Bald eagle viewing near Hagerman is excellent right now, plus other tidbits

Pair of bald eagles in flight (courtesy Gordan Hardcastle)

Wood ducks and golden-eye in flight (courtesy Gordan Hardcastle)

A variety of ducks take flight at the Hagerman WMA (click to enlarge)

Red-tailed hawk in the morning sun

Bald eagles near the Westpoint store/cafe ... 12 in one tree! 

Hi all,

I wanted to share a blog post I wrote this week for Southern Idaho Tourism about viewing bald eagles, waterfowl and other birds near Wendell and Hagerman right now. In a matter of two hours, I saw more than 35 bald eagles near Wendell in the early morning hours last Saturday ... and I saw a ton of ducks and geese at the Hagerman Wildlife Management Area.

I love to see bald eagles, so it was a thrill to see so many birds in a short amount of time. See the blog post for driving directions and a map. It's only 1.25 hours to the Hagerman area via I-84 when the roads are dry. There also is a birding list of all the birds you can see in the area right now. Make sure you bring your binoculars, camera and a bird book!

While you're in the 'hood, think about visiting Miracle Hot Springs after you go eagle- and bird-watching ... that'd make for one heck of a great day! Top it off with a meal at the Snake River Grill in Hagerman. The restaurant is famous for it's exotic menu and excellent food!

What a humdinger of a snow storm last night! Brundage and Bogus got more than 16 inches of snow, and the lucky folks who were in position to go powder skiing today had a bonanza! Both areas needed more snow after all the ski traffic they've been receiving ... and more is on the way this weekend!

A couple of tidbits:

Chadd Cripe's feature story on pond hockey in Ketchum in the Idaho Statesman got a lot of hits when I shared it on my Facebook page. I'm a pond hockey player from way back when in Minnesota. Tuck this one away for future reference in case you might be able to field a team for next year's event! Or you can just reminisce about playing pond hockey!

Lift ticket discount for bus riders at Bogus: If you ride the bus to Bogus, you'll get a $10 discount on your lift ticket. Everyone knows that parking can be a challenge at Bogus, especially on busy days, so if you have the flexibility to ride the bus everyone benefits! Here's more information on bus transportation to Bogus.

River applications are due at the end of January for the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Main Salmon River, Selway River and Hells Canyon. Go to recreation.gov to fill out the form and submit your application.

Have a great weekend!
- SS

Winter birding is a fun activity; Hagerman Bird Festival offers opportunities to learn

Great blue heron along the Boise River (courtesy Ken Miracle)

Juvenile bald eagle on the Boise River (courtesy Ken Miracle)

Merganser on the Boise River (Courtesy Ken Miracle)

Kingfisher (Courtesy Ken Miracle)

Hi all,

To me, it's always a treat to see birds and wildlife as part of an outdoor recreation outing. But every once in a while, I like to make seeing birds or wildlife the central focus of an outdoor adventure. One of my favorite winter bird walks in Boise is along the Boise River, particularly when it's colder outside, with temperatures below freezing. My main objective is to see bald eagles perching on the top of cottonwood trees. But you'll also see a variety of ducks, geese, kingfishers, herons and songbirds. The variety of ducks can be pretty darn cool. I especially like to see the colorful wood ducks.  

About 15-20 bald eagles typically winter along the Boise River urban corridor, between Lucky Peak and Eagle. If you're lucky, you'll see an eagle swoop down to the river to catch a trout or whitefish breakfast with its talons. And that's a beautiful thing to behold. Nature in action.

This week, my outdoor tip is to take a moment to look for birds and learn about them. Consider starting a bird list! According to an article in Audubon, all you need is a pair of binoculars and a basic field guide to birds to get started in birding. I've recently learned about another way you could get into birding -- attend the Hagerman Bird Festival, Feb. 12-14. The Festival provides guided outings to see particular types of birds, such as night walks to see owls and boat tours to see waterfowl on the Snake River. I wrote about the festival for Southern Idaho Tourism, and I thought my readers on Stueby's Outdoor Journal would want to know about it, too.

