Six inches of snow last Sunday doubled the number of Northern flickers at my feeders from the usual eight to 16 on Monday. That number stayed consistent through the snowstorms and blizzards this week, with the highest numbers before 8 a.m. each morning.

Monday morning, while photographing the feeding frenzy at the six suet cakes hanging in my trees, I noticed one female with bright yellow tail feathers – all of them! A lifer for me, a Yellow-shafter Northern flicker. I had photographed and observed crosses of the Yellow- and Red-shafted flickers with a mixture of yellow and red feathers in their tails and wings, but never a full-blooded yellow one.

As I was spending most of my time tracking the yellow-colored female, I saw another one with yellow wings flush off another suet cake. Suddenly, I had two of them. I noticed they liked a certain suet cake set away from the others, so I moved it closer to my hiding place to get better pictures.

Once they were forced to feed with most of the other flickers, I found female Red-shafted flickers would chase the yellow ones off the feeders. As they were pushed off the feeders, they would show the color on the bottoms of their feathers.

Typically, Yellow-shafted flickers winter along the Pacific Coast, summer from Alaska through Canada, and in the northern United States from the Dakota to Maine. The Mountain States from Canada to Mexico hold the Red-shafted flickers. They were classified as two different species at one time, but now they are two of 11 subspecies in the Northern Flicker species.

Both females look very similar, but I find the Yellow-shafted females are lighter in color than the Red-shafted females. Males differ, with the Red-shafted having a “red mustache” instead of a black one on the yellow ones. Yellow ones have a red “chevron” on the back of their neck, while the red ones do not have one at all. A male cross between the two subspecies has a faint chevron and a light red or gray mustache. I am hoping for a male Yellow-shafted to show up so I can get some pictures of him.

During a snowstorm Thursday morning, most of the Red-shafted flickers moved to larger trees and hugged the trunks to get out of the blinding flying snow; a Yellow-shafted found an unoccupied food station. Due to the strong winds, it found it challenging to stay on the suet but was determined to get breakfast while the Red-shafted tried to protect themselves from the storm. By the time I had to leave, the Yellow-shafted had flown to a distant hybrid poplar to protect itself from the blowing snow.

I will not be surprised if the numbers continue to rise during this bitter-cold weekend. They certainly know how to let their buddies know where the food is.

It is also time for the Bald eagles to start gathering at Camas National Wildlife Refuge, and the bitter cold will encourage them to gather for the evenings out there. I will keep you informed. We are also expecting Ririe Reservoir to freeze over. Hopefully, we will find a few kokanee and trout there soon. We are hungry for some fish.

I would like to thank everyone who notified me where they have been seeing Pine grosbeaks and other strange birds. These birds appear in most communities in the Upper Snake River Valley. As this blizzard subsides, we may see a lot of changes during the predicted bitter cold. Keeping the feeders full will be critical for them if you are feeding birds.

Have a wonderful and safe week. Be kind and considerate to others, please.

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On Dec. 30, 2023, two surveyors located eight rare pine grosbeaks in Smith Park near the Madison Memorial Hospital during the Rexburg Christmas survey. The next day, another birder reported seeing 11. By Monday morning, January 1, another birder notified me that she had seen several feeding near the pavilion at the park. I found the birds mid-afternoon and counted 14 feeding in a deciduous tree.

I have seen single Pine grosbeaks many years ago while hiking and hunting in area mountains, but this was the first time I could photograph them. I was so excited that I could finally add them to my list of life birds. By Friday, the numbers had increased to over 20 birds. These were the first of this species to be recorded on “eBird” since 2020 in the Rexburg area.

Pine grosbeaks have been showing up in the Boise area since October, causing some writers and birders to communicate about the starting of an “irruption” of them. An irruption is when a species of bird migrates further than they usually would to find food for the winter. Once they find an area with cover and lots of food, they will remain there until they run out of food or the weather pushes them out.

These birds are usually found in Canada in the west and the eastern northern United States, making their homes in the Boreal forests.

Smith Park has many mature evergreen trees with deciduous trees loaded with seeds. They will eat the buds, the first-year needles from the evergreens, as well as buds and seeds from the leafless deciduous trees. I also noticed that instead of coming to the ground for water, they eat the snow off the branches of the evergreens to get the moisture they need.

