latah Co.:

Along the Palouse R. floodplain east of Palouse are many flooded low lying fields and seasonal wetlands, easily accessible from North and South River Rds. out of Palouse.

Canada Goose 30
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 100
Northern Pintail 20
Green-winged Teal 10
Hooded Merganser 2
Killdeer 1
Say's Phoebe 1

Viola Sewage Ponds:

Gadwall 2 (a pair)
Common Goldeneye 2
Barrow's Goldeneye 1

Mountainview & Darby (just north of Moscow) - still at least 15 Tundra Swans present with about 20 Canada Geese in the fields here.

thanks, Charles.




--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow area waterfowl (incl. Cackling Geese), 3/22/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Subject: Moscow area waterfowl (incl. Cackling Geese), 3/22/09
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

I was able to get out this afternoon for a quick trip and retraced Terry's route north of Moscow. The field at the intersection of Mountainview & Darby Rds. just north of town had the bulk of the birds including the Eurasian Wigeon as well as 5 Cackling Geese. I've attached a digiscoped image of 3 of the Cackling Geese. I think these are Taverner's Cackling Geese (subspecies taverneri) but this is just hunch - not based on careful analysis. The complete eBird list from this location is below. The 6 Ring-billed Gulls were still present a bit north of this location - a species I haven't seen in Latah Co. in several years.

thanks, Charles.

Location:     Latah - Darby & Mountainview fields
Observation date:     3/22/09
Notes:     All waterfowl in field southeast of intersection. Cackling Geese were probably "Taverners" .
Number of species:     12

Cackling Goose     5
Canada Goose  25
Tundra Swan     16
Eurasian Wigeon     1
American Wigeon     40
Mallard     50
Northern Pintail     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Rough-legged Hawk     1
Killdeer     3
Horned Lark     2
American Robin     30
Red-winged Blackbird     X

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co. Tundra Swans & N. Pintail, 2/27/09

Hi All -

On Friday afternoon I found 11 Tundra Swans, ~20 Canada Geese, ~150 Mallards, and ~20 Northern Pintails along the Palouse R. in Latah Co., ID a few miles east of town of Palouse, WA. The broad floodplain here has standing water in low areas and is attractive to waterfowl. There isn't much else in the way of open water except the rivers which are flowing fast and full w/ snow melt at the moment. This area should continue to be attractive to waterbirds until these ephemeral ponds dry up later in the spring. The best way to access this area is from the town of Palouse along North or South River Rd.

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: eBird Report - Moscow - East Side (My Home) , 2/23/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 7:28 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Moscow - East Side (My Home) , 2/23/09
To: chaetura@gmail.com




Location:     Moscow - East Side (My Home)
Observation date:     2/23/09
Notes:     Lots of bird song from the porch this morning. Brown Creeper was on the southwest corner maple, first detected it singing. Also juncos and flickers singing. A pair of crows wandering around probably checking out potential nest sites.
Number of species:     10

Northern Flicker     1
American Crow     2
Black-capped Chickadee     1
Red-breasted Nuthatch     2
Brown Creeper     1
Bewick's Wren     1
American Robin     1
Dark-eyed Junco     2
House Finch     2
House Sparrow     1

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow Yellow-rumped Warbler (& Pine Grosbeaks), 2/3/09

Hi All -

I had a Yellow-rumped Warbler at noon along Paradise Ck. on the east side of the UI Campus. This is in the general area of Moscow where I have found a few YRWA the past few winters. I wonder if this bird has been around all winter, surviving the severe Dec. cold snap, or has moved here recently w/ the milder weather. It's a balmy 45 F in Moscow right now.

I also tracked down the Pine Grosbeaks in the "Heritage Grove" east of the UI Admin. Bldg. There was a group of as many as 10 and some were feeding on buds on the maple trees in the area. Pine Grosbeaks have been pretty consistent in this area the past few weeks so would be a good bet for anyone still looking.

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow finch & Mann Lake report, 1/29/09

Just catching up on a few things:

On Tuesday, 1/27 I did a winter bird survey on private property along the Snake R. south of Lewiston which I will report on later (hopefully!). Afterwards I did a bit of birding around Mann Lake, Nez Perce Co., ID. It was frozen and fairly quiet but I found 3 Rough-legged Hawks, a "singing" immature Northern Shrike, and many hundreds of Horned Larks (both white and yellow faced forms). I searched the Horned Larks but could not find any buntings of longspurs however the weather was deteriorating making viewing difficult. The biggest group was near the intersection of Lapwai (also called Soldiers Canyon Rd.) and Wagner Rd. (It occurred to me that it would be worth searching Lewiston for winter finches but I didn't have time, I was thinking the area around LCSC would be worth a look.)

On returning home to Moscow I heard the familiar cheedle calls of Pine Grosbeaks. I also flushed a Mourning Dove from my yard which I consider to be a sign a spring as they are very early nesters and we often get one and then later 2 (a pair I presume) later in January.

On the morning of 1/28 while heading out the door I heard a singke White-winged Crossbill fly by - they have been reported over the past few days from my neighborhood but this is first for my yard (so a new yard bird!).

