Christmas Bird Count

Though I enjoy birding, I had never participated in a Christmas bird count. That is when Audubon and birding groups all across the nation do an annual one-day survey of as many birds and bird species as can be located in specific areas. This allows comparison, year after year, of exactly the same area to monitor population changes.

On Saturday Cyndi and I participated in the count in Nampa and on Sunday we did the same for Boise. This meant getting up very early in the morning and beginning to bird at daybreak ... then covering as much of our assigned portion of the area as possible as long as there was daylight.

The Boise area is a circle with a radius of 7.5 miles, centered on the capitol building. It was divided into about 14 areas and we scoured one of those smaller areas, first with three very experienced birders in the morning, then by ourselves in the afternoon. We carefully documented what we saw and counted the birds as accurately as possible.

Here is the spot we went to first in Boise, on Sunday morning. The sunrise was beautiful and the birds on this partially-frozen pond were just waking up. A Bald Eagle flew into the tree against the sunrise colors and a Merlin was seen there as well.

There were 832 Canada Geese out there, along with about 70 Northern Shovelers, a Ring-necked Duck, Common Merganser, and a couple of Coots. There were some Cackling Geese, too.

I took this photo on Saturday, on the Nampa count. Though birds are the objective, this old barn with the horses was a nice bit of local color I couldn't ignore.

One unexpected bird my group of four located in Nampa was this Great Egret. They usually leave when the weather gets cold, so it was neat to document this straggler.

Idaho has a lot of raptors (birds of prey) of all types. Cyndi and I located this Cooper's Hawk.

We saw quite a few Bald Eagles over the course of the day. This adult flew down the Boise River, then perched in this tree in the early dawn light.

I'm not sure, but I think this is a birdhouse. Hear what I'm saying, squirrel, *bird*house.

Some birds can be tough to identify. Here Cyndi is using her binoculars on an unusual, large pink bird seen near a feeder on somebody's lawn.

Up Before the Early Bird

On Saturday I went on an Audubon outing to see Greater Sage-Grouse strut on their lek (a place where males gather to have a dance contest to attract a mate). To see this behaviour we had to be there very early in the morning ... before the sun rises. And, since Sage-Grouse habitat is fast diminishing, it was a long drive to get to their lek.

I was not disappointed. Here a male inflates special air sacs, lowers his wings, fans out his tail and makes his a special resonant call that is amplified by the air sacs. To me, the sound is reminiscent of a stone being dropped into a pool of water. Sort of a "bloop-a-loop."


Later in the day, as the freezing temperatures warmed up to almost 60 degrees, one member of the group found this Bewick's Wren. Though more common on the coast, they can occasionally be found in Idaho. I was told that the name is pronounced like the automobile "Buick's" wren.


Some other birds that were of interest to me were the Common Loon, Ross's Goose, and "Blue Goose" (which is really just a dark morph of the Snow Goose).

We also saw this small, delicate member of the Iris family, a Grass Widow flower.

Audubon birding outing

On Saturday I went on a Golden Eagle Audubon Society birding field trip to C.J. Strike Reservoir near Mountain Home, Idaho. I always learn something new when I travel with these experienced birders. And, I saw a bird that was new to me, the White-winged Scoter.




I also got a nice photo of a beautiful gull, the Bonaparte's Gull. Gull identification can be difficult because to the untrained eye the differences can be subtle, and gulls don't just switch from juvenile to adult plumage, or winter to breeding plumage ... they change some of their feathers, in a cycle that is more complex than many other bird species. And, they interbreed, so it may be half one species and half of another.




Maybe that's why I think the Bonaparte's Gull is beautiful. Its graceful black and white detailing is very distinctive.