May 13 - Snake River and Massacre Rocks, ID

This is the second part of the May 13 post. After leaving City of Rocks, we drove north towards an Idaho town called Declo. From there we'd head northeast. Our final destination was Pocatello Idaho, where we'd stay overnight.

Of course, we had to do some birding on the way. Our first stop was near Declo at a stop on the Snake River. We'd spotted some birds on the river bank, but they were quite far away. I used my spotting scope to locate the birds and took photos with the IPhone through the scope.

Snake River near Declo ID

The first bird ID was a Black-necked Stilt.

Black-necked Stilt - Snake River near Declo ID

2019 Bird #117

When you see Stilts, it's likely you'll see American Avocets nearby.
 
American Avocet - Snake River near Declo ID - 2019 Bird #118

Another IPhone photo captured the odd couple of a Snowy Egret beside an American Crow. This common crow is slightly larger than the Northwestern Crow we see in the Lower Mainland.  I'm quite happy with the quality of this IPhone/Scope photo.

Snowy Egret - 2019 Bird #119 and

American Crow - 2019 Bird #120

Snake River near Declo ID 

In the river we a baker's dozen (13) American White Pelicans. There's a Northern Shoveler in the background as a bonus.


American White Pelicans - Snake River near Declo ID - 2019 Bird #121

Massacre Rocks State Park

With an ominous name like this, an explanation is required. Check out this link for some information:  Massacre Rocks State Park Idaho

It was quite windy this afternoon and the Snake River was turbulent. There was still a good collection of birds present.

Interestingly, the first bird spotted was a Common Loon. This is the first one I've ever seen in fresh water. It was in breeding (alternate) plumage, a nice change from the basic plumage we see at home in the winter.

Common Loon - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID

There were many Grebes in the river, most of them were Western's like these two.

Western Grebe - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID - 2019 Bird #122

However, it's not uncommon to see the occasional Clark's Grebe in Oregon and Idaho. The Clark's can be identified by the white gap between the eye and the black on the top of the head. This one is a good example.

Clark's Grebe - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID - 2019 Bird #123

Here's a shot of a Cliff Swallow in flight. 

Cliff Swallow - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID

It's a poor picture, but the only one I got of a Forster's Tern. You can see the Orange beak clearly enough for ID.

Forster's Tern - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID

2019 Bird #124

Chris spotted the next bird, a female Brown-headed Cowbird. 

Brown-headed Cowbird - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID - 2019 Bird #125

This is one of my better photos of the day, a Western Grebe wrestling with a Sculpin it has caught. My money's on the grebe.

Western Grebe - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID

This photo might be better, almost a religious quality to it.

Bank Swallow - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID - 2019 Bird #126

Like yesterday, we saw some Northern Rough-winged Swallows just as we were leaving an area.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID

A couple of minutes later, we had a brief glimpse of a Curlew flying over the car. This was our second one seen on the trip.

Long-billed Curlew - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID

And finally, the last birds of the day. A group of Phalaropes flew past the car just as we were leaving the park.

Wilson's Phalarope - Massacre Rocks State Park, ID - 2019 Bird #127

We made our way up to Pocatello, Idaho where we'd stay the night. The next morning we'd be birding at the City Creek Management area in that town.