Day 1: Travel Day to Idaho
Friday 1 August 2014
100 °F
Hello everybody,
This will be a relatively short post with no photos as I am very tired from a LONG travel day and didn't have any chances to properly go birding.
My dad drove my mom, Pearl, and I to Chicago Midway Airport at around 10:30am so that the three of us could catch our direct flight out to Boise; my dad will stay home for a week then join the rest of us out here later on because he has work obligations back home.
Our flight was miserable because of three factors:
1) We sat on the pavement for at least a half an hour and were delayed considerably
2) Once we actually got up into the air, the flight was very, very turbulent. There were a few times when my mom and I were clinging to our seats and Pearl commented, "It feels like we will stick to the ceiling!" Yeah, it was that kind of flight. My hypothesis is that budget airlines like Southwest Airlines purposefully take you through turbulence just to enhance the "budget-y" feeling of the flight.
3) It seemed as if the flight was actually a playdate for the over twelve <3-year-olds who were aboard, terrorizing the rest of the passengers by uttering their characteristically immature noises and kicking the back of my chair. Hard. For the entire flight. Just arghh...
Anyway, we made it safely to Boise and after a 4+ hour commute to our beautiful rental condo in the scenic mountains near Sun Valley, Idaho, we are all finally settled down. The temperature change between Boise (100 degrees) and our condo in the mountains (70 degrees) was very noteworthy and just goes to show you how elevation can affect climate, and, as I will probably see tomorrow, avian life.
I saw a few birds along the drive, but, like I said, I didn't have any chances to properly "go birding," so it is only a short bird list with no photos:
SWAINSON'S HAWK (FOY)
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
WESTERN KINGBIRD (FOY)
Black-billed Magpie (FOY)
American Crow (first bird seen, good thing it was a native species at least)
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Brewer's Blackbird
House Sparrow
Tomorrow I promise a better, longer, photo-packed post because birding will be the theme of my day.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 678 species (no life birds today)
