Another Spring bike ride
bike4birds
You know it’s going to be a great day when you get a half block from your house and there’s a Spotted Towhee in a neighbor’s bushes. While he was not FOY, he was the first I’ve ever seen in the North End of Boise. Then, at Esther Simplot, I saw a Kestrel gliding down from a tree. I followed his trajectory and he went UNDER a car, scaring up a Song Sparrow that was his apparent target. After going under the car and missing, he just kept on going to another tree. Next treat at Esther was a mixed raft of ducks: N. Shovelers, Canvasbacks, and FOY Cinnamon Teal. Twenty-two birds in less than 2 miles, a good start. At 6 miles I already had 36 species, so of course I had to go further. At the GH Owl’s nest, I had a flyover of Sandhill Cranes. That’s when I ran into my first birder, Missy Arnold. Shortly after that I ran into Jason Talbot. Thanks to the two of them, I was able to add a few more birds, including a pair of N. Harriers that seemed to be doing a “pas de deux” over the large open field at the end of the paved path. Right after that, I spotted something quite large moving through that field. Thinking it was a deer, I got out binos and found a Wild Turkey moving through the brush. I’ve attached the full list. Final tally was 57 birds in a little under 22 miles. Tom McCabe, Boise
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cheryl huizinga
That list is impressive but even more so because I know you memorize those birds – in order of being seen – and write them all down from memory when you get home. I’ve been trying to do it but it’s hard! Great Brain Exercise! You get a double whammy on your Bike4Birds – Physical and Mental Exercise! Keep it up! Love your posts! Cheryl
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: bike4birds
Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 4:30 PM To: IBLE@groups.io Subject: [IBLE] Another Spring bike ride
You know it’s going to be a great day when you get a half block from your house and there’s a Spotted Towhee in a neighbor’s bushes. While he was not FOY, he was the first I’ve ever seen in the North End of Boise. Then, at Esther Simplot, I saw a Kestrel gliding down from a tree. I followed his trajectory and he went UNDER a car, scaring up a Song Sparrow that was his apparent target. After going under the car and missing, he just kept on going to another tree. Next treat at Esther was a mixed raft of ducks: N. Shovelers, Canvasbacks, and FOY Cinnamon Teal. Twenty-two birds in less than 2 miles, a good start. At 6 miles I already had 36 species, so of course I had to go further. At the GH Owl’s nest, I had a flyover of Sandhill Cranes. That’s when I ran into my first birder, Missy Arnold. Shortly after that I ran into Jason Talbot. Thanks to the two of them, I was able to add a few more birds, including a pair of N. Harriers that seemed to be doing a “pas de deux” over the large open field at the end of the paved path. Right after that, I spotted something quite large moving through that field. Thinking it was a deer, I got out binos and found a Wild Turkey moving through the brush. I’ve attached the full list. Final tally was 57 birds in a little under 22 miles. Tom McCabe, Boise
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Kim Liebich
Ditto what Cheryl said! =)
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On Apr 2, 2021, at 7:14 AM, cheryl huizinga <bchuizinga@...> wrote: That list is impressive but even more so because I know you memorize those birds – in order of being seen – and write them all down from memory when you get home. I’ve been trying to do it but it’s hard! Great Brain Exercise! You get a double whammy on your Bike4Birds – Physical and Mental Exercise! Keep it up! Love your posts! Cheryl From: bike4birds Sent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 4:30 PM To: IBLE@groups.io Subject: [IBLE] Another Spring bike ride You know it’s going to be a great day when you get a half block from your house and there’s a Spotted Towhee in a neighbor’s bushes. While he was not FOY, he was the first I’ve ever seen in the North End of Boise. Then, at Esther Simplot, I saw a Kestrel gliding down from a tree. I followed his trajectory and he went UNDER a car, scaring up a Song Sparrow that was his apparent target. After going under the car and missing, he just kept on going to another tree. Next treat at Esther was a mixed raft of ducks: N. Shovelers, Canvasbacks, and FOY Cinnamon Teal. Twenty-two birds in less than 2 miles, a good start. At 6 miles I already had 36 species, so of course I had to go further. At the GH Owl’s nest, I had a flyover of Sandhill Cranes. That’s when I ran into my first birder, Missy Arnold. Shortly after that I ran into Jason Talbot. Thanks to the two of them, I was able to add a few more birds, including a pair of N. Harriers that seemed to be doing a “pas de deux” over the large open field at the end of the paved path. Right after that, I spotted something quite large moving through that field. Thinking it was a deer, I got out binos and found a Wild Turkey moving through the brush. I’ve attached the full list. Final tally was 57 birds in a little under 22 miles. Tom McCabe, Boise
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Jim Lyons
Tom- Agree with Cheryl that it’s very impressive brain work - you set a great example 😊 Reporting that we had a Spotted Towhee in our yard (near you) March 28th - a first for our (literal) yard list though I spotted one nearby years ago- oddly at rest (briefly) in the street. Do we have a theme of parallelism going here, ya think? Also agree with Cheryl - love your reports and keep it up, please!