Grosbeaks usually rest halfway up on the evergreens if you look for them. When they feed, they are in the tops of the trees filled with seeds. They are fairly quiet and can sit for 15 to 20 minutes while eating without moving to another branch. When one flies to a tree, it will take a few minutes before others start flying to it.

The Pine grosbeaks at Smith Park are a small subspecies. They are about the same size as an American robin. They probably migrated from British Columbia, Canada. These are the smallest of the Pine grosbeak family; the ones in the east are the largest.

They are very tolerant of humans, as I have watched them while families have been sledding in the park, and they have never flushed while I have been studying them. Literature also states that they should stay in the area until they run out of food.

They are probably in other area towns and groves of trees. Four have been located at Beaver Dick Park, west of Rexburg. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are already in Idaho Falls, Pocatello, St. Anthony, Rigby or Ashton. Look for groups of mature evergreens with seed-laden leafless trees and you may find them. They have been located in several towns around Boise, in the Ketchum and Middleton areas. In 2019, they were near the Kelly Canyon Ski area.

Pine grosbeak males have red on their heads and shoulders; some have yellow on their breasts and red on their back, while the females are dark slate gray with mustard yellow heads. Their beaks are powerful, and it does not take them long to shell the seeds they gather. These birds also have pouches on the side of the tongue where they can store seeds for their offspring or a midnight snack.

Please let me know if you find them in your town or a cemetery near you, as it could be essential to know how many have migrated into the Upper Snake River Valley this winter. Keep your sunflower feeders full as they may visit them as that is their favorite feeder food.

Stay safe and watch out for big game crossing the roads.

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A flock of over 30 Evening grosbeaks flew from one grove of chokecherries to another grove of hawthorns before heading to the Henrys Fork for a drink. Another flock about the same size worked the evergreens near the Warm River Campground before landing along the warm water to get a drink after gorging on sugar-rich berries and area bird feeders.

The little Red-breasted nuthatches have been everywhere that I have been looking for birds from Warm River to my own backyard. They sneak into feeders when the bigger songbirds and raptors are not present. They use their long dagger-like bills with enthusiasm as they chase Black-capped chickadees and House finches from the feeders when they show up.

The first ever Swenson’s hawk recorded in Idaho in the month of December was recorded this year just a week before Christmas by Rexburg birder, Darren Clark. Most of these raptors left in September, but with the warm weather and the lack of snow, rodents were still available for these warm weather hunters.

Another anomaly we have seen is of Steller’s jays showing up in backyard feeders throughout the valley. From Ashton to Idaho Falls, reports of these stunning black/blue birds have often been identified them as “blue jays” or “blue cardinals.” These birds love peanuts or whole sunflower seeds and I have had one, off and on, since September. The nuthatches eat right along with them and do not drive them away as they do the smaller feeder birds.

The recent three or four days of cold weather with about two to four inches of snow on the ground may push these birds to southern areas; we will just have to watch what happens. Keep me informed if you see interesting birds at your feeders or yards.

It is also time for the first of the winter bird surveys as birders are gathering to count all birds in a given area in the 124th Annual Christmas Bird Count. A historical 15-mile radius circle will be divided into areas that teams of two or three birders will identify and count every bird they see. These numbers are then compiled and compared to historical numbers to determine what changes are happening. This year’s numbers should vary greatly for last year because of the snow depth and the weather.

I love to follow two of the Christmas counts, the one in Rexburg will be taken on December 30; last year by now, we had seven Great Gray owls before Christmas and this year we have not seen one in the area. The other one I love to be involved in is the Howe count, which usually has some of the highest numbers of raptors that we have in Idaho. Last year, those numbers were down because of the snow depth we had out there, but right now there is no snow, and we should see good numbers of them again.

Howe usually has a lot of Rough-legged hawks and several species of falcons with the rare Gyrfalcon showing up regularly. Prairie falcons, Kestrels and Merlins are also common in that count. That count will be conducted on January 2. If this weather patterns remain light, it will be interesting to see what shows up in the other surveys that happen this winter.