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow Pine Grosbeak update, 1/26/09

I had ~45 Pine Grosbeaks on my walk into work this morning (on a sub-zero degree but beautifully clear morning!). There was a group of ~25 grosbeaks (including at least 1 nice adult male) at the intersection of 7th & Adams, many of which were feeding on a deciduous tree w/ bunches of dry, hanging seeds. I had PIGR on a similar tree in a different part of town several weeks ago. Still haven't figured out what kind of tree this is - I'll try to get a photo next time - it's probably an ornamental of some kind. I also had a group of ~20 Pine Grosbeaks in the tops of spruces just outside my building on the central part of the UI Campus.

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

more Moscow WW Crossbills, 1/24/09

Hi All -

I had a nice walk around my neighborhood this morning with loads of birds. A flock of mostly White-winged Crossbills flew over and landed briefly just south of 6th & Lincoln Sts. There were at least 30 probably more, most White-winged by calls but at least 1 Red Crossbill by call and brief views. These birds were on the move. I estimated 700 A. Robins in a many roving flocks near Blaine & 7th Streets. Also a pair of Bewick's Wrens on Lynn St.

Charles.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
Date: Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Subject: eBird Report - Moscow - Southeast (south of 1st Street) , 1/24/09
To: chaetura@gmail.com

Location:     Moscow - Southeast (south of 1st Street)
Observation date:     1/24/09
Notes:     Walking loop south and east across Blaine and then back on 7th. and Lynn. Robins & waxwings were mostly east of Blaine. Pine Grosbeaks were in several locations. Crossbill flock flew over and landed briefly just south of 6th & Lincoln - at least 30 mostly White-winged by call and brief views but with at least a few Red Crossbills mixed in.
Number of species:     18

California Quail     1
Eurasian Collared-Dove     2
Northern Flicker     2
Common Raven     1
Black-capped Chickadee     5
Red-breasted Nuthatch     1
Bewick's Wren     2
American Robin     500
European Starling     10
Bohemian Waxwing     100
Cedar Waxwing     10
Dark-eyed Junco     8
Pine Grosbeak     17
House Finch     20
Red Crossbill     1
White-winged Crossbill     30
Pine Siskin     2
House Sparrow     X

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow update - Pine Grosbeaks, White-winged Crossbill, American Robins, 1/24/09

Hi All -

Plenty of Pine Grosbeaks around town still - hardly worth commenting on anymore! Anytime I walk at least a few blocks I run into some. Yesterday I had them at several locations on the east side of Moscow and on the UI Campus near the admin. bldg. At the 7th & Hayes location mentioned by Nancy Miller I had a flyover White-winged Crossbill on the 23rd - this is only several blocks from my house but I haven't detected any for my yard list yet. There are also *lots* of American Robins around Moscow right now - certainly many hundreds if not more. On Thursday I had ~250 robins feeding on frozen crab apples near the UI Music School, yesterday I had several hundred fly over my house and several hundred more at 7th & Hayes. Still no major invasion of Bohemian Waxwings yet although there have been some flocks of several hundred around (major invasions bring several thousand into the area).

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow White-winged Crossbill & Pine Grobseaks, 1/19/09

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 7:44 PM
Subject: Moscow White-winged Crossbill & Pine Grobseaks, 1/19/09
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>
Cc: IBLE <ible@yahoogroups.com>, David Trochlell <dtrochlell@verizon.net>


Hi All -

Along the lines of other reports, I found a female White-winged Crossbill on the east side Moscow this afternoon. It was at the top of a spruce tree near the intersection of Homestead & Moore Street in the Ft Russell district of Moscow (east side of town north of East City Park). After I got a good look at its wing bars It flew off to the west. I initially heard the harsh jip notes and suspected WW Crossbill and was ecstatic to get a good look at the bird before it flew. I had another 4 crossbills fly by that could have also been White-wings.

I also had a flock of ~10 Pine Grosbeaks feeding on a Crab Apple on the west side of East City Park and heard several others elsewhere. (Pine Grosbeaks have now been around Moscow since at least Friday, Jan. 9.) In this same area on the edge of E. City Park I had ~300 Bohemian Waxings on Friday (1/16).  Also yesterday I had a Bewick's Wren singing near the house.

I don't think I ever would have imagined seeing Pine Grobeaks and a White-winged Crossbill on the same day within a few blocks of my house!

thanks,
Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Palouse, WA Pine Grosbeaks, 1/11/09

Hi again -

More Pine Grosbeaks today this time a flock of ~15 in the town of Palouse in eastern Whitman Co. I kind of had a feeling that Palouse would be a good place to look for them being fairly close to Latah Co. Idaho and therefore fairly close to forest. Although Pine Grosbeaks are showing up widely in suburban areas they are still mostly in or close to forested areas. It will be interesting to see if they do show up further west into the Columbia basin. I found this flock just by driving through town w/ windows down listening for birds. They were on the north side of Palouse near the intersection of Beach & Mohr Streets.

