Date: 11/14/26 5:24 pm From: Doug Ward via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Black & Surf Scoters-Cougar Bay, Lake Coeur d'Alene
Dropped into check waterfowl at Cougar Bay on the northwest corner of Lake Coeur d'Alene (Kootenai Co., ID) this afternoon (Sat.,14 Nov'26) and was rewarded with a nice female type BLACK SCOTER in addition to a continuing female type SURF SCOTER! There was also a female type White-winged Scoter reported from NIC/City Beach on Thursday, so apparently a good year for these guys. In addition to the scoters on Cougar Bay today, also had a couple of adult TRUMPETER SWANs, a pair of their smaller TUNDRA cousins, a female type GREATER SCAUP, and an adult BONAPARTE'S GULL. If you'd like more information or specific location details, please let me know.Good Waterfowling,Doug _______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list send email to: <Inland-nw-birders...> manage subscription: https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders
Date: 11/9/26 7:09 pm From: Doug Ward via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Surf Scoter & LBb Gull - Lake Coeur d'Alene, ID
Stopped by a couple of spots this afternoon (Mon, 9 Nov'26) on the northwest corner of Lake Coeur d'Alene (Kootenai Co., ID) and had a few fun species. First rarity was a female type SURF SCOTER on Cougar Bay. We then headed over to City Beach in town where we had a nice adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL sitting out in the water off Independence Pt. In addition to the gull, also fun was a decent sized flock (12+) of immature/female type RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs right off City Beach where they will probably spend the winter if history is any indication.
So autumn migrants are still on the move so keep checking your local spots as you never know. If you would like more specific information about the birds today, please let me know.
Date: 10/28/26 4:23 pm From: Vicki King via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: [inland-NW-birders] REMINDER: WOS Monthly Meeting, November 2, 2026 (online only)
The Washington Ornithological Society (WOS) is pleased to announce our next Monthly Meeting: on Monday, November 2, Haley Olson, Senior Resource Scientist with Puget Sound Energy’s Avian Protection Program will present, “PSE’s Avian Protection Program: Protecting Birds and Improving Reliability."
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) serves 1.2 million electricity and 900,000 natural gas customers across 10 counties in Washington, a 6,000 square-mile service area. Since early 2000, PSE has endeavored to serve its bird customers as well, moving osprey nests to safer locations, installing protective covers and bird diverters and constructing new avian-friendly power lines. Find out how PSE has been working to reduce outages, bird electrocutions, collisions and fire hazards through the efforts of its Avian Protection Program.
Our speaker, Haley Olson has worked on avian protection for PSE for almost 20 years, striving to reduce negative effects on birds and their habitats related to the electrical utility infrastructure. Through the years, she has collaborated with industry colleagues as well as wildlife rehabilitators and NGO partners in order to benefit birds throughout PSE’s service area. Haley was recently elected Vice Chair of the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee.
This meeting will be conducted virtually, via Zoom (no in-person attendance). Sign-in will begin at 7:15 pm, and the meeting commences at 7:30 pm. Please go to the WOS Monthly Meetings page https://wos.org/monthly-meetings/ for instructions on participation and to get the Zoom link.
When joining the meeting, we ask that you mute your device and make certain that your camera is turned off.