Please be aware of the big game herds that are crossing many of the roads. Thursday, I heard a report of over 1,000 elk crossing a road in the Hamer/Dubois area.

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and also wish you a very Happy New Year. Don’t forget to buy your fishing and hunting licenses.

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Brain experts report that the human brain does not mature until age 26, and I don’t know of any bird experts that know anything about the maturity of bird brains. Wednesday, I saw a teenage bird brain in action – almost resulting in a death of an immature Bald eagle.

I was driving along the Warm River east of Ashton when I saw a teenage Bald eagle dive bomb a mature male Mallard on the water. Its belly flop sent water exploding high into the air as the two birds became entangled in an unintended web of misfortune. By the time I got my rig stopped and turned around, the eagle’s belly pains had turned into survival desires.

The duck flew off, uninjured, while the eagle was using its wings as oars and made it to a small island in the middle of the river. Climbing out of the water was a chore, but it finally made it, spread out its wings in the unseasonable warm 44 degrees to dry-off.

After resting, it attempted to fly, but fell back into the water. After it got on the snow again, it used its wings as snow paddles to cross the island to get to some bare ground where it panted like an old steam engine.

After resting and attempting to dry out its soaked feathers for about 20 minutes, it flew about 15 feet to a beaver’s feed station. It was finally close enough for me to observe how soaked it was from head to talon. I could tell it was very young, as its black bill still had the yellow edging of a young nestling.

It was not in a hurry to try to fly again, but it worked its way to a beaver-peeled log about a foot off the water where it could spread out its wings and attempted to fluff up its water-soaked breast feathers. While watching it for half an hour, I heard the call of a mature Bald eagle that landed in a nearby tree.

The adult made several calls with the young eagle calling back and I assumed that the adult was probably one of its parents that came to check why the kid was late for lunch. The adult flew up and down Warm River several times while the youngster continued to dry out its feathers. I decided to leave and look for other things to photograph, and when I returned about an hour later both birds were gone.

I can only imagine the conversation between the two eagles as they discussed what had happened. I am sure there was a lecture about picking on dead ducks instead of attacking a live one that was almost as large as itself. The experience probably created a large learning curve about not getting your feathers wet and how long it takes to dry them out on a mostly-cloudy day.

It brought back memories of when I did SDT (stupid, dumb things) when I was a kid. I hope it had learned a few things better than I did.

With the unseasonably warm weather we are having birds and animals can still find food anywhere they go and I am not finding them where we usually see them. But predictions from the weatherpersons tell us that after Christmas we will have some bad weather to contend with.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and you get to where you are going, safely and have fun with family and friends. Be kind and considerate to all you meet.

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Before the last snow, I was driving in the hills above Rexburg in the Moody Creek area when I was forced to stop and watch 38 wild turkeys cross the road. More than half of them appeared to be this year’s hatch. A week later, I was west of the Junipers looking for buck Mule deer when I saw a flock cross the Egin/Hamer Road. It was a strange place to see them, but I guess they can clean up the juniper berries and raid area grain stubble.

This week, I hiked through the South Fork of the Teton River bottoms looking for some Great gray owls, but found flock after flock of turkeys scratching in the patches of wild roses and Hawthorn berry bushes. I hid in some thick brush and had several flocks work their way toward the mature cottonwoods where they roost for the night. Some of the flocks had 30 to 60 birds in them and I counted 132 turkeys as they worked their way past me.

This fall, I have seen turkeys along the Henrys Fork of the Snake River, in the Moody and Heise areas in large numbers. It looks like the original plants from many years ago have done what the Department of Fish and Game wanted. I know of several people who have homes — expensive ones — that call them the “dirty-birds” because of all the poo they leave behind after they visit. I just tell them the birds were here first.

Most of the turkeys appear to be wild birds, dressed in the traditional browns and tans, while some of them along the South Fork of the Snake River and Henrys Fork appear to be crosses with some tame or white ones. It will be interesting to see what the Department of Fish and Game do with future hunts and seasons.

A little about the fishing and the migration of big game right now. It appears that the fishing on Henrys Lake has slowed down a lot. Under the ice they move very slowly and mostly just bump the bait and lures. Most fishermen are reporting only catching one or two in four hours of fishing, but some of them have taken some big fish this last week.

