Because Avimor is up in the foothills north of Eagle, Idaho, except for man-made ponds and a couple wide spots in the creek, we don't have much open water. That's why I was surprised to first hear the unmistakable rattling cry and then to see the Belted Kingfisher flying over Spring Valley Creek this morning. Perhaps it was on its way from the Payette River to the Boise River. The Belted Kingfisher is Avimor's official record bird #93. An interesting blog post and photogrpahy about the Belted Kingfisher can be found here on the Pacific NW Backyard Birder blog.
I found a momma raccoon and three babies in the abandoned Swainson's Hawk nest near the Avimor entry towers. They looked snuggled and cozy. Perhaps they are the reason the nest failed in the first place. Avimor residents have been reporting raccoons eating their cat and dog food.
Anyway, another great morning of Idaho birding at Avimor. Twenty-one species total including a handsome little House Wren, a flock of Cedar Waxwings flying overhead, and a pair of super cute Black-capped Chickadees feeding on a sunflower.
I saw my first 2 belted kingfishers today without even knowing as they squaked and flew by. I have only just made the ID from some blurry photos :) Then I saw my 3rd sitting on a wire in a totally different location and got some much better photos of it. As it turns out, it was very dark in colour like the one you have shown here. I was trying to figure out if that was due to it being a juvenile. Do you happen to know?
ReplyDelete