Market Lake

Saturday I traveled to Market Lake to see if the cold night brought in some birds.  I was not disappointed.  About 20 American Avocets were working the shallows.

 

 

There were a mixed flock of about 50 sandpipers and dowitchers.  Here a Pectoral Sandpiper joins a couple of Long-billed Dowitchers.

 

I got a kick watching a Long-billed Dowitcher bathing.  It was hilarious.

 

A Northern Harrier attack a bunch of shorebirds and I caught this Long-billed flying low enough to drag a wing in the water.

 

Enjoying another day in the wildness of Idaho.  With a day off from teaching tomorrow, I will be back out somewhere - Probably Market Lake to see if I can find some different birds.

This week I went after a load of firewood in Island Park when I saw a Clarks Nutcracker fly into a fir tree.  I grabbed my camera and found not only one in the Douglas fir tree, but about 30 in three trees that were loaded with cones.  Due to the hot dry weather this summer many fir trees are coneless.  I watched as they would grab the cones at their base and twists them off the limb.

 

 

Then most of the birds would take the cones into the interior of the tree, wedge the cone in a crook of the limb and then hammer the cone with a wicked large bill.

 

After loosening the cone, the Nutcracker would pick the seeds out, depositing them in a pouch under their tongue.

 

After filling the pouch, they would pick another cone and off they would fly to deposit the cone and the seeds in a cache on a nearby ridge.

 

Just another day of wildness in the wilds of Idaho.

Death at Market Lake WMA

Last week I drove out to Market Lake WMA for a short time but saw this mess.  A farmer had discarded his twine from his hay that he had fed his cows and left it laying everywhere.  It was all over the ground along with other garbage.  A pair of ospreys had used the twine in building their nest and one of the chicks had become tangled in some of the twine and fell from the nest where it died.

 

So I am encouraging everyone who feeds livestock to dispose of the twine in a burn barrel and burn it so this does not happen.  It was a waste of a beautiful bird.

 

 

 

 

Sorry the pictures are sideways, but don't know how to correct them.

 

 

I also met this wonderful marsh wren as it tried to visit me inside my blind.

 

Another day in the wilds of Idaho.

Saturday full of birds

Saturday I decided to run out to Market Lake Wildlife Managment Area to try to find a few birds.  There were some fun birds like this Clark's Grebe that I watched catching some lunch.  I love the beautiful red eyes.



 

 

 

Then I watched hundreds of coots and this Mom was feeding it newly hatched chick.

 

I love Snowy Egrets and they are getting more common here in Madison and Jefferson Counties here in Idaho. I watched as it caught and picked the spines off this small catfish.

 

Just another wild day in Idaho.

Red-necked Grebes and Mountain Bluebirds

I have not posted for almost 10 months as I became frustrated with all the anon. comments and others stealing my photos.  So I have made a few changes as a lot of people have asked for me to resume.  So I will try another time.

I went fishing on Henrys Lake on Tuesday and had a good time except for the wind that was blowing  when I got there and then started again about 9 after a couple of hours fishing.  As I was coming off the water I saw a battle waging in the shallows.  It was two male Red-necked grebes competing from a female.  It was the first time I ever saw a Red-necked fly and also the first time for a battle.

 

Here is the winner of the female, showing off after chasing off his enemy.

 

 

This was the battle over the female.

 

Driving around the lake, I observed this mother Mountain Bluebird feeding her young.