The slow fishing is usually caused by the lowering of oxygen in the water as it is used up by rotting of the weeds. This causes the fish to go into a semi hibernating stage where they quit feeding as they move slowly along the bottom of the lake. Next week, I will probably visit Henrys one more time before I move to Island Park or Ririe Reservoir. Island Park is frozen over and fishermen have been reporting success near the dam whereas Ririe is still ice-free and probably will not freeze over until mid-January.

Elk and deer are still migrating across Highway 20 from Ashton Hill to Last Chance. There is also a large herd of elk on the south side of Henrys Lake. If we get a heavy snowstorm, the elk in Island Park will have to move out to the high desert lands.

Once they get on the desert, they will head for the farmland surrounding Interstate 15 from Roberts to Dubois where about 100 elk were killed crossing the interstate last winter. There are already several large herds of elk on the farms east of the road waiting for snow to force them to cross it.

No matter which roads you travel in the Upper Snake River Valley, you may encounter large animals crossing the road. On recent trips to Island Park, Swan Valley and Highway 33 to Howe, I have had to slow down for elk, deer and antelope and even turkeys. Drive carefully and enjoy these wild things from a distance. Mornings and early evenings increase your opportunity to see them.

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While walking out to the woodshed to get some firewood, I heard the high-pitched warning shouts of the House finches and House sparrows. They attempted to escape the blur of an attacking Sharp-shinned hawk, but a finch was not fast enough as a cloud of feathers floated to the ground where the capture was made. The male “sharpie”, with the prey in its talons, landed on a swing and quickly killed it by decapitating it quickly.

The predator quickly ate the victim’s head before taking it to a large spruce tree where it first plucked the hapless bird before eating it, hidden from the marauding Black-billed magpies. Once finished, the speedy hawk, flew in a high circle above the backyard feeders before heading to the Teton river bottoms with its belly full.

Later that day, a female sharpie came hunting but failed to capture a songbird, but a couple of Black-capped chickadees came out of a thicket of copper roses to harass the sharpie. It attempted to capture these teasing little acrobats, but its long tail and bigger wings would not give the predator enough space to get close enough to capture one of them.

The next morning, the male appeared in a heavy fog, captured a House sparrow, plucking it and having breakfast on a dead sagebrush. By the time it was done eating, its feathers were soaked, and it had to dry them off. I photographed it for over an hour while it ran its beak over each tail feather and flight feather on its wings. The bird needed the feathers dry in case it got an opportunity to harvest another meal. Wet feathers are not kind to birds that need to maneuver quickly through brush or chasing an agile bird.

At times, the sharpie would rake its breast feathers with its toes to try to get them dry. As the fog lifted, the predator took off, circled high over the backyard and headed for the river bottoms.

Sharp-shinned hawks are one of the smallest hawks in North America and because of their size, sharpies are limited to what they can capture for food. Females are about one-third larger than the males and can harvest songbirds as large as flickers and doves, while the males rely on songbirds the size of European starlings or smaller.

Sharpies usually hunt from low perches hidden in thick foliage, where they attack feeding birds. The males usually remove a prey’s head and eats it before plucking the rest of the victim and eating it; females usually do not remove the head. They cannot digest feathers so feathers can be found under their feeding stations, making them easy to find.

These smally hawks are known to migrate to moderate climate areas but during the last three winters I have had male sharpies visit my backyard feeders almost daily. With neighbors raising domestic geese, a lot of songbirds visit their feeders as well as mine designed for American goldfinch, chickadees, Pine siskins other seed-eating songbirds. Most of the victims of sharpies that I have documented have been House finches, House sparrows and starlings.

Chickadees love to harass all predatory birds and I have never seen one of them become a victim of a sharpie. It is always fun to watch the smaller birds tease the larger birds while just staying out of reach of them.

If you find a Sharp-shinned hawk killing the songbirds that you do not want killed, the best way is to remove the feeders for a few days, letting most of the songbirds find other sources of food. I find my nyger seed socks do not attract enough songbirds to keep the hawks interested. Chickadees usually have enough sunflower seeds hidden in the bark of the trees to survive for a few days before I put those feeders out for a few days again.

