Idaho Day 2: Bald Mountain
Ketchum, ID
Saturday 10 August 2019
78 °F
Today, my sister and I hiked a little ways up the Warm Springs Trail on the north face of Bald Mountain. It is a short walk away from our condo and always has quality birds, and they did not disappoint today.
Swallows were flying around at the base of the trail, including this more uncommon CLIFF SWALLOW which was the first of which I got a proper view:
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, a western specialty, are definitely more common around here:
A few PINE SISKINS made brief flyover appearances:
CEDAR WAXWINGS:
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES like this one made a few appearances throughout the morning:
Female AMERICAN GOLDFINCH:
YELLOW WARBLER:
A mixed flock on the side of the mountain contained a number of BROWN CREEPERS, a bird notoriously hard to photograph.
I was hoping to see some Mountain Chickadees — at first I only found their BLACK-CAPPED cousins:
But then one MOUNTAIN did make an appearance with its different facial pattern and huskier call:
The YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS out here are the Audubon’s subspecies which has a yellow throat. The ones back out east have white throats.
And the real gem of the mixed flock was this gorgeous and less-common male TOWNSEND’S WARBLER, a bird I usually see just about once a year, and almost always on Bald Mountain! I wonder if they nest up there?
Other wildlife abounds along the trail as well.
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE:
What kind of berry are these?
Female LAZULI BUNTING:
Bird-of-the-day to the Townsend’s Warbler with runner-up to the Cliff Swallow. A great birding hike, and a welcome reintroduction to the western passerines for me!
Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 971 Species