Also in the area were a couple Rough-legged Hawks, a Cooper's Hawk, and a bunch of robins among others. At the Palouse Cemetery on the south side of town I found a Bewick's Wren among others. On the way home along the Palouse R. on N. River Rd. I found an adult Bald Eagle just into Latah Co.flying down the river and then later standing in a flooded field. There was a lot of standing water in fields along the Palouse R. but no ducks.

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow Pine Grosbeaks, 1/9/09

Hi All -

I just now had a flock of ~20 Pine Grosbeaks in the treetops just across the street from my east Moscow home. It appears that there is a wide spread irruption under way in northern Idaho and birders should be on the lookout throughout the inland northwest. I suspect they might show up in some of the lowland e. WA counties. It's helpful to be familiar w/ their lilting flight and contact calls - I found some especially good examples on Cornell's Birds of NA Online web site (subscription required). I'm actually pretty sure I heard some while skiing just north of Moscow last Saturday and perhaps one other time but couldn't be certain (one reason I went and found some calls to listen to!). This is my second record in town although they are more or less annual in winter in small numbers in the forested areas east of Moscow. With the large number of birds appearing over such a broad area I suspect these birds may be coming from outside of our region. I believe western Montana is also experiencing an influx of Pine Grosbeaks.

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: "double-breasted" cormorant article (AP article)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Subject: "double-breasted" cormorant article (AP article)
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

This AP article was run in our local paper yesterday. I almost laughed out loud when I saw the reference to "double-breasted" cormorant. Unfortunately the rest of the article is no laughing matter. Seems to me if the US Army Corps exercises their permit to take 60 Cormorants between Lower Granite Dam and Lewiston that will effectively reduce the local population considerably (assuming this can be called a local population). Apparently stomach contents from some (how many??) cormorants analyzed last winter indicated they were eating primarily American Schad (a non-native fish species in the Columbia R. system) but they want to try again later in the winter. There are some other eyebrow raising points made in this article.

http://www.komonews.com/outdoors/featured/37058399.html



--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: southbound geese

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Subject: southbound geese
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


While I was outside shoveling snow (off my roof!) this afternoon I had about 400 or so Canada Geese in ~5 flocks fly over heading south in a period of about 10 minutes.There were 2 large flocks of about 150 geese and several smaller flocks. These could have been local wintering geese but I was also wondering if they were heading south from points farther north to find some clear ground (perhaps from Lake Coeur d'Alene).

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, 12/5/08 (& a few other sightings)

Hi All -

I found a flock of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches along Eikum Rd. about 15 miles south of Moscow around 2:45 PM Friday afternoon. There were probably 60-80 birds present although flock size was somewhat hard to estimate. Shortly after I arrived a swirling flock of birds appeared and started checking out the tractor shed where they (presumably) roost. They were still active around the tractor shed and barn when I left 5-10 minutes later. I ran into the owner and told her what I was doing and there was no problem. I've added the location to my Latah Co. birding google map here - http://tinyurl.com/6amabs

I checked this location probably 5 or more times last winter w/o any success so either there is a short time window for observing birds coming into roost or they are changing roost sites during the winter. Birds generally arrive 1.5 hrs. or so before dusk, perhaps earlier on cloudy (dark) afternoons. There is another tractor shed at a farm along Martinson Rd. several miles west of this location that has been used in the past but apparently not in the past couple years. There is also a house w/ feeders a bit to the east on Berger Rd. which sometimes has rosy-finches but on Friday only a large flock of House Finches was present.

I believe Kas Dumroese discovered the Martinson Rd. roost site some years ago on the Moscow-Pullman CBC and Terry Gray found the Eikum Rd. roost site just a couple years ago.

Other sightings -

On Friday afternoon I had a couple Rough-legged Hawks along Swenson Rd. a bit north of Eikum Rd. Not much else although there is a lot of interesting habitat along Swenson Rd, Campbell Loop Rd., and Lonestar Rd. (an area I'd really like to visit in breeding season!).

Saturday evening and early Sunday this morning a pair of Great Horned Owls were calling in my east Moscow neighborhood. Nice to know they continue as a breeding species in town.

Mid-day today I found a female Lesser Scaup at the UI Dairy Ponds w/ a small group of Mallards (geese had apparently departed for the day). This bird threw me for a loop initially as it was on the bank w/ the Mallards!

thanks, Charles.






--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: eBird Report - U. of Idaho, Moscow Main Campus , 12/1/08

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Subject: Fwd: eBird Report - U. of Idaho, Moscow Main Campus , 12/1/08
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

I had a pleasant walk around campus at noon today. It felt more like mid-October than 1st of December and it looks like Pullman is about 1 deg. F off the record high for this date (and Winchester, ID set a record for highest low temp. for this date). Most notable was a Hairy Woodpecker at the Arboretum and a big flock of goldfinches feeding in ornamental birches and willows. I looked carefully through this group for redpolls but no luck. Results are below.

Charles.