I love the hawks and most songbirds and will continue feeding them as long as large numbers of finches, sparrows and starlings feed with the geese and at my feeders.

Its beginning to look a lot for Christmas; have a great winter season, stay safe and enjoy the winter wonderland that we live in. Let me know if you find odd birds showing up at your feeders.

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“Got another big one,” awakened me as I had drifted into a catnap in the warm sun Wednesday morning on the three- to four-inch ice on Henrys Lake.

My friend, Gary Owens, was fighting his second hybrid over five pounds as I finally got over to help him land it. He and I had each landed twin 5.59 pounders earlier and this one was 5.2 pounds.

“Moose and I iced seven fish with six of them around five pounds,” Gary told me Tuesday evening as we discussed going Wednesday. “We did not have a hit until after ten, but from then until two, it remained slow but consistent.”

On Wednesday, we did find some cutthroats from 14 to 18 inches, which was encouraging to me as fishing this summer was slow with mostly large fish being caught. A lot of rumors swirled around about Henrys Lake not having many fish in it, but on the west side of the lake each day this week we missed bites and saw fish swimming by on the fish finder.

On both days the ice was “talking” all day as the ice is thickening from the three to four inch base along the sides. We heard reports that the ice in the Outlet Arm is six or seven inches thick.

As ice thickens and expands, pressure ridges form throughout the lake and several times we had pucker moments as cracks passed under our chairs. The ice-free spots in the center of the lake on Tuesday were capped over by Wednesday morning.

There were fishermen in the Outlet, along the west side in water from six to 11 feet deep. There were a few along the Cliffs, too, but only very close to the shore. We didn’t see anyone fishing the north side of the lake at the Hatchery, Pintail Point or around Wild Rose Ranch.

We did not venture out more than 100 yards from the shore because of the cracking and the building of pressure ridges.

Most of the fish were taken in water seven to 11 feet deep on white lead-headed jigs tipped with minnows, sucker meat or raw pieces of shrimp. We heard reports of limits being caught on meal worms, corn and a mixture of corn and worms. At times, jigging increased the bite, while other times, dead-sticking (just letting the bait set near the bottom) was the most effective. We caught several using “Jaw-jackers” to set the hook.

There is very little snow on the ground and on the ice, making the ice very slick, so some kind of grippers on your boots will save you from a lot of falls. Also, take something like an “ice spud” to test the thickness of the ice.

As we drove by Pintail Point, we noticed someone had tested the thickness of the ice by throwing rocks on it. That would cause a lot of future problems, as the snow will cover them up creating damage to ice augers later. Another problem is that the wind can expose the rock, which will allow the sun to melt the ice around the rock and create weak spots in the ice. Taking a bar to test the ice is a lot better activity.

With the predicted snow storm this weekend, a lot of dangerous area may be hidden, and care will need to be taken while trying to find a place to fish on Henrys Lake.

Usually, three or four weeks after the lake freezes over, fishing gets slower and slower due to the weeds breaking down and depleting the oxygen from the water. As the oxygen gets lower, the fish go into a hibernation stage and quit feeding, swimming past bait without attempting to eat. So, the next two or three weeks will be the best fishing until next spring.

As of Wednesday, there were plenty of places to park on public property and be respectful of the private property around the shoreline.

On the way home on Wednesday, we stopped by the Island Park Reservoir and found the area near the dam had frozen over, but the ice was too thin to even test. By the time Henrys Lake starts to slow down, Island Park’s ice should be thick enough to fish.

Fishing through the ice is always risky, so be safe and enjoy the experience being a “cold-footer.”

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Tuesday evening while heading across the desert on the Egin-Hamer Road, I saw a lone female mule deer standing on a ridge, looking back toward me. As I watched her, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a buck using his nose to follow a trail through the sagebrush.

As the large 4×5 buck got near the doe, a smaller 3×3 buck intercepted him and they started chasing each other. The larger buck finally gave the smaller one a poke with its antlers giving him enough time to get to the doe. Together they headed over the ridge for some “get-to-know-you” activities.

The next morning, I headed back to that area and found the big buck about a quarter of a mile east of where I left him the night before. I found him flirting with four does with a couple of fawns, but there was no sign of the smaller buck.