This meeting is open to all as WOS invites everyone in the wider birding community to attend. Thanks to the generosity of our presenters, recordings of past programs are available at the following link to the WOS YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@washingtonornithologicalso7839/videos
If you are not yet a member of WOS, we hope you will consider becoming one at https://wos.org
Date: 10/23/26 9:57 pm From: monique slipher via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: Re: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills Moving Around
Here on the Palouse we too have had LOTS of Red Crossbill activity this whole past month, primarily the Ponderosa (Type 2) that we usually get mostly, but also some Douglas Fir (Type 4) birds calling. I live right in town, and have never heard so many Ponderosa Crossbills fly over my neighborhood as this fall - from a few birds to small flocks pretty much daily. A couple weeks ago I watched a mixed gang of half-dozen each Crossbills and Pine Siskins tearing into the abundant cones at the top of a Colorado Blue Spruce on the east side of the WSU campus - the cone scales were literally flying everywhere as they ripped them off to reach the seeds! Cheers, Monique Slipher Pullman WA ________________________________ From: Doug Ward Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2026 5:00 AM To: <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: Re: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills Moving Around
Don't know about you, but we've seen a lot of RED CROSSBILL activity this past few weeks (Oct'26) around our place in Hayden (Kootenai Co., ID). Most have been "Ponderosa" (Type 2) Red Crossbills, but have also heard a number of "Douglas Fir" (Type 4) call types, and likely a small flock of "Hemlock" (Type 3) crossbills as well - missed getting a recording of these guys. The Ponderosa cone crop in our area is pretty slim this year, with Douglas Firs being only OK, so thinking these birds are on the hunt for a winter food crop somewhere. The ornamental spruces (mostly Blue, but some hybrids) in the region are fairly heavily laden, but haven't seen them being utilized yet - maybe a big year for "Hemlocks" and White-wingeds?!? Would be interested to hear what you are seeing in your area.
Date: 10/23/26 3:28 pm From: Doug Ward via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: Re: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills moving around
Mary, Thanks for replying and yep, these guys are very interesting and diverse! Red Crossbills are in the midst of evolutionary change with numerous "call types" developing that specialize in feeding on cones of specific conifer species. In our area the common Red Crossbill types are the Type 2 or "Ponderosa Crossbill" (larger/thicker and heavier billed to tackle big cones), the Type 4 or "Douglas Fir Crossbill" (medium sized with a narrower bill to get into Doug Fir cones), and the Type 3 or "Hemlock Crossbill" (tiny with a little bill to feed on hemlock and spruce cones). All of these guys wander widely in search of food, and can feed on seeds besides their preferred cones (will come into bird feeders too - mostly Type 2s in my experience), so you never know what will show up. The Inland Northwest is in the middle of the greatest diversity of Red Crossbills with eight (8) of the eleven (11) North American call types being recorded here; we've had five (5) types in our yard in Hayden, ID. While you can tell many of them apart if you get a good look at their head structure, the only definitive way to tell is to get a recording of their flight calls and looking at the spectrogram (a graphical representation of frequency and amplitude) as they each have a distinctive shape, hence the name "call type". I know this sounds all technical, and it is, but with gadgets we have today it is actually fairly straight forward to get a recording on your phone and "look" at the results - the Merlin app for your phone is the simplest to download and use.
Hope this wasn't too windy for you, but hope you do start looking at these common birds in our area in a new light. Thanks again. Good Crossbilling, Doug
-----Original Message----- From: Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders-bounces...> On Behalf Of potlatchMG via Inland-nw-birders Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2026 5:13 AM To: <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: Re: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills moving around
Wow, I had no idea there were these specialized crossbills. Is there a source for more information about them that you would recommend (maybe you are it?)?
