Day 11: More Bike Birding!
Thursday 6 August 2015
80 °F
I'm back after a few days of not posting because I simply spent yesterday and the day before relaxing, swimming at our pool, and listening to the virtuosic Sun Valley Summer Symphony in which my parents play. Today I birded the beautiful Warm Springs Road near Sun Valley, Idaho again by bike and I found some quality birds!
Very small chipmunks like these are very common around here; however, I do not know the species:
WILLOW FLYCATCHER. Flycatchers were the avian highlight of this morning's ride; as well as this Willow, I identified Olive-sided, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran, Dusky, and Hammond's Flycatchers along Warm Springs Road!
Nonbreeding-plumaged male MALLARD in a nearby lake:
A YELLOW WARBLER preparing for takeoff:
A very distant AMERICAN KESTREL, a type of small falcon. I was lucky to spot this guy perched on a far-away ridge!
In the afternoon, I swam at the pool as well as a beautiful nearby spring-fed lake called Dollar Lake that has very mild temperatures compared to many other colder montane lakes in the area. Here it is:
Here is the full avian species list for the morning:
Mallard
American Kestrel
Raptor Sp.
Mourning Dove
Humming Sp.
Lewis' Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatcher
Black-billed Magpie
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
American Robin
GRAY CATBIRD
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyes Junco
CASSIN'S FINCH
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Later in the day, I added BREWER'S BLACKBIRD as well as both CALLIOPE & RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS for a total of 37 avian species identified today. The bird-of-the-day award will go to the photographed WILLOW FLYCATCHER and the runners-up will be the other five species of flycatcher today: OLIVE-SIDED, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, CORDILLERAN, DUSKY, & HAMMOND'S.
Stay tuned, because tomorrow my family will take me birding to two SUPER productive birding hotspots nearby: Silver Creek Preserve and the Magic Reservoir. Get ready for a photo-heavy post!
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 857 Species (no life birds today)