After watching the small herd, I continued driving the sandy roads west of the Junipers counting 41 deer containing seven mature bucks, at least four immature bucks and one hunter. The hunter had been watching that buck for a few days and had decided that he did not want to harvest him yet.

“He is a little too small for what I am looking for,” the hunter told me. “He has been very active with a lot of does and his extra point makes him a little undesirable. In a couple of years, he will be worth taking.”

This late deer hunt during the mule deer rutting season is generally called a “trophy hunt” because, during the rut, mature bucks lose their cautious attitude, making them more vulnerable to hunters. In Idaho, the mule deer rut usually peaks about November 15, but breeding may continue into December.

Rutting with mule deer is much different than the elk and White-tailed deer. While bull elk gather large numbers of cows and spend much of their time controlling the cows, mature Mule deer bucks do not control the movement of the does. Does entering estrus try to stay close to a mature buck for protection from the juvenile, testosterone-loaded, bucks. The bucks collect samples of urine from the does to determine how close the doe is ready to breed.

The estrus period lasts about one day and once the doe is ready, she and the buck will move away from the small herd for breeding which will happen multiple times during the day. Once she is bred, she is ignored by even the young bucks. But during that day, the young bucks will try to separate them as the one did on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the small herd of does and fawns are circled by the younger bucks, waiting for a chance to satisfy their breeding urges. But other mature bucks or the dominant one will return in time to collect the next doe that becomes ready. This is a very stressful time for the mature bucks. Between taking care of the does, chasing away the juveniles and battling other mature bucks, they have hunters to contend with but the hunt will end on November 30.

Many of the larger bucks are harvested during the rutting season and those that are not, once they are free from the rutting demands, will usually find a safe spot to gain weight. They must gain weight quickly as they will be faced with getting ready for winter, to survive it. Snow usually comes soon, and a hard winter will kill some of them as they do not have the strength to dig out enough food to survive. This is why it is important to allow the bucks to not be harassed during the early winter.

We have been blessed with a warm, comfortable fall which has allowed birds to continue to gather their native food and not be forced to area bird feeders. With the predicted snowfall and bitter cold predictions, birds will be looking for handouts. I noticed that only a few birds were using my feeders, but that changed on Thanksgiving Day as birds flocked to my feeders. The winter has begun.

Have a safe and happy preparation for the Christmas and ice fishing season.

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While taking pictures of Cedar waxwings eating hawthorn berries at Beaver Dick Park along the Henrys Fork of the Snake River west of Rexburg, a movement under a picnic table caught my eye. It was a beautiful male Ring-necked pheasant pecking at the weed seeds on the ground. As I watched it, another pheasant came out of the thick willows, pecking at weed seeds next to a fire pit.

As I watched, a total of four rooster pheasants came out of the thick willows and fed along the roads and in the camping area of Beaver Dick Park which is part of the Cartier Slough Wildlife Management area. After photographing them, I drove to the back parking lot and found 11 vehicles left by hunters looking for farm-raised pheasants. These four pheasants had found a safety zone – the campground where shooting is prohibited.

While watching the four birds, I watched as a fifth one ran under two of the trucks when several shots were fired two or three hundred yards away. These pheasants will probably continue to hang out where it is safe until the season ends on November 30.

In the meantime, stocking birds will continue in four places in the Upper Snake River Area which includes the Cartier Slough Wildlife Management Area, the Market Lake WMA, the Mud Lake WMA and the Lewisville Knolls area. In the Salmon region, they will be stocked at the Kirtley Creek Access Yes! Area, the Pahsimeroi River Area and the Pratt Creek Area.

During the week starting November 19 from 115 to 170 birds are scheduled to be released in two different releases in each area. Then in the last week of the season starting on November 26 there will only be one release of from 50 to 70 birds in each area.

To hunt these stocked bird areas, each hunter must wear at least 36 square inches of hunter orange above the waist (a cap qualifies) and must purchase a six-bird permit. The daily limit is two cocks, and each kill must be immediately recorded on the permit. Hunters can only hunt these areas from 10 a.m. until and half hour after sundown each day.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game does the releasing of the birds usually early in the mornings, with the hunters trying to guess which days are the release days as it makes hunting easier. Each day the released birds get a lot smarter and make harvesting them more difficult. I am not a pheasant hunter, but I understand the desire to be in the wilds looking for them and like to watch hunters work the areas where the birds are.