============================================

Location:     U. of Idaho, Moscow Main Campus
Observation date:     12/1/08
Number of species:     18

Mallard     4
Sharp-shinned Hawk     1
American Kestrel     1
Downy Woodpecker     2
Hairy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     2
Black-billed Magpie     1
Common Raven     1
Black-capped Chickadee     2
Mountain Chickadee     1
Golden-crowned Kinglet     2
American Robin     1
European Starling     60
Cedar Waxwing     30
Dark-eyed Junco     10
House Finch     30
Pine Siskin     X
American Goldfinch     50

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow area birds, 11/22-23/2008

Hi All -

There was a N. Shoveler at the UI Dairy on Saturday. Pretty late for here but consistent w/ other recent reports from the region. Otherwise the dairy ponds have been largely abandonded by waterfowl in the past couple weeks w/ only a handful of C. Geese and 50 Mallards present yesterday. I suppose they might be out in the fields feeding on winter wheat. At Syringa Ponds there were 2 Ring-necked Ducks (f) and about 8 Bufflehead. Neither of these locations have been as good for waterfowl this fall as they were last fall.

Today (Sunday) we went for a short hike at the UI Plant Science Farm (aka Parker Farm) on a pleasant but chilly morning. Most notable were diurnal raptors with a Cooper's Hawk, a Rough-legged Hawk, 3+ Red-tailed Hawks, and 2 adult Bald Eagles which drifted lazily south as we were leaving.

Charles.


--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow Golden Eagle

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Subject: Moscow Golden Eagle
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

I had an adult Golden Eagle in steady, flapping, southbound flight over the UI Arboretum at about 1:00 this afternoon. It took less than a minute to pass my position on the west ridge of the Arb. Still no Blue Jays - they must take a siesta right around noon. I also had among others, a Townsend's Solitaire tooting away, a kingfisher in the lower pond, and robins and Cedar Waxwings in the Crab Apple grove near the north entrance.

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co. shorebirds, Viola Sewage Ponds, 8/31/08

Howdy -

I finally found a few species of shorebirds (4 to be exact) in Latah Co. at the Viola Sewage Ponds yesterday afternoon. They were Killdeer (~6), Least Sandpiper (2), Western Sandpiper (1), and Red-necked Phalarope (4). I may have missed a Spotted Sandpiper which I think I heard but didn't see (would have brought my total to 5 shorebird species!).

Also present were ~150 Canada Geese, ~20 Mallards, 2 Green-winged Teal, Barn, Bank, and Rough-winged Swallows (seemed to be a lot of swallows migrating yesterday), a bunch of Cedar Waxwings, Savannah and Chipping Sparrows and the usual blackbirds, starling, doves & pigeons.

The Viola sewage ponds are just west of US 95 off Trestle Rd. a bit south of the small burg of Viola which is about 8 miles north of Moscow. This would be a pretty good location if not for the fact that one has to peer through a chain-linked fence from the weedy, rocked embankment of the ponds. The 2 main ponds are rock lined and the peeps and Killdeer foraged from the rocks w/ the phalaropes of course swimming around in the ponds (I've now found RN Phalaropes over the years at the Viola, Deary, Genesee, and Syringa sewage ponds, and UI Dairy). Least Sandpipers are actually not all that unusual at rock lined sewage ponds despite being the classic "mudpipers".

Chas.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Re: [inland-NW-birders] Banded Caspian Terns

Keith -

Here is information on the Columbia R. Caspian Tern research  - http://www.columbiabirdresearch.org/ I think terns banded at the mouth of the Columbia R. usually have color bands in addition to a metal band. It's possible that birds from this (huge) colony could wander up the Columbia and the Snake but there are Caspian Terns nesting closer on the Columbia R. which are a likely source.

Here is more information on Seattle Audubon's birdweb -  http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=213#description

If you noted the band number you can submit it to the USGS Bird Banding Lab - http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/
and they will eventually get back to you w/ information on where the bird was banded.

Charles.

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Kec201814 <kec201814@cableone.net> wrote:

one of the nine Caspian Terns present today at Chief Timothy HMU was wearing a leg band.

Anyone know what this program is about?

I suppose it has to do with their "alledged" smolt eating, but that was down by the mouth of the Columbia.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/birddog/2614007536/

 

Keith E. Carlson

Lewiston

_______________________________________________
Inland-nw-birders mailing list
Inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu
https://www.lists.uidaho.edu/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

U. of Idaho, Moscow, ID birds, mid June, 2008

I've been biking, running, and walking quite a bit around the UI campus the past few weeks and making note of the birds present on campus during the breeding season. Many of these are breeding or suspected to be breeding. Here are a few of interest:

