Valentine owls - GBBC

For the last two days I have been enjoying the Great Backyard Bird Count even though we are having a lot of rain and fog on top of two feet of snow.  It won't last long with all this warm weather.

Here is my favorite picture of the two days.  I found these two Great Horned owls celebrating Valentine's Day the day after.  Or maybe it is a real relationship as it is time for them to pair up and start nesting.

The Deer Parks WMA west of Rexburg now has about 500 trumpeter swan, 400 Canada geese and 400 mallards working the stubble field and starting on the corn patch as they are migrating in.

Even though it is still frozen over, Market Lake WMA has been invaded by waxwings.  Here is a lone Bohemian waxwing joining a flock of Cedar waxwings there.  They are feeding off the Russian olives.

At the Teton River bottoms and Henrys Fork of the Snake River, I am still finding the rare Great Gray owls.  They will soon start moving back up the the mountains to nest and raise their young.  My 2014 Bucket List includes to find a Great Gray owl nest this spring.

Camas NWR is the roosting place for about 40 bald eagles and here are two that are working the calving and lambing operations within a few miles of the refuge.

Just another couple of days in the wilds of Idaho.  Have a great day.

Midge hatch feeds birds

Saturday I drove to Henrys Lake to check on spawning fish and on the way home I decided to check the Henrys Fork for birds.  Midges were hatching by the millions and were all over the snow.

The first birds I noticed were European Starlings feeding on the midges.

A little further down the road I found what I was looking for - waxwings.  About 100 Bohemian and Cedar were sitting in the bushes, flying out to pick off the hatching midges.  Only a few of them were Cedar's while the majority were these beautiful Bohemians.

At times I would catch one "sallying" or hoovering  long enough to pick of the flying insects.  Robins and Mountain Bluebirds were joining the waxwing in the feast.

What a great sight to see, spending a few hours in the wilds of Idaho.