Idaho Day 3: Twitches for Scissor-tailed Fly & Pinyon Jay

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3:

Before meeting Poo and Kathleen early for my first full day of birding, the day got off to a headstart with a proper Idaho traffic jam!

Our target birds for the day were a vagrant Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Camas NWR in eastern Idaho, and my lifer Pinyon Jay in Pocatello, ID with lesser targets of Sagebrush Sparrow, Short-billed Dowitcher, and a remote possibility of my life bird Greater Sage-Grouse.

We started off by going over Muldoon Canyon Rd (where, coincidentally, Kathleen and I birded on my last day in Idaho last year!) in hopes we would flush a random Sage Grouse (she had had one yesterday!).

Many birds were present, not the least of which were a profusion of RED-TAILED HAWKS:

We also found my F.O.Y. LEWIS’ WOODPECKERS, awesome!!!

And a number of BULLOCK’S ORIOLES:

GRAY FLYCATCHER was really nice, another F.O.Y:

The process with Poo!

WESTERN FLYCATCHER, my “un-life bird” after the ABA lumped Cordilleran & Pacific Slope Flycatchers earlier this summer.

DUSKY FLYCATCHER:

Female LAZULI BUNTING:

Male:

After a bit of pishing, not one, but TWO MACGILLIVRAY’S WARBLERS popped out of the willows together, a sweet F.O.Y!

AMERICAN KESTREL:

F.O.Y. RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS:

VESPER SPARROW, these were all over:

TURKEY VULTURES perching on a rock face beside the road:

My F.O.Y. pair of GOLDEN EAGLES were an awesome sight:

Mule deer in front of the bluffs:

Another F.O.Y: SWAINSON’S HAWK!

Next, we headed out of the canyon and into Carey where we found the local colony of BANK SWALLOWS nesting in a mountain of sludge:

At Carey Lake WMA, we had juvenile AMERICAN COOTS:

And a family of CINNAMON TEAL (along with NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS):

Female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, FOY:

Female/juvenile type NORTHERN HARRIERS:

WILLOW FLYCATCHER:

Next, we stopped in Howe, ID where we had Sagebrush Sparrows, and a Scorpion (!), last year, and since it was raining, we couldn’t flip for any scorpions or herps, but we did have a few SAGEBRUSH SPARROWS respond to spishing:

Carey was our next stop for Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. We had a distant BALD EAGLE on our way in:

Along with plenty of COMMON NIGHTHAWKS in flight:

And an absolute proliferation of WESTERN KINGBIRDS, the Scissortail’s close cousin:

F.O.Y. SAGE THRASHER:

And a beautiful male WESTERN TANAGER:

I walked into the sagebrush a bit in hopes of flushing a Grouse (to no avail), but had great looks at this LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE instead:

Unfortunately, we had to declare the Scissor-tailed a bust, so we continued down to the Roberts Sewage Ponds in hopes of Short-billed Dowitcher and other shorebird goodies. WILSON’S PHALAROPES were present in high numbers:

And we found a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER right off the bat, note the rather flat back and shorter bill—

When compared to the more-common-for-the-are LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER which has a humped back and a huge honkin’ bill:

Speaking of huge honkin’ bills— NORTHERN SHOVELER:

We accidentally flushed this hen NORTHERN PINTAIL:

WESTERN SANDPIPER:

WILSON’S PHALAROPE, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, and CINNAMON TEAL:

SPOTTED SANDPIPER:

Distant RUDDY DUCK with AMERICAN COOTS:

We then headed south to Pocatello for Pinyon Jays and when we arrived at our destination, Chinaman Peak, we realized we were completely socked in with fog and light rain. Rats! Well, it certainly made for an interesting and memorable drive up the peak in very uncharacteristic weather:

A few birds were around, including Lazuli Buntings:

And near a house at the bottom of the peak once we had come down the mountain, a Kestrel was perched:

But wait — what is that jay-sized bird that Kathleen and I spotted simultaneously???

PINYON JAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! After years of daytrips and overnight trips to City of Rocks in search of this bird, this alternate location in Pocatello payed off with my life bird #1170!!! Absolutely phenomenal!

There were a few around as the house had feeders, and we were able to experience their characteristic, whiny, high-pitched calls, too.

WESTERN KINGBIRD:

Along with a BULLOCK’S ORIOLE:

Juvenile AMERICAN ROBIN:

On our way back from Pocatello, we stopped to visit Kathleen’s mom, Margaret, who is doing wonderfully, along with her darling new cat. I even got to sing a bit for her, If Ever I Would Leave You, from Camelot. So nice to see you, Margaret!

On the way out of Rupert, we stopped at the cemetery where we accidentally flushed a juvenile GREAT HORNED OWL out of a conifer:

It was a fantastic day of birding. Bird-of-the-day to my life bird Pinyon Jays, with runners-up to the Short-billed Dowitchers and Sagebrush Sparrows. A great day in the field, and thanks so much to Kathleen for driving!

Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1170 Species (1 life bird today: Pinyon Jay)