Red-tailed Hawk - nested in Heritage Grove, adult and imm. have been around (Swainson's Hawks have nested in this area in the past)
Cordilleran Flycatcher - one calling/singing regularly at west end of Shattuck Arboretum and another at the east end of the Heritage grove (near the Admin Bldg.), also a few around town
Western Wood-Pewee - at least 4 or 5 singing in the main arboretum, several more in Shattuck and more elsewhere around campus (seem particularly common this summer)
Red-eyed Vireo - singing away in the Shattuck just west of the President's house (seen & heard today)
Violet-green Swallow - a few around but may have taken a hit from cold weather
Barn Swallow - east side of campus, presume nesting on bridges along Paradise Ck.
Black-capped Chickadee - prob nest Shattuck
Red-breasted Nuthatch - prob nest Shattuck
House Wren - near grad housing (& Iris's daycare)
Golden-crowned Kinglet - prob nest Shattuck
American Robin - many around incl. w/ fledged young or food for young (probably on second broods)
Yellow Warbler - main Arboretum and along Paradise Ck.
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1 singing in Shattuck, present since early June
Common Yellowthroat - singing at Sand Rd wetlands, just across from arboretum
Savannah Sparrow - in field just across from south end of the arboretum
Chipping Sparrow
Red Crossbill - continue to be fairly common around town, flying over or in tops of tall conifers

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Flammulated Owl surveys, Northern Region USFS (northern Idaho/western Montana)

Hi All -

The Northern Landbird Monitoring Program is run by University of Montana's Avian Science Center for the Northern Region of the US Forest Service (USFS) (which is described here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/ and includes the Nez Perce, Clearwater, and Panhandle NFs in Idaho). As part of this program a Flammulated Owl survey was initiated in 2005. More information and results for this survey can be found here: http://avianscience.dbs.umt.edu/research_landbird_flam.htm (information on related surveys can be found elsewhere on this web site).

The Nez Perce National Forest (headquarters Grangeville, ID) recorded the most Flammulated Owls of any of the Northern Region FS units surveyed with 69 detections out of 278 points surveyed (~21% detection rate). Some other interesting observations to come out of the survey as a whole are that birds were detected from May 9 to July 21 with detections only slightly lower after mid-June. Of all detections, 35% were of birds calling spontaneously before observers broadcast Flam calls.

This area has not been well known to Idaho birders as a place to look for Flams but clearly is. Parts of the Nez Perce NF are difficult to access and some distance from population centers but some of these areas should be fairly accessible. I was directed to one of the survey locations on the ridge between the Snake and Salmon Rivers near Lucille, ID several years ago and easily found Flams which responded readily to taped calls and were easily spotlighted as well (unfortunately this area burned last summer which may have displaced Flams from this area).

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co. Spring Valley Reservoir & Bobolinks , 6/15/08

A hike around Spring Valley Res. at mid-day yielded a nice variety of typical mixed conifer and lakeside riparian habitat species. A couple of California Gulls were cruising around the lake part of the time - about the only place in Latah Co. they are semi-regular. Otherwise few waterbirds due to large numbers of fisherfolk on and around the lake. Complete eBird list is below (effort - time: ~2 hrs, distance ~ 1mile).

We drove north from Deary on ID-9 to Harvard after the hike to let Iris nap (she didn't) and let me check for Bobolinks. I saw at least 4 male Bobolinks in the field near the end of Garden Gulch Rd. just north of the intersection of ID-9 and ID-6. This is the only known Latah Co. location for this species although there is lots of good looking habitat elsewhere.

thanks, Charles.

Location:     Spring Valley Reservoir
Observation date:     6/15/08
Number of species:     40

Canada Goose     20
Ruddy Duck     3
Great Blue Heron     1
Osprey     2
Red-tailed Hawk     1
American Coot     1
Killdeer     2
Spotted Sandpiper     1
California Gull     2
Western Wood-Pewee     1
Willow Flycatcher     3
Hammond's Flycatcher     6
Dusky Flycatcher     2
Common Raven     1
Tree Swallow     5
Violet-green Swallow     1
Barn Swallow     1
Black-capped Chickadee     4
Mountain Chickadee     3
Chestnut-backed Chickadee     3
Red-breasted Nuthatch     5
Brown Creeper     2
House Wren     1
Golden-crowned Kinglet     2
Swainson's Thrush     5
American Robin     6
Gray Catbird     2
Cedar Waxwing     2
Orange-crowned Warbler     2
Yellow Warbler     6
Yellow-rumped Warbler     2
Townsend's Warbler     2
MacGillivray's Warbler     1
Common Yellowthroat     1
Western Tanager     2
Chipping Sparrow     2
Song Sparrow     6
Red-winged Blackbird     6
Brown-headed Cowbird     2
Red Crossbill     X

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Latah Co. Lewis's Woodpecker etc., 5/4/08

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Subject: Latah Co. Lewis's Woodpecker etc., 5/4/08
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

This past Sunday I wandered east of Moscow to Deary, then south to Kendrick, and back north to Troy via Little Bear Ridge Rd. then home to Moscow.

- A stop at Spring Valley Res. was unproductive due to the large number of fisherfolk around and on the lake - on warm weekend afternoons it's best to avoid SVR!

- The Deary sewage ponds had 45 Bufflehead and a few other ducks (Bufflehead seem to really like sewage ponds - what is the attraction??).

