Day 2: First Full Day in Idaho!
Saturday 2 August 2014
82 °F
Today was my first full day spent in the beautiful mountainous country near Sun Valley, Idaho, this year.
I went birding in the morning. There is a convenient trail that is very productive for birding that leads basically from the backyard of our rental condo up a mountain. Quickly, the two most common sparrow species were established along the trail:
SONG SPARROW:
And DARK-EYED JUNCO. This species occurs as a winter bird back in Illinois but stays the whole year round here in Idaho.
At one point this gorgeous WESTERN TANAGER, a male, posed nicely for a shot of himself:
Trust me, I got better looks at my LIFE BIRD CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER than this photo shows of the bird!
Birding in the mountains is great. The fragrance of the alpine wildflowers, such as the ones pictured below, augments the already supremely peaceful experience of listening to the ethereal birdsong of the Rockies and soaking up the amazing mountain views:
Juvenile HOUSE WREN:
Female YELLOW WARBLER:
Later in the day, I found a roosting colony of LEWIS' WOODPECKERS, a species of woodpeckers that resides in the Rocky Mountains but is extremely patchy and local this far north. I took photos of the birds but I will go back there tomorrow morning and I promise better photos of these clown-like woodpeckers.
Bird-of-the-day to my life bird CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, and runner-up to the colony of LEWIS' WOODPECKERS.
Stay tuned for more bird fun tomorrow! Full species list for the day is attached below my signature.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 681 Species (1 life bird today: Cordilleran Flycatcher)
FOY=first of the year sighting
33 species:
Mallard 7
Black-chinned Hummingbird 2 FOY
Lewis's Woodpecker 15 Found roosting sight; likely more birds were around. FOY.
Northern Flicker 1
Western Wood-Pewee 2 FOY
Cordilleran Flycatcher 2 LIFE BIRD!
Warbling Vireo 1
Steller's Jay 1 FOY
Black-billed Magpie 2 FOY
American Crow 5
Common Raven 2
Violet-green Swallow 30 FOY
Barn Swallow 8
Cliff Swallow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Mountain Chickadee 2 FOY
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 5
American Dipper 1 FOY
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 5
European Starling X
Yellow Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Western Tanager 2 FOY
Brewer's Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
House Finch 2
Pine Siskin 5
House Sparrow X