Mallard ducks on the Snake River (Courtesy SITA)

Here's my blog post:

Maybe you've been wanting to become a "birder" -- a person who goes out to look at birds, learns how to identify them and keeps a list -- or perhaps participate in a bird-watching outing and see if you like it.

The upcoming Hagerman Birding Festival, scheduled for Feb. 12-14, is a perfect event to learn how to get started. Pre-registration is open for the event, which is limited to the first 150 people who sign up. There are classroom sessions where you learn how to identify different kinds of birds and field trips with birding experts. That's where the rubber hits the road. The multiday event costs $80 for adults and $25 for children 16 and younger,  including food and field trips.

Inspiration. Usually, a person's interest in birding is started by an inspirational moment. For me, it was watching bald eagles swoop down and catch crimson kokanee in West Glacier, Montana. Even since then, I've always been interested in birds of prey in particular. I must have taken 300 photos of eagles catching fish on that snowy day in December.

We learn in the Twin Falls Times-News  that Burley High School senior Joseph DeTemple is a budding birder after earning a Boy Scout merit badge through identifying eight species of birds. He's working with veteran birder Wallace Keck, superintendent of City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park, to learn about birding. DeTemple already has identified more than 130 species. He's off and running!

Sharp-shinned hawk at the City of Rocks
(Courtesy Wallace Keck)

Keck, whose life list hovers near 460 species, was inspired by taking an ornithology class in college at Arkansas State University. Campus was near a number of mountains and rivers that made birding fun and exciting for Keck, who frequently blogs about his birding adventures. Keck recently blogged about "The Big Year" in which he hopes to add more species to his life list and surpass 500 species.

So how about making 2016 a year in which you start birding? The greater Southern Idaho region is a wonderful place to see birds -- from lots of waterfowl, bald eagles, and great blue herons in the Hagerman area along the Snake River, to more waterfowl at Lake Walcott State Park and Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge, songbirds at City of Rocks National Reserve and a variety of species at The Nature Conservancy's Silver Creek Preserve near Picabo. With every stop, you'll pick up more species. 

At City of Rocks, you can see a variety of songbirds such as pinyon jays and scrub jays and a variety of other birds surrounding the feeders they have at the Visitor Center, plus Keck photographed a beautiful Cooper's hawk perched in a tree nearby, looking for a morning meal.

Christine Gertschen, the organizer of the Hagerman Bird Festival this year, lives in Hagerman and enjoys seeing all the birds in that area. "The birds come here because of the open water on the Snake River," she says. "Last night, I was watching a pair of great-horned owls. Birding is just crazy around here in the winter ... it's definitely a hot spot."

How to get started? According to an article in Audubon, all you need is a pair of binoculars and a basic field guide to birds. Perhaps a small pocket notebook would be handy for noting species. My partner Wendy Wilson is an expert birder, and she likes to use the Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America for identifying birds. That guide is very well-done and very detailed. But there are quite a few available.

Audubon suggests thinking about a particular species that you'd like to identify, and then go out and find it. The Hagerman Birding Festival would be a perfect way to learn how to get started birding from the experts and go out in the field and start your own bird list.

To sign up for the festival, visit http://www.hagermanbirdfestival.com. For more information, call 208-352-3175 or email hagermanbirdfestival@gmail.com. See you at the festival!

    

If you plan to be visiting from out of town, look for lodging deals here at the Southern Idaho Tourism web site.

Another resource for learning about birds is to join the Idaho Birding Facebook page. You'll see a lot of birders and photographers posting close up and spectacular bird pics on the page. And you can learn tips about identifying a particular species.

Enjoy the birds!
- SS

Try floating, camping and fishing on the South Fork Snake River in E. Idaho; beautiful canyon!

Wendy, Lucas and Zach 

Huck, Drew and Steve 

Look at the size of this camp in Lufkin Bottom! Night 2

Wendy loves the South Fork because of all the bird activity! 

Steve has a fish on ... 

Courtesy of South Fork Anglers 

South Fork bald eagle 

Hi all,

This week's topic is about floating the South Fork of the Snake River, located about 30 minutes east of Idaho Falls. Wendy and I met some friends from Utah over there for a three-day float last week, and after I posted some Facebook pics, several people remarked that they'd never heard of boating on the South Fork Snake ... so here's the skinny.

