Robert's Recent Birding

Jason Talbot and one of his eight daughters along with my oldest and youngest kids. Claire was checking out Snow Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, and Sandhill Cranes on some pasture land on the way to Fort Boise WMA.

I've been in heavy preparations for the first ever Boise Bird Festival, which will be part of the global Pledge to Fledge weekend on Saturday, April 27th. I'm certain I have bit off more than I can chew by trying to carry out this event as the sole organizer, but some really awesome people have volunteered to help in marvelous ways. If there's interest in making this an annual or biannual event, I'm going to form a committee and probably a 501(c)3 to do it more effectively and hopefully on an even larger scale.

Amid the general busyness of life, I've been able to sneak in some really great eBirding at my local patches. I've been consulting almost full-time at the Avimor community in the Boise foothills and so my lunch hour bird walks have been most wonderfully reinstated. I've been thrilled and delighted with the return of  each migrant species. I've not been doing a lot of photography, but just a enough digiscoping to keep me up on my game.

Snow Geese at Fort Boise WMA near Parma, Idaho.

I've got a Say's Phoebe nesting right outside my office window.

I saw and identified a Ferruginous Hawk for just the second and third times of my life in the last week or so.

Took my family and earlier a group of Boy Scouts camping in the Avimor backcountry and added several patch-first birds like Hairy Woodpecker, Snow Geese, Peregrine Falcon

A couple of my kids on top of Sheep Rock, a bolder and pine covered hill dramatically rising amid the rolling sagebrush hills. It is tucked deep into the Avimor backcountry and only the most intrepid hikers and mountain bikers ever get to see it...unless you get permission to use the Avimor Polaris Ranger, like we did. ;-)

Six Great Horned Owl nests and Two Red-tailed Hawk nests at Avimor

This Great Horned Owl nested on a very high power line tower on a nest usually used by Red-tailed Hawks. I've seen at least one fuzzy white head sticking up during feeding time. Pretty cool!

Downy Woodpecker making noise and preening. Territorial or mating display or both?

Western Meadowlark

I just love to hear these Western Meadowlarks singing each day.

A nesting pair of Osprey near Eagle Island State Park on my way from home to work. Fun to see every day. Also funny to see the amount of whitewash on the road below this nest!