A warm December has allowed some birds to stay in Idaho

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.