We floated from Conant Boat Ramp in Swan Valley to the Byington takeout in Heise, a distance of 25 miles, including the prized South Fork roadless canyon. The canyon reach is the most spectacular portion of the whole river trip, because of the scenery and solitude, but the fishing can be good all the way from Palisades Dam to Byington.

What amazes me about the South Fork recreation and boating activity is that nearly all the locals zip through the canyon in a day, fishing, fishing, fishing, and hardly anyone camps overnight in the canyon, creating lots of space for the folks who are taking their time on a multi-day trip. This is a special place that deserves to be absorbed slowly, like a glass of fine wine.

Here's why it's special:

"The South Fork supports the largest riparian cottonwood gallery forest in the West and is among the most unique and diverse ecosystems in Idaho," according to the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the management of the South Fork. "It is also home to 126 bird species, including 21 raptors, meriting a "National Important Bird Area" designation. The river also supports the largest native cutthroat fishery outside of Yellowstone National Park. The corridor is home for an impressive array of other wildlife including moose, deer, elk, mountain goats, mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, river otter, beaver, fox, and mink."

All told, I think the South Fork has 20+ bald eagle nesting territories along the cottonwood-lined river corridor. We saw bald eagles every day. 

Consider the South Fork as a great alternative place to do a multi-day river trip with the family and kids, or a group of friends. Take 3 or 4 days from Palisades Dam or Conant to Byington, and enjoy camping in these huge cottonwood groves adjacent to the river. In our three-day trip last week, we saw only one other party staying overnight anywhere in the canyon. It's an under-appreciated treasure! And there are tons of designated camps along the river sitting there empty. 

During the day, the river gets busy with lots of outfitters guiding fly fishing guests on the South Fork, so the native cutthroat trout and brown trout get fished hard every day. I stopped in the South Fork Outfitters fly shop to see what the fish are biting, and stocked up on the latest hot dry flies, my favorite way to fly fish. The South Fork Outfitters also do vehicle shuttles. Ours cost $30 from Conant to Byington. Not bad at all. 

It's fun to fish the South Fork because the fish bite on big flies, salmon flies, large caddis, pale morning duns, and a variety of big hoppers. Those big flies carry some weight on the end of your fly rod, and you can really cast a long ways to land the fly right next to the shoreline, and watch the gin-clear water for a fish rising up to take the fly. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Fish on! 

You have to pay close attention to your fly, and cast downstream as much as possible as you're floating along, because the South Fork rips! It's a big river, and lately, it's been running 13,700 cubic feet per second on a daily basis ... so it doesn't take long for the boat to zip by the eddies and bury your fly underwater.   

Even though the river runs fast and high, it's table-top flat the whole way, so it's a good float trip for families and kids. You can pick campsites with slow water next to camp so the small kids can play in the water safely. 

Another cool feature on the South Fork is that there are many islands along the way, and you'll see these narrow channels flowing next to the islands. Many of these are wide enough and deep enough for a boat full of gear, and they are quiet, intimate places to fish, plus see wildlife. I'll never forget pulling into one of those narrow oxbows one time, and around the corner, a huge bull moose was right there on the water's edge. Our springer spaniel was in the bow, with its paws up on the tubes. She got a real good look at that bull moose, and even "boofed" a timid little bark as we went by ... She could have been a lunch snack for the moose! :) 

How to get there: Take I-84 to Idaho Falls. Take Yellowstone Blvd. through town to Idaho Highway 26 to Swan Valley. After about 30 minutes, you'll see the South Fork Outfitters fly shop on the left hand side of the road as you're heading for Swan Valley. If you don't have your own boat, you can book a trip with these guys and you'll catch a lot of fish with their expert guides. Otherwise, you can choose from putting in below Palisades Dam (39 mile trip to Byington), Spring Creek by the highway bridge, or Conant. 

River map: I purchased a South Fork Snake River Boaters Guide from the BLM State Office in Boise in the map room for $7.

Equipment: Be sure to bring your fire pan and porta potty for overnight camping.

Permits: Self-issue permits for floating the South Fork and camping in the canyon are available at the put-in.

