Month: July 2021

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We returned to Yellowstone Park that morning, stopping at beautiful Swan Lake. We continued down the road next to a rushing stream, with Josh listening carefully. Soon we pulled over and bushwhacked to the edge of the water. The American Dipper was singing loudly, in between hunting and feeding her three chicks.

We carried on into Idaho on our way to Twin Falls. We intended to check the lake at Harriman State Park. We saw a pair of Trumpeter swans, American Wigeons, Phalaropes, grebes and other waterfowl.

While we were returning from the lake we met a photographer/birder from Washington State. She described in detail how to find a group of Saw-whet Owl chicks right in the park not far away. As we got close to the location we were unsure about how to proceed. The birder showed up and took us straight to the spot. I was first in the group walking along a narrow path. Someone said stop!-look up! There was an owl right in front of me! We had to speak quietly and move carefully to avoid disturbing them but they remained perched while we all took photos. The bird in the second photo appears to have traces of blood around it’s mouth, probably left from breakfast. This was a real bonus sighting and unexpected. While this species was not a lifer for us, we still rarely see them.

We weren’t finished looking for owls. After dinner we left our hotel and headed for Magic Mountain Ski area outside of Twin Falls Idaho. By the time we got there it was starting to get dark.

Joshed played the call of the Flammulated Owl, and we heard it respond. We were in that general area from 10:10 pm until 11:30. In that time we heard four different Flammulated Owls but we never saw them. But “heard only” still qualifies the bird for the eBird list, giving us another lifer!

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We stopped here for a quick breakfast before heading to Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. Bill was on his toes and got a photo of the Clark’s Nutcracker.

Shoshone National Forest, Cody, Wyoming

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A few photos from the red Lodge area.

  We stopped at a lot of places looking for various high elevation birds. There was a lot of sage brush and we found two birds named after it, the Sage Thrasher and the Sagebrush Sparrow, below.       The Gray Flycatcher was found here in Bear Canyon along with the Mountain Chickadee.

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The tiny blue dot shows where we were the morning of June 18th. There is grass as far as you can see until the foothills appear. 

 This is almost lush compared to the short, dry grass we saw yesterday. The difference in habitat means we’ll find different birds. Our first sighting of the Sprague’s Pipit came soon after we got here. This description from the Montana Government website describes what we witnessed. “The bird is most easily detected by its unique flight song given high overhead (as high as 75 meters); a high-pitched, thin “jingling” sound that can continue for as long as an hour (Peterson 2002, King 1981). Johnsgard (1992) notes that the species’ spectacular circular song-flight display around its territory, during which its white outer tail feathers are conspicuously spread, compensates for its particularly inconspicuous plumage.” No photos of this bird since it was high in the sky when we saw it. Another lifer was the Chestnut-collared Longspur (left). This is a sparrow-like bird with a black breast, a golden face and a bright chestnut-colored collar. 

We drove to another spot nearby, with the same type of habitat, and we heard another Sprague’s Pipit. We heard Western Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows and Thick-billed Longspurs and finally- Baird’s Sparrow,  Singing his heart out.  

Our next stop was to look for the owl that makes its home underground. He was easy to find-just look for Prairie Dog! The Burrowing Owl nests in abandoned Prairie Dog burrows.  The dogs and the owls seem to get along just fine.

We continued to travel east and south, stopping here and there for roadside birds, Josh keeping his window cracked, listening for any bird singing. We stopped at Pictograph Cave State Park where we saw the Rock Wren, Lazuli Bunting and a few other species. No Canyon Wren which was too bad because it has a beautiful song.

We drove on to Beartooth Pass. We hiked to an area with huge red boulders.                                    Flitting around were some small very dark birds that showed some pink as they flew. These were Black Rosy-Finches, only seen at high elevations. Also seen were Mountain Bluebirds!