Thanks, Mary Giddings
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
On Thursday, October 22nd, 2026 at 5:00 AM, <inland-nw-birders-request...> <inland-nw-birders-request...> wrote:
> Send Inland-nw-birders mailing list submissions to > <inland-nw-birders...> > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > <inland-nw-birders-request...> > > You can reach the person managing the list at > <inland-nw-birders-owner...> > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Inland-nw-birders digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Crossbills Moving Around (Doug Ward) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:50:59 -0700 > From: "Doug Ward" <dougward...> > To: <inland-nw-birders...> > Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills Moving Around > Message-ID: <001c01dd6184$bc191280$344b3780$@frontier.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Don't know about you, but we've seen a lot of RED CROSSBILL activity > this past few weeks (Oct'26) around our place in Hayden (Kootenai Co., > ID). Most have been "Ponderosa" (Type 2) Red Crossbills, but have > also heard a number of "Douglas Fir" (Type 4) call types, and likely a small flock of "Hemlock" > (Type 3) crossbills as well - missed getting a recording of these > guys. The Ponderosa cone crop in our area is pretty slim this year, > with Douglas Firs being only OK, so thinking these birds are on the > hunt for a winter food crop somewhere. The ornamental spruces (mostly > Blue, but some hybrids) in the region are fairly heavily laden, but > haven't seen them being utilized yet - maybe a big year for "Hemlocks" > and White-wingeds?!? Would be interested to hear what you are seeing in your area. > > Good Crossbilling, > > Doug > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Inland-nw-birders mailing list > <Inland-nw-birders...> > https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Inland-nw-birders Digest, Vol 223, Issue 7 > ************************************************* > _______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list send email to: <Inland-nw-birders...> manage subscription: https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders
Date: 10/22/26 5:13 am From: potlatchMG via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: Re: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills moving around
Wow, I had no idea there were these specialized crossbills. Is there a source for more information about them that you would recommend (maybe you are it?)?
Thanks, Mary Giddings
Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
On Thursday, October 22nd, 2026 at 5:00 AM, <inland-nw-birders-request...> <inland-nw-birders-request...> wrote:
> Send Inland-nw-birders mailing list submissions to > <inland-nw-birders...> > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > <inland-nw-birders-request...> > > You can reach the person managing the list at > <inland-nw-birders-owner...> > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Inland-nw-birders digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Crossbills Moving Around (Doug Ward) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:50:59 -0700 > From: "Doug Ward" <dougward...> > To: <inland-nw-birders...> > Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills Moving Around > Message-ID: <001c01dd6184$bc191280$344b3780$@frontier.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Don't know about you, but we've seen a lot of RED CROSSBILL activity this > past few weeks (Oct'26) around our place in Hayden (Kootenai Co., ID). Most > have been "Ponderosa" (Type 2) Red Crossbills, but have also heard a number > of "Douglas Fir" (Type 4) call types, and likely a small flock of "Hemlock" > (Type 3) crossbills as well - missed getting a recording of these guys. The > Ponderosa cone crop in our area is pretty slim this year, with Douglas Firs > being only OK, so thinking these birds are on the hunt for a winter food > crop somewhere. The ornamental spruces (mostly Blue, but some hybrids) in > the region are fairly heavily laden, but haven't seen them being utilized > yet - maybe a big year for "Hemlocks" and White-wingeds?!? Would be > interested to hear what you are seeing in your area. > > Good Crossbilling, > > Doug > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Inland-nw-birders mailing list > <Inland-nw-birders...> > https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Inland-nw-birders Digest, Vol 223, Issue 7 > ************************************************* > _______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list send email to: <Inland-nw-birders...> manage subscription: https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders
Date: 10/21/26 10:51 am From: Doug Ward via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Crossbills Moving Around
Don't know about you, but we've seen a lot of RED CROSSBILL activity this past few weeks (Oct'26) around our place in Hayden (Kootenai Co., ID). Most have been "Ponderosa" (Type 2) Red Crossbills, but have also heard a number of "Douglas Fir" (Type 4) call types, and likely a small flock of "Hemlock" (Type 3) crossbills as well - missed getting a recording of these guys. The Ponderosa cone crop in our area is pretty slim this year, with Douglas Firs being only OK, so thinking these birds are on the hunt for a winter food crop somewhere. The ornamental spruces (mostly Blue, but some hybrids) in the region are fairly heavily laden, but haven't seen them being utilized yet - maybe a big year for "Hemlocks" and White-wingeds?!? Would be interested to hear what you are seeing in your area.
Date: 10/20/26 11:05 am From: Terry Lane via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Varied Thrush
Male Varied Thrush in yard this am. Terry Lane Grangeville Idaho Idaho County _______________________________________________ Inland-nw-birders mailing list send email to: <Inland-nw-birders...> manage subscription: https://mailmanlists.us/mailman/listinfo/inland-nw-birders
