Day 8: Birding by Bike
Monday 3 August 2015
74 °F
Today I spent a good part of the morning birding the nearby Warm Springs Road from my bike. This is a very good road for birding because it follows Warm Springs Creek, passes several lakes, and goes through many different habitat types as varied as willow shrublands to montane coniferous forest.
I birded from 10:00am to 11:15am under overcast skies and a pleasingly cool temperature in the upper 50's or lower 60's. It would be overall a much cooler day today than yesterday, with temperatures only topping out at 74 degrees around midday, versus 91.
A flock of PINE SISKINS feeding on the ground near my condo:
Male LAZULI BUNTING - I am always pleased when I get the chance to photograph this beautiful species that ranges throughout the Rocky Mountains:
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE:
Female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, one of the best birds of the bike ride:
WILLOW FLYCATCHER:
Below is the list of avian species, 32 in total, I identified on my morning bike ride.
American Kestrel
Rufous Hummingbird
WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
American Robin
GRAY CATBIRD
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lazuli Bunting
Cassin's Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
I am writing this report in the afternoon and I am looking forward to a steak dinner with my family at a restaurant in the nearby town of Ketchum called the "Pioneer Saloon."
Bird-of-the-day to the female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, one of the most uncommon birds I saw today. Runner-up to the photogenic male LAZULI BUNTING.
Stay tuned and good birding!
Henry
World Life List: 857 Species (no life birds today)
