Date: 12/6/24 8:08 pm From: Doug Ward via Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders...> Subject: [inland-NW-birders] Lake Coeur d'Alene (ID) Stuff
And by "stuff", I usually mean gulls, though there is some other "stuff" around. But, gulls first. A 1st year GLAUCOUS GULL joined the party today (Fri., 6 Dec.'24), along with an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and several 1st year "Thayer's" ICELAND GULLs, at Wolf Lodge Bay on the northeast limb of Lake Coeur d'Alene (Kootenai Co., ID) in a flock of around 400 gulls. As with my post about Higgins Pt a couple of days ago, the vast majority are CALIFORNIA (200) and AMERICAN HERRING GULLs (100) though a higher proportion of RING-BILLED GULLs (100) at Wolf Lodge. Only had time for a brief look through this flock, but with time you could probably refind the Short-billed Gull that was here about 3 weeks ago with the Ring-billeds feeding in the shallows. Also walked the dogs today at Blue Creek Bay around the corner from Wolf Lodge on Lake Coeur d'Alene which also had a good number of gulls (~200) including another adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED and a few more "Thayer's" ICELAND GULLs.
Now for the other stuff. If you do get out to the Coeur d'Alene area after the roads thaw, check along East Coeur d'Alene Lake Dr on your way out to Higgins Pt for RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs near Silver Beach (also of City Beach in town) and BALD EAGLEs and BARROW'S GOLDENEYEs at Higgins Pt proper. If you do drive all the way out there, look for REDPOLLs feeding in the birch trees at the parking lot. In addition to the lake, there have been several reports of Short-eared Owls on the Rathdrum Prairie north of Post Falls (Kootenai Co., ID) - specifically along Wyoming Rd. Lastly, the WHITE-THROATED SPARROW we've had at our place in Hayden (Kootenai Co., ID) was joined by a second yesterday, so now we have two (2) coming in regularly.
As with all my posts, if you have any questions or need directions, please let me know separately.
