Environment
Boise Offers Urban Bird Refuge
December 2, 2006 
You wouldn’t know from watching local television, but not everyone is a skier.
However, you can still enjoy the great outdoors in downtown Boise of all places where the birds are particularly active this time of year along the river.
The GUARDIAN took a brief walk along the banks of the river near the children’s playground at Ann Morrison Park Saturday and was surprised at the bird activity. The sky was alive with the sounds of Canada geese honking and the toy-like squeaks of American wigeons.
While were were captivated by the action of thousands of geese landing and taking off in the afternoon winter sun, we glanced up to the breathtaking sight of a bald eagle soaring peacefully in big lazy circles.
Suddenly five gulls began chasing the majestic bird–like fighter planes going after a bomber. That action continued for several minutes.
If you want to enjoy the free show, take a walk along the river, especially in the area of Ann Morrison Park. Be sure to take your camera and binoculars.
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Dec 2, 2006, 8:48 pm
If you are walking through Julia Davis or Ann Morrison parks, look through the American Wigeon flocks; you might see one that had a rusty colored head with an orange patch on top of its head. That’s a Eurasian Wigeon, and there is usually a few of them every winter.
Dec 4, 2006, 11:26 am
You learn somethin’ every day – I always thought the widgeons were mallards that