BY KAREN BOSSICK

This winter’s sparse snowfall and unseasonably warm temperatures may have had skiers sporting upside down smiles.

But they’ve pasted a big grin across the faces of Idaho birders.

Birders are seeing far more birds in the Wood River Valley this winter than they did last winter when the temperature in Sun Valley never climbed above freezing for two straight months and storms dumped feet of snow at a time.

Poo Wright-Pulliam, one of Sun Valley’s most avid birders, recently counted 147 on her “raptor route” encompassing Stanton’s Crossing, Silver Creek Preserve and Carey.

They included a gyrfalcon—a high-altitude species from Canada that’s not seen here every year, 487 red-tailed hawks, 11 kestrels, 62 Northern Harriers, three golden eagles, four bald eagles, 14 rough-legged hawks and one Merlin falcon.

Kristin Fletcher recently counted more than 400 waxwings nibbling on chokecherry shrubs at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. When they had had their fill, they fluttered like leaves to the creek to quench their thirst, no doubt terrifying the fish that hang out in the creek, she quipped.

And math tutor Ann Parry said counted 40 species of birds during the Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 30 in the vicinity of the Picabo General Store.

“Last year I saw only a few raptors,” she said. “This year we counted 700 Canada geese in one field alone.”

Wright-Pulliam recently led about 17 birders on a bird walk from Ketchum’s Community Library through the city streets to Atkinson Park.

“Look at the tree tops, shrub tops, fence tops, in the sky and at the mountains,” she told her followers. “A lot of times, you will find something because you hear it.”

They had scarcely stepped out of the library when they saw Bohemian waxwings--grey birds featuring black faces, yellow-tipped tails and red and white splotches--munching on the berries of mountain ash trees.

“Anything flying overhead with a yellow tail is likely one of these,” she said. “I drive around and look for mountain ash trees and, when I find one, I look for them. The cedar waxwing, in contrast, looks like the sealing wax they used to seal envelopes with.”

Across the street, they saw seven Clark’s nutcrackers flitting from one branch of a pine tree to another. They saw 15 more at Atkinson Park.

The Clark’s nutcracker, a jay-sized gray and black bird, uses its dagger-like bills to rip into pine cones and pull out seeds that they then stash under their tongue to carry away to bury.

Named after explorer William Clark, the Clark’s nutcracker was discovered in Idaho during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Considered one of the smartest birds, it can remember where it hid each cache.

“And they hide thousands of caches,” said Wright-Pulliam.

Caches they don’t return for help replenish the forests and can even become foodstuff for bears.

Both the waxwing and the nutcracker are among several species of birds that birders come from other states to see.

“The nutcrackers are high-altitude birds and Ketchum is high enough for them to hide out in town especially in winter,” said Wright-Pulliam. “So birders can basically walk out of their hotel rooms and see them.”

The black rosy finch is another bird birders come here to see. Native to the rocky summits, alpine snowfields and tundra of Idaho and a small portion of Montana and Alberta, Canada, these uncommon birds can be seen right now hanging around Elkhorn.

Occasionally, they fly over the hill to Triumph, their black plumage and touches of pale rose making a beautiful show against the snow.

The group spotted three red crossbills, known for their “kip kip” calls, sitting on the top of pine trees near Knob Hill from the porch at Esta’s restaurant. A member of the finch family, these brightly colored orange or red birds have peculiar bills with distinctive mandables  crossed at the tips that enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones.

The South Hills and Albion Mountains below Twin Falls boasts a species of crossbill found nowhere else, Wright-Pulliam noted. Named the Cassia Crossbill, it’s a sedentary bird, unlike its nomadic cousins. Consequently, it’s the only crossbill in North America that birders can count on finding year round in the same forest.

It eats the seeds of the lodgepole pine without fear since the red squirrels that would normally harass birds like them are not found in the area.

One of the things that makes the area around the Wood River Valley good bird watching territory is the intersection of different habitats.

“Stand in the middle of the sagebrush and riparian habitat at Silver Creek Preserve and you’re in the middle of two different habitats,” Wright-Pulliam said. “Look to one side and you get the birds that frequent sagebrush. Look to the other and you get the birds that love the water.”

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count took place in just such habitat— a 15-mile radius that included Silver Creek Preserve and extended nearly all the way to Little Wood Reservoir.

Wright-Pulliam is still fielding observations from the 20 people who took part locally in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. But so far it stands at 58 species, with several more seen within a couple days of the count.

“We saw 69 Northern Harriers—that’s a record,” she said of the distinctive long-winged, long-tailed birds of prey that look similar to an owl.

One thing birders won’t find right now is insect eaters because there are no insects here during winter. The birds that do stay here during winter can do so because their feathers are such good insulators.

“You see more golden crown kinglets in winter than summer. And goshawks—you can find them in town and south of town,” Wright-Pulliam said.

Wright-Pulliam says she can’t help but be fascinated by birds.

Humming birds, for instance, have tendons on their talons that close when they’re perching on a tree limb so that if they fall asleep while perching they won’t fall off the branch.

“I’ve seen hummingbirds flipped upside down but still hanging on,” she said.

Woodpeckers have a stiff tail that enables them to lean against a tree for balance while pecking.

And brown creepers? They literally do a spiraling act.

“They fly down a tree upside down, then circle up,” Wright-Pulliam said.

UPCOMING BIRD WALKS

Poo Wright-Pulliam will lead two bird walks for Ketchum’s Environmental Resource Center in January and March.

She will lead bird walks from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 27 at Silver Creek Preserve and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 10 at the Draper Preserve in Hailey.

There is a suggested donation of $10 for ERC members and $20 for nonmembers. Preregistration is encouraged at 208-726-4333 or Hadley@ercsv.org. Visit www.ercsv.org for more information).