Sorry this is so late. I was taking my last vacation before school
started (yesterday).

Cheers
Deb Beutler

(forwarded from BIRDWEST)

South Idaho
August 17, 1998

This is the South Idaho Bird Alert for Monday, August 17th, brought
to you by the Idaho Museum of Natural History. To report a sighting call
(208) 236-3337.
Highlights for this week include many shorebirds in the area,
especially at Market Lake. The American Falls Shorebird Festival is next
weekend. Many landbirds are migrating at Lucky Peak, just north of Boise.
Eleven species of shorebirds were seen Sunday, the 16th at Market
Lake WMA. These included a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, several GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
as well as several SEMIPALMATED, LEAST, and WESTERN SANDPIPERS. These birds
are concentrated at Pond #3, which is the second pond from the north end of
Market Lake, along the main dike road. Last weekend, a possible young COMMON
MOORHEN was spotted along the dike between Ponds 3 and 4, but it wasn't seen
well enough to call. Look for a coot sized bird with a white line on its
side running under the wing. If you see this bird please call in this
sighting immediately. Also, two otters were swimming in the ditch at Pond 3
on Sunday. This is near B-2 on page 40 of the Idaho Atlas. To get there
take the Roberts exit off of I-15 about 15 miles north of Idaho Falls. Turn
right to the stop sign. Then drive north out of town. Follow the right
branch just north of Roberts, and then drive about 3 miles out to the marsh.
You can park along the dike road, then walk along the inner dike and look at
birds in the shallows of Pond 3. There was also a VIRGINIA RAIL seen and
heard in the ditch on the west side of the dike, on the southwest side of
East Marsh.
Next weekend the 4th annual American Falls Shorebird Festival will
be held. On Friday, the 21st there will be a lecture on bird migration at
7:00 pm in the Senior Citizen's Center in American Falls. On Saturday
morning there will be a field trip to look at shorebirds, followed at 1:00pm
by a shorebird ID workshop. On Sunday morning we will take an all-day trip
to Bear River NWR in northern Utah. To obtain a schedule you can call the
American Falls Economic Development Corp. at (208) 226-3181.
Finally, many warblers and sparrows are migrating at Lucky Peak just
above Boise. An average of 50 birds of 14 species are being captured and
banded daily by members of the Idaho Bird Observatory. You can find out how
to get there by calling Greg Kaltenecker at (208) 377-1440.
Deborah K. Beutler
Department of Zoology
Washington State University
Pullman, WA

dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu