New Year birds

The last week has been working with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, trying to radio collar female Sage grouse to track them during the summer (I will be part of that tracking) and seeing birds for the first time this season.

Probably the worst "bad hair day" every time you see them are the Red-breasted mergansers, especially the males.  Flocks were everywhere to be seen this week with Market Lake being the best place to watch them.

 

Even though not a new bird, the female Downy was followed to my backyard by a male, but she rebuffed his advances.

 

Likewise, the female Osprey cowered when the male tried playing footsy with her.  It seemed like they appeared overnight everywhere with 9 pairs showing up to repair their nests around Rexburg.

 

The comical Ruddy ducks with their strange coloration and funny actions showed up in great numbers at Market Lake also.

 

American Avocets showed up in a few pairs and a few singles trying to break up the pairings.  They are always a welcome sight as they feed mostly with their heads under water.

 

Hundreds of elk are moving from the sagebrush covered desert up to the evergreen covered hills and mountains.  Most of their winter range is still closed to human activities until May 1, but then the antler hunters will follow the herd as they head north.

 

Mule deer are also migrating to the mountains and as you can see, they wintered well as the mature does have big bellies and will give birth sometime in May.

 

In the last week I was able to spend at least an hour or two up to full days in the wilds of Idaho enjoying what God has blessed us with.  May each of you have a bless'ed week until we meet next.

Hoodies attack Red-breasted

Yesterday I sat in a blind for four hours watching the migrating mergansers feeding and fighting.  What an experience.  There were about 40 Red-breasted mergansers feeding in an area and with them were six pair of Hooded mergansers.  They put on quite a show. 

One pair of Hoodies had staked out the area right by my blinds and it seemed like the best feeding area for the larger Red-breasted.

Here the male Hoody is showing off his crest as he tries to protect the area.

It seemed like his main job was to protect his would-be mate.  Any other bird that got too close was viciously attack.

After fishing, a male Red-breasted surfaced right by the female Hoody.  Not a good decision. 

When Mr. Hoody surfaced there was heck to pay.  With his bill wide open, he attack the larger bird.

Almost chasing him up on the bank right below my blind.

Later when a female Red-breasted got too close, it also was driven off by the angry boyfriend.

One time he went after both a female and male Red-breasted.  The female dove to get out of his way while the male peeked up for a breath before diving again.

As I was leaving, the master of the fishing hole, proudly displayed hoping the female will soon be ready for his advances.  But once she starts sitting on their eggs, he will be gone, pursuing other chicks or playful activities.  He will not be around to help with the children.

Four hours spent in Heaven in the wilds of Idaho.