- Heading south from Deary on ID-3 I checked some ponds and fields (and visited a couple of old rural cemeteries in the area). This is a really impressive drive w/ excellent views of mountains and  the eastern Palouse wheat fields in all directions. Along the grade down to Kendrick I stopped at a nice road cut just past mp 16 where I had Bank, Rough-winged, and Violet-green Swallows all nesting or checking out (in the case of the Bank Swallows) nest holes in various strata including sandstone. At this point the road is above the Potlatch R. providing good foraging for the swallows. Looking back up the hill I noticed a Lewis's Woodpecker flycatching from trees near the house at mp 16 (west side of the rd.). I went back to get a closer look but couldn't relocate the bird. It looks like a great area for them and suspect nesting in the area is likely. I've had my eye on nearby Little Bear Ck. canyon for this species as well so was not totally surprised at this discovery.

- At Kendrick I noted Cliff Swallows (which nest on the grain elevators) and heard a Yellow Warbler. (Iris had woken up by this point so we stopped in town to play in the park and get an ice cream bar for the drive home.) Just outside of town heading up Little Bear Ridge Rd. an adult Bald Eagle was soaring around - perhaps one of the nesters from nearby Dworshak Res. which isn't far from here as the eagle flies (I understand there are 3 active eagle nests on the lake this year).

- Finally there were only a few ducks on the Little Bear ponds but they included a foy Blue-winged Teal and several downy Killdeer chick w/ adults on the shore.

It was nice to be back home - what a difference from Florida!

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: U. of Idaho Arboreta & other Moscow sightings, 5/6/08

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 9:37 AM
Subject: U. of Idaho Arboreta & other Moscow sightings, 5/6/08
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


I had a pleasant walk through the old (Shattuck) and new UI arboreta yesterday at noon and found a nice bunch of migrants and spring arrivals.

Calliope Hummingbird - ~ 8 seen well but there were probably 15-20 with all the zipping around and calling I detected, at least 2 were drinking in the stream below the lower pond which was neat to see [a few Calliope's have been at our yard feeders since 5/4 and a male has been doing display flights, Rufous Hummingbirds showed up yesterday, 5/6]

Hammond's & Dusky Flycatchers - several of each as far as I could tell, at least a few were calling sporadically confirming what I thought I was seeing
Cassin's Vireo - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush - 4 together in a loose group in the understory shrubs at the sw end of Shattuck
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Nashville Warbler - 4
Townsend's Warbler - 1 (well seen in low brush and brilliant!)
Chipping Sparrow - 4
White-crowned Sparrow - 8 (many around other parts of campus as well)
Dark-eyed Junco - 1 (still a few coming through)

I also found a dead adult Great Horned Owl in Shattuck and flushed a live Great Horned Owl from the new arboretum where we don't see them very often.

Yard birds in addition to hummingbirds mentioned above include a male Cassin's Finch still coming to the feeders but not many migrants as seen elsewhere. I've also heard House Wrens the past few mornings on my bike into work in south Moscow.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow swifts and swallows, 4/22/2008

Violet-green Swallows were back on the UI Campus today and this afternoon there were 3 Vaux's Swifts chasing each other around the Life Sciences building. I have to wonder if these were in the group of swifts and swallows I saw down along the Potlatch R. yesterday afternoon. (I also wonder if they will be back down there tomorrow w/ the incoming weather!)

Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co. arrivals, 4/21/2008

I decide to head down to the lower elevations of Latah Co. this afternoon to see if migrants were stuck down there waiting out the cold weather. This means heading to Kendrick which is along the Potlatch R. at ~750 ', considerably lower than Moscow at ~2500'. I went down Little Bear Ridge Rd. east of Troy and was surprised to see ~15 N. Shovelers resting along the upper part of Little Bear Ck. which is in a forested valley at this point. Further along past Little Bear Ridge cemetery I stopped at my favorite farm pond which had the following:

Tundra Swan     1
Gadwall     2
American Wigeon     20
Mallard     2
Northern Shoveler     10
Canvasback     1 (female, persisting from last week)
Bufflehead     5
Killdeer     3
Greater Yellowlegs     1
Lesser Yellowlegs     1 (foy - first of year)
American Robin     20

Heading on down to Kendrick I stopped a bit above the confluence of Big & Little Bear Cks. and spent the next hour working the area just above and below the confluence which held a good variety of migrants. Most notable was a group of 10 Townsend's Solitaires in several cottonwoods just below the confluence along w/ a Mountain Bluebird. I presume most of these and the other migrants were waiting out the cold here before heading to higher elevations. This area is about a mile north of Kendrick.

Mallard     3
Turkey Vulture     3
Cooper's Hawk     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
American Kestrel     1
Northern Flicker     1
Common Raven     1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow     2 (first of year)
Black-capped Chickadee     2
Rock Wren     1                             (first of year)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     3
Western Bluebird     8
Mountain Bluebird     1                  (first of year)
Townsend's Solitaire     12
American Robin     4
Orange-crowned Warbler     5
Nashville Warbler     1
Yellow-rumped Warbler     8
Song Sparrow     2
White-crowned Sparrow     2

Reports generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

A stop at Kendrick produced an Osprey (foy) flying over the Potlatch R. We then stopped at the Juliaetta park so Iris could play and had a large flock of swallows fly over heading up the river - mostly unidentifiable due to height and light (but I presume mostly Violet-green Swallows) but with a few Vaux's Swifts (foy) mixed in. This last experience makes me wonder if this is where most of the swallows from Moscow and points east retreat to during these early spring cold snaps.