Two weeks ago, I watched as three hunters hunted a corn patch at Mud Lake. Two of the hunters quickly harvested their two birds, filled out their permit and then put their weapons away and helped the other hunter flush and harvest his two birds. Then I watched a couple of hunters working their dogs in another corn row harvest their four birds. According to their license plates they had driven a long way to enjoy the morning out in the wilds. I hope their pheasant dinners were worth every minute of the time spent.

I don’t know what social media pheasants rely on to communicate to locate safety zones, but from what I observed at Beaver Dick Park, they quickly learn where they are. Last year after the season closed, about 20 birds had survived the hunt and became food for hawks, owls and other predators.

If you are so inclined to hunt these beautiful birds, you only have a couple of weeks left in the Upper Snake River Valley to hunt them. In the meantime, I will wait until the hunt is over and then I will venture out in Cartier Slough to flush my birds.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving eating the bird of your choosing. Be safe in your travels and remember that the large wild animals are crossing many of the roads.

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It is time to set up your winter feeders for the winter songbirds as late fall storms roll in. These storms coincide with late fall migrations which may include some strange and non-typical birds for this area. Two years ago I had a Red fox sparrow show up at my feeders and last year I had a Steller’s jay come and stay for half of the winter to entertain me.

This week I put out my Black oil sunflower seeds, the nyger seed sacks, several peanut flavored suet cakes, raw peanuts and sunflower chips for the early arrivals. Within two hours I had 14 Black-capped chickadees, a Mountain chickadee and four Red-breasted nuthatches on my feeders. In the next two days, Red-shafted flickers, Dark-eyed juncos, House finch, a Steller’s jay and even a Kestrel have showed up.

I like to scatter my feeders around my backyard to keep fighting at a minimum and it protect songbirds from the attacks from raptors. Kestrels, Sharp-shinned hawks and Merlin’s, all visit my backyard during the winter. Mostly they will harvest House finches or starlings which is okay with me.

If you haven’t already got at least some sunflower seeds out and want some winter birds to visit your yard, I would get them out soon. I know some of you do not like the woodpeckers and flickers to come around, you can limit them somewhat by not putting out suet blocks.

Last Wednesday, I went out to Camas National Wildlife Refuge and the Mud Lake Wildlife Management Area and still found snow geese, Tundra swans and a field with about 200 Sandhill cranes. Just about every night from 9 to 10, I hear large flocks of snow geese flying over my home in the Rexburg area. The Tundra swans seem to prefer migrating early to mid-mornings while the Sandhills prefer mid-day.

I found the flock of sandhill cranes doing some interesting things. Small flocks were joining large flock that was feeding. One small flock dropped into an area where many of the birds appeared to be made up of non-breeding birds. After they landed, both groups began dancing, similar to the mating dances of breeding couples.

Most sandhill cranes do not start breeding until they are between four and seven years old and the mating couples usually form a lifetime relationship. The non-breeding adults often will gather in huge flocks to migrate south during the fall.

The dancing included jump/flying into the air, spreading their wings while rushing toward another crane, knocking another down and stomping on it, and picking up pieces of cow manure and tossing it at another individual. One would toss the manure into the air, catch with their bill and toss it up again. There were a group of about 15 birds engaged in these activities which lasted about 45 minutes before they went back to eating. The family groups of three or four birds stayed away from these ruffians.

If we get a hard cold snap or a major snow or rainstorm, most of the migratory bird will be gone overnight. Watch for large numbers of Trumpeter swans and northern ducks to show up in the next week or two, the summer Swensen’s hawks have moved on and the Rough-legged ones will soon start showing up.

If you see an odd bird, let me know as we often see strays that don’t belong here. It is about time for an influx of Barn owls to migrate through our area. This can be an exciting time, but please be aware that the elk, moose and deer are also migrating and will be crossing the roads. When a large animal harvests a vehicle, it is not good for the human occupants.

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