Information: See the BLM South Fork Snake River web site. 
----------------------------------
In other outdoor news, Bogus Basin is hosting a clean up day on its Nordic trails on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration required. Contact Shelley Pursell at spursell@winterwildlands.org to sign up.

Don't miss the Boise Twilight Criterium on Saturday afternoon and evening!

Save the date: The annual wood-splitting weekend for the Idaho City Park n' Ski Yurts is set for July 26-28. Contact Leo Hennessy for more information: leo.hennessy@idpr.idaho.gov.

Have fun!
- SS

Cold weather often draws more bald eagles to the Boise River; now is good time to see them

A bald eagle roosts on a cottonwood tree along the Boise River. Courtesy Bob Young

Courtesy Boise State University

Hi all,

I've often found that when the weather gets cold in Boise, more bald eagles than normal tend to roost and hunt along the Boise River corridor between Barber Park and ParkCenter. Bald eagle experts also have told me that they've counted more birds in the river corridor during cold weather periods, when temperatures are below freezing.

So even though the weather will be chilly in Boise in the coming week, it's still going to be sunny, and fortunately for you, there are several excellent trails along the Boise River, where you can explore, hike or run, and look for eagles. Be sure to bring your camera and bino's, dress warm, and wear your snow boots!

The bald eagle walk from Barber Park also goes through the Bethine Church  River Trail. (Click image to enlarge) 

I like to start the eagle walk at Barber Park and hike or run about three miles downriver to the junction with the ParkCenter paved greenbelt pathway. You can leave a shuttle vehicle in ParkCenter, as needed. To get to Barber Park, take Boise Avenue east to Eckert Road, turn left, and make an immediate left into Barber Park. Proceed into the park and park over by the new Barber Park event center. Head over to the river, pick up the pathway heading west, downriver. This trail is open only to walking and running; no bikes allowed.

Longer hiking and running loops along the Boise River are detailed in my Boise Trail Guide: 75 Hiking & Running Routes Close to Home.

The Municipal Park to Barber Park loop is one longer option ... it's 9.5 miles roundtrip. (Click image to enlarge)

About 3/4 of a mile downriver from Barber Park, it's often possible to see bald eagles on a tall cottonwood whose branches extend out into the glassy pool above an irrigation diversion and rapids.  But they could be perching just about anywhere. If you see eagles, sure, take a moment to take a picture or look at them through the bino's, but don't dwell on it ... the birds will get nervous if you just stop and stare for long. Keep moving. Remember, they're trying to conserve energy and dive for an occasional fish.

Do you wonder how the bald eagles continue to roost and hunt along the urban corridor of the Boise River even though they're in a small city? Here's a link to a study on the topic. I was the natural resources reporter for the Statesman back in the late '80s, and I remember walking the river with study author Robin Spahr, as well as her supervisor, the esteemed wildlife biologist and eagle authority Karen Steenhof, to look for eagles and write about the issues related to the eagles hanging out in an urban zone.

Seeing bald eagles is a thrill for me. My teen-age kids don't really get it. I think they're a stunningly beautiful bird. It's always a special moment to see a bald eagle swoop down to the river, snag a fish and fly up to a tree limb and enjoy the feast. That's nature in action.

Plus, we mustn't forget a time when bald eagles were becoming extinct in the 1960s and 1970s because of the widespread use of the pesticide DDT in the U.S. I remember reporting on the gradual recovery of bald eagles in the 1980s and the 1990s, to the point where the bird was delisted. We've even been able to witness the recovery first-hand along the Boise River in Boise. It's definitely a wonderful success story in our nation's history, and in the history of the Endangered Species Act. I didn't remember that our own former Idaho Gov. and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne made the decision to delist the bird.

"Today I am proud to announce: the eagle has returned," said Secretary Kempthorne. "In 1963, the lower 48 states were home to barely 400 nesting pairs of bald eagles. Today, after decades of conservation effort, they are home to some 10,000 nesting pairs, a 25-fold increase in the last 40 years. Based on its dramatic recovery, it is my honor to announce the Department of the Interior's decision to remove the American Bald Eagle from the Endangered Species List."

I hope you enjoy your walk, and please leave a comment on the blog as to how many eagles you see on your walk or run.

Have fun!
-- SS