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Moscow area weekend birds

Hi All -

Not too much to report as I've been working around the house mostly (in between trips to the park to play w/ Iris!). With the warm weather the bird activity in town has dropped off considerably but I still had a small group of CASSIN'S FINCHES at my feeders this afternoon and a few DE JUNCOS still around yesterday (Saturday). Robins and crows are clearly nesting in the area (found a crow nest in E. City Park this PM). Also had a Ruby-crowned Kinglet singing near the house (and more on Friday at the UI Arboretum).

While running errands I managed a few quick stops. Notable yesterday at "Loch 95" - the spring runoff pond along US 95  north of Moscow - were 6 GW Teal, Mallard, 3 N. Pintail, 15 A. Wigeon, and 2 Ring-necked Ducks. Today (Sunday) at the UI Dairy ponds were a male Wood Duck and a female Hooded Merganser together (both pretty good Moscow City species).

There have been a lot of California Tortoiseshell butterflies flying around Moscow the past few days. This is an interesting species as all adults overwinter and then breed the following spring. Apparently there was an influx into the are last fall - they are also known to have erratic population explosions and mass migrations.

Tomorrow could be interesting w/ this vigorous low pressure arriving perhaps grounding some migrants.

thanks, Charles.

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co., 4/4/2008

Hi All -

Iris and I went for a drive east of Moscow this afternoon out to Deary and back. It was snowing heavy, wet snow when we got to Deary. North of Deary there was still a foot or more of snow in places (I'm sure there is much more up higher). [On a side note, from a high point in Moscow on Thursday, we could see lots of patches of snow on the Palouse hills surrounding Moscow, pretty unusual for early April.] Also noted a lot of standing water in fields and creeks running pretty full out east of Moscow.

Just east of Troy a Turkey Vulture flew over. I checked Spring Valley Res. which is still fast frozen but there are a dozen or so Canada Geese on the grassy areas waiting for it to thaw. The Deary Sewage Ponds were busy - list below. (Pied-billed Grebe was interesting at this location, clearly a migrant.)

Location:     Deary Sewage Ponds
Observation date:     4/4/08
Notes:     East ponds counted from church and west church from highway. Wet snow falling at time but good visibility.
Number of species:     12

Canada Goose     X
Wood Duck     5
Mallard     4
Bufflehead     36
Common Goldeneye     11
Barrow's Goldeneye     1
Pied-billed Grebe     1
Killdeer     1
Black-billed Magpie     X
Common Raven     3
Pine Siskin     X
Evening Grosbeak     15 fly overs

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

North of Deary I did a traveling count along Mica Mountain Rd. looping back on Deer Rd. and had 3 Savannah Sparrows among others. After checking out the old Avon Cemetery just to the west I did another traveling count the Ailor Cutoff Rd. back to the highway (ID-3). Results are below. 

Charles.

Location:     Ailor Rd.
Observation date:     4/4/08
Notes:     Road follows Big Bear Ck. in part. Lots of standing water. Snipe was calling.
Number of species:     11

Canada Goose     30
Mallard     4
Hooded Merganser     1
Wilson's Snipe     1
Black-billed Magpie     6
American Robin     X
European Starling     X
Savannah Sparrow     1
Red-winged Blackbird     18
Western Meadowlark     2
Brewer's Blackbird     1

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

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Latah Co. Golden Eagle etc., 3/23/2008

Howdy All -

I watched an adult Golden Eagle for several minutes this afternoon a bit east of Moscow (Randall Flat & Lyons Rd. to be exact). It was heading more or less north but didn't seem to be in hurry. This was during a short trip this afternoon while giving my daughter Iris a car nap. Here are a few other sightings of interest:

Syringa Ponds - ice free, Canada Goose - 15 (incl. a possible "Lesser" Canada Goose = B.c.parvipes, digiscoped images), Ring-necked duck -1, Bufflehead - 18, C. Goldeneye - 5

Randall Flat & Lyons Rd. - Spotted Towhee, Evening Grosbeak - 3, Cassin's Finches, Pine Siskins

Randall Flat & Felton Rds. - W. Bluebird - 2 (another bluebird was east of Troy)

East of Troy along ID-8 - Turkey Vulture 2, I had 4 Turkey Vultures nearby from Burnt Ridge Rd. returning from Deary, seems a bit early to me

Spring Valley Res. - still frozen

Deary Sewage Ponds - Bufflehead 54, C. Goldeneye - 5, just west of Deary I had 4 Red-tailed Hawks with 3 of them sharing the same telephone pole!

Camps Canyon Rd (east of Troy off Burnt Ridge Rd.) - small farm pond had 8 Common Mergansers and a Rough-legged Hawk was nearby.