On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 10:25 AM Kim Liebich <birdkimliebich@...> wrote:
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R L ROWLAND RONALD ROWLAND
Tom, RL here. I tried doing the memory thing for a given place. Didn't work too well for me, too many birds at some of the places I get to. And being badly scatter-brained nowadays, why I still use pencil and paper as I go, allows me to put notes on my ebird postings later... and I can check for any place corrections. Don't care for the ebird app, takes too long when I can better use the time to observe and appreciate the time and place about me. Plus you can't seem to engage the maps and correct for Hotspots one is at. Do miss your poetic endeavors here on some postings here, Tom. Will there be any more in the near future? Continued Good Birding (CGB). RL
----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Lyons <jflyons@...> To: IBLE@groups.io Sent: Fri, 02 Apr 2021 10:37:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: [IBLE] Another Spring bike ride Tom- Agree with Cheryl that it’s very impressive brain work - you set a great example \uD83D\uDE0A Reporting that we had a Spotted Towhee in our yard (near you) March 28th - a first for our (literal) yard list though I spotted one nearby years ago- oddly at rest (briefly) in the street. Do we have a theme of parallelism going here, ya think? Also agree with Cheryl - love your reports and keep it up, please! On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 10:25 AM Kim Liebich <birdkimliebich@...> wrote:
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bike4birds
Confession time! While I normally do exactly what Cheryl said, this time I decided to “cheat.” I carried a pen and a piece of paper and wrote down the birds 5 and 10 at a time. When I did a longer ride last week, I found myself enjoying the birds less as I approached 50 (too much thinking involved). Since I was hoping for a 50+ day. I decided to cheat. But on “normal” rides I will continue to exercise my brain. As most of you know, it was my therapy to cure my “chemo-brain,” after lymphoma. Now if there was only something to cure my “dumbs**t brain.” Tom
From: IBLE@groups.io <IBLE@groups.io> On Behalf Of R L ROWLAND RONALD ROWLAND
Sent: Friday, April 2, 2021 8:54 AM To: IBLE@groups.io Subject: Re: [IBLE] Another Spring bike ride
Tom, RL here. I tried doing the memory thing for a given place. Didn't work too well for me, too many birds at some of the places I get to. And being badly scatter-brained nowadays, why I still use pencil and paper as I go, allows me to put notes on my ebird postings later... and I can check for any place corrections. Don't care for the ebird app, takes too long when I can better use the time to observe and appreciate the time and place about me. Plus you can't seem to engage the maps and correct for Hotspots one is at. Do miss your poetic endeavors here on some postings here, Tom. Will there be any more in the near future? Continued Good Birding (CGB). RL
----- Original Message -----
Tom-
Agree with Cheryl that it’s very impressive brain work - you set a great example \uD83D\uDE0A
Reporting that we had a Spotted Towhee in our yard (near you) March 28th - a first for our (literal) yard list though I spotted one nearby years ago- oddly at rest (briefly) in the street. Do we have a theme of parallelism going here, ya think?
Also agree with Cheryl - love your reports and keep it up, please!
On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 10:25 AM Kim Liebich <birdkimliebich@...> wrote:
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Kit Struthers
While I’m driving alone, I use a digital voice recorder to keep track of the birds I see, then transpose the list to my computer when I get home.
Kit
Kit Struthers Idaho Falls, ID kit619@...
From: IBLE@groups.io [mailto:IBLE@groups.io] On Behalf Of R L ROWLAND RONALD ROWLAND
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2021 8:54 AM To: IBLE@groups.io Subject: Re: [IBLE] Another Spring bike ride
Tom, RL here. I tried doing the memory thing for a given place. Didn't work too well for me, too many birds at some of the places I get to. And being badly scatter-brained nowadays, why I still use pencil and paper as I go, allows me to put notes on my ebird postings later... and I can check for any place corrections. Don't care for the ebird app, takes too long when I can better use the time to observe and appreciate the time and place about me. Plus you can't seem to engage the maps and correct for Hotspots one is at. Do miss your poetic endeavors here on some postings here, Tom. Will there be any more in the near future? Continued Good Birding (CGB). RL
----- Original Message -----
Tom-
Agree with Cheryl that it’s very impressive brain work - you set a great example \uD83D\uDE0A
Reporting that we had a Spotted Towhee in our yard (near you) March 28th - a first for our (literal) yard list though I spotted one nearby years ago- oddly at rest (briefly) in the street. Do we have a theme of parallelism going here, ya think?
Also agree with Cheryl - love your reports and keep it up, please!
On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 10:25 AM Kim Liebich <birdkimliebich@...> wrote:
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