Eastern Idaho with Kathleen Cameron!
Thursday 10 August 2017
80 °F
On Monday I went on a fantastic all-day birding trip by car with Kathleen Cameron. She is a great friend and an amazing guide - she even has her own travel birding company called Majestic Feathers which you HAVE to check out at http://www.majesticfeathers.com
SAGE THRASHER:
Male RUDDY DUCK:
SORA:
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, a year bird for Kathleen:
WILSON'S SNIPE:
SAGEBRUSH SPARROW, a life bird for me!!!
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, a really unexpected year bird for both of us at a pond in Roberts, Idaho!
Male LESSER SCAUP with a MALLARD:
Male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, a year bird!
REDHEAD family:
Stunning TRUMPETER SWAN family:
Then we had a breathtaking photoshoot with two wonderfully-cooperative AMERICAN BITTERNS at Camas Wildlife Refuge:
SANDHILL CRANE:
GLOSSY IBIS, year bird!
SNOWY EGRETS, a USA life bird for me since I have only ever seen these in Central America before!
Q
GREAT BLUE HERON flyby:
AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS with MALLARDS:
Female NORTHERN HARRIER:
Female BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD:
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE:
GREAT HORNED OWL:
FERRUGINOUS HAWK, year bird and the largest hawk in the US:
We looked for Burrowing Owls here but only found their burrows:
COMMON NIGHTHAWK:
LESSER SCAUP:
EARED GREBE, life bird!
Juvenile PIED-BILLED GREBE:
Male LAZULI BUNTING:
Male BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD:
WARBLING VIREO:
Juvenile SPOTTED TOWHEE, year bird!
Moose!
Ended the day with a nice look at this VIRGINIA RAIL, a seldom-seen species!
Bird-of-the-day goes to the Sagebrush Sparrow with runners-up to the Eared Grebe and the American Bittern.
What a great day! A BIG thank you to Kathleen for driving for 14+ hours and birding with me! The full day list is attached below.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 931 Species (2 life birds Monday: Sagebrush Sparrow & Eared Grebe)
81 species (LB indicates life bird):
1. Canada Goose
2. Trumpeter Swan
3. Gadwall
4. Mallard
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Northern Pintail
7. Redhead
8. Lesser Scaup
9. Ruddy Duck
10. California Quail
11. Ring-necked Pheasant
12. Pied-billed Grebe
13. Eared Grebe (LB)
14. American White Pelican
15. American Bittern
16. Great Blue Heron
17. Snowy Egret
18. White-faced Ibis
19. Osprey
20. Northern Harrier
21. Swainson's Hawk
22. Red-tailed Hawk
23. Ferruginous Hawk
24. Golden Eagle
25. American Kestrel
26. Virginia Rail
27. Sora
28. American Coot
29. Sandhill Crane
30. Killdeer
31. Black-necked Stilt
32. Wilson's Snipe
33. Ring-billed Gull
34. Rock Pigeon
35. Eurasian Collared-Dove
36. Mourning Dove
37. Great Horned Owl
38. Common Nighthawk
39. Black-chinned Hummingbird
40. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
41. Rufous Hummingbird
42. Western Wood-Pewee
43. Willow Flycatcher
44. Western Kingbird
45. Eastern Kingbird
46. Loggerhead Shrike
47. Warbling Vireo
48. Clark's Nutcracker
49. Black-billed Magpie
50. American Crow
51. Common Raven
52. Violet-green Swallow
53. Bank Swallow
54. Barn Swallow
55. Black-capped Chickadee
56. Red-breasted Nuthatch
57. Rock Wren
58. House Wren
59. Marsh Wren
60. American Robin
61. Gray Catbird
62. Sage Thrasher
63. European Starling
64. Cedar Waxwing
65. Northern Waterthrush
66. Yellow Warbler
67. Yellow-breasted Chat
68. Spotted Towhee
69. Vesper Sparrow
70. Sagebrush Sparrow (LB)
71. Song Sparrow
72. Western Tanager
73. Lazuli Bunting
74. Red-winged Blackbird
75. Western Meadowlark
76. Yellow-headed Blackbird
77. Brewer's Blackbird
78. Great-tailed Grackle
79. House Sparrow
80. Pine Siskin
81. American Goldfinch
Posted by skwclar 08:39 Archived in USA Tagged majesticfeathers
Awesome photos and narrative as usual, Henry! Those birding encounters remind me of my trips to Florida, where birds that are uncommon elsewhere were everywhere. Congrats on your lifers Sagebrush Sparrow and Eared Grebe!
P.S. Did you look into the possibility of the Vireo being a Philly? I could be wrong, but it stood out to me as one. Also, I think the heading to your last photo should say "these Virginia Rails"
by Jonathan Bontrager