 I also made a quick stop at the Burnt Ridge Cemetery in my continuing quest to visit rural cemeteries in Latah Co. This is a very nice one w/ great views. Also noted today were lots of robins in the wet fields and a good number of juncos (many singing).

This past week at my feeders here in Moscow I've continued to have a regular group of Cassin's Finches (up to 6 or so), a smattering of Pine Siskins (also noted today widely), and the usual winter junco flock. I've also had a Spotted Towhee in the yard on and off since last Monday evening. Today I noted several of the "female-type" (i.e. brown) Cassin's Finches had some light red wash in the face and head which I presumes indicates 1st winter males.

thanks, Charles.


--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

Fwd: Moscow C. Redpolls 1/21/08 & weekend birds

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Charles Swift <chaetura@gmail.com>
Date: Jan 23, 2008 3:15 PM
Subject: Moscow C. Redpolls 1/21/08 & weekend birds
To: inland birders <inland-nw-birders@uidaho.edu>


Hi All -

On Monday afternoon (1/21/08) I found 6-8 Common Redpolls with ~15 American Goldfinches at the UI Plant Science Farm (Parker Farm) just east of Moscow. They were in the usual spot at the northwest corner of the large planting area east of buildings. I didn't see the Hoary Redpoll on Monday. The location is on my Latah Co. birding sites map here:  http://tinyurl.com/2xahzu

I also noted a fair number of birds in Moscow over the weekend and especially enjoyed a gathering of (at various times) Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings, American Robins, and E. Starlings on a scraggly Mnt. Ash in a neighbor's yard. In the midst of this a male A. Kestrel bombed through and provided nice looks - in my part of town I'm expecting Merlins rather than kestrels at this time of year! On Saturday (1/19/08) I had 3 different Bewick's Wrens singing within several blocks and on Sunday AM had a pair of them just down the alley. I also continue to have a few Pine Siskins at the feeders and elsewhere and have had some decent sized flocks (30 or more) or Red Crossbills around town.

I had a great deal of activity at the feeders on Saturday and a fair amount on Sunday but surprisingly little activity on Monday which was the coldest day recently. Not sure if there was some mortality over night or just a shift in feeding patters (there are other feeders around after all). This morning (1/23/08) I had a male Cassin's Finch at the feeder and I've had a 1 legged DE Junco at my feeders since 1/20 (surprising it has survived this long in this cold!).

I've included a number of eBird reports below.

thanks, Charles.

==========================================================================

eBird reports:

Location:     414 S. Lincoln & vicinity
Observation date:     1/19/08
Notes:     Snowy morning walk around east Moscow w/ Iris in stroller.
Number of species:     16

Northern Flicker     8
American Crow     6
Common Raven     3
Black-capped Chickadee     3
Mountain Chickadee     1
Red-breasted Nuthatch     3
Bewick's Wren     3
Golden-crowned Kinglet     1
American Robin     15
European Starling     40
Cedar Waxwing     10
Dark-eyed Junco     25
House Finch     25
Red Crossbill     30
Pine Siskin     10
House Sparrow     10

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

=========================================================
Location:     414 S. Lincoln & vicinity
Observation date:     1/20/08
Notes:     waxwings, robins, and starlings all feeding on scraggly Mnt. Ash tree in neighbor yard across alley. Yard and alley had lots of birds for several days now - very birds! A DE Junco w/ only one leg has been around since 1/20.
Number of species:     9

American Kestrel     1     Dove through big flock of birds along alley behind house. (Not sure if it got anything!)
Bewick's Wren     2     Pair at alley & 3rd St.
American Robin     30
European Starling     200
Bohemian Waxwing     100
Cedar Waxwing     20
Dark-eyed Junco     20
House Finch     X
House Sparrow     X

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

also on 1/20 - 200 Bohemian Waxwings along Mountainview Rd. and a Rough-legged Hawk on Moscow Mountain Rd (outside of town)
============================================================================

Location:     Northeast Moscow (Mountain View Park & vicinity)
Observation date:     1/21/08
Notes:     Walked around Good Sam Village. Owl sign in conifers but couldn't find any owls. H. Sparrows & H. Finches were in hedgerow and near large feeder spread of house on D St.
Number of species:     10

Mourning Dove     1
American Crow     12
Black-capped Chickadee     1
Brown Creeper     1
American Robin     5
European Starling     20
Dark-eyed Junco     X
House Finch     100
Pine Siskin     20
House Sparrow     200

=============================================
Location:     UI Plant Science Farm
Observation date:     1/21/08
Notes:     Redpolls were w/ AMGO in nw corner of wind break.
Number of species:     11

Ring-necked Pheasant     3
California Quail     15
Cooper's Hawk     1
Black-billed Magpie     2
Black-capped Chickadee     2
American Robin     7
European Starling     1
Bohemian Waxwing     10
Dark-eyed Junco     20
Common Redpoll     6
American Goldfinch     15



--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com

--
Charles Swift
Moscow, ID
chaetura@gmail.com