So the last week has been pretty neat as far as birds of prey go… I had seen on Facebook a friend of mine had gone down to Gooding, Idaho, where there is a tree that Bald Eagles stop by on their migrations every year. People say that there are upwards of 60 eagles that will roost in the tree at night! We only counted 30 (only!) when we stopped by to see it. We were pretty far away, a good 100 yards, but it was still neat to see! We could also hear them talking to each other- not something you hear every day, either. It is hard to hear on the recording, especially with the road noise, but still audible. Not at all what I thought a tree of eagles would sound like.

In addition to this one tree, there were several others in the area that had a few eagles in them, just sitting around, chilling. It was really neat to see and hear!

A couple of nights ago I was outside grilling dinner when I heard another bird noise, though I couldn’t really place it. As it was dark, I couldn’t see it, though I know the bird was in the tree above our chicken coop. As I listened, I could hear another of the same bird call a little farther off. It occurred to me that it might be an owl, so I Googled “owl noises.” It took me to a website that had a bunch of different type owl noises, and after scrolling through several, I finally found Western Screech Owl, which sounded exactly like it. So we had a couple of Western Screech Owls in our yard the other night. I haven’t been out to listen since, so not sure if s/he was just stopping by, or if s/he is actually nesting in our yard. Either way, it was pretty neat to hear!

Fun times! This is one of the things I love about Idaho- seeing and hearing such a wide variety of birds, especially the birds of prey. Though, I do have to admit, its kind of scary when I’m up in the air, and an eagle or a falcon is flying up beside me… Still, beautiful, amazing animals!