Busy Saturday

I wanted to do some birding Saturday, but I was not able to do any serious until 11:30 and I headed for Market Lake Wildlife Management area. 
Early it was all raptors like this Prairie Falcon.

There were plenty of starlings for the falcons, kestrels, and shrikes for lunch and dinner.

I finally located another nesting Great-horned owl nest to make four that I have found so far.

This "big daddy" did not feel up to attacking me as he has twice before.

And spring is in the air as these two Canada geese are flirting and showing off for each other.

A great way to finish the day was watching three Golden Eagles playing tag high over head and then locating and photographing a flock of Common Red Polls (later this week in my blog, madisonbirds) after a successful fishing trip.

A great day in the wilds of Idaho.

Eagle attack

Yesterday I went ice fishing on Ririe Reservoir for kokanee and trout.  It had been slow for the last two weeks for me, so I decided to take one more trip to see if fishing had improved.  It was spitting snow and the wind was cold so I set up my ice shelter.

I had caught a trout when a school of kokanee came in.  I had caught four and threw them out on the ice as I tried to continue catching them.  I heard a swooshing sound and saw two bald eagles fly by the shelter picking up two of my kokanee.  My camera was in my sled outside and I was minus two of my fish.

I was surprised that the eagles would dive within eight feet of my red shelter to pick up my fish.  A fisherman about a hundred yards up the lake told me an eagle had stolen a fish from another fisherman during the week and had been so close that it wing had hit the man.  It was probably the one of the two that raided me.

I had moved one of my rods about 30 feet away to fish some rocks for trout while I continued catching kokanee.  I had just caught a trout when the man yelled at me that an eagle was coming.  I dropped the fish and ran for my camera.

Here is what I got from this attack:

At about 12 feet away, I messed up some of the pictures as the eagle was moving too fast and the sky was very cloudy and dark.

I did not get another trout, but went home with a trout and six kokanee. 

The most important things I went home with was images and memories of another great day in the Wilds of Idaho.

Pinyon Jays and others

I went back out to where I saw the Pinyon Jays yesterday and set up my blind and sit there for two hours.  The jays came in twice and I was able to get some better pictures.

I also watched over 30 American Goldfinch with three Lesser Goldfinch mixed with them.

I also had 20 Dark-eyed Juncos around me.  They ran from a very dark head to a light grey head.

Some appeared to be almost a blue head and throat.

I also saw Housefinch, magpies, Juniper Titmouse, Canada Geese, Trumpeter Swans, starlings, Red-shafted flickers and Downy woodpeckers.

Another great day celebrating the wildness of Idaho.

Pinyon Jays and Downys

This evening I went hunting for a flock of Pinyon jays along the South Fork of the Snake River.  I found them visiting a house with feeders near junipers.  With the heavy cloud cover and lateness of the day, good pictures were hard to come by.  Here is a male feeding in a juniper.

Another male takes off from the top of a juniper bush.

I got permission to set up a blind on the property and the first day we have good light, I will be there waiting for some good photos.

I also found a pair of Downy woodpeckers flirting with each other.  Here is the male with his red skull cap on.

Here the female is playing a little coy as she glances at him.

What a great way to spend some time in the wilds of Idaho and the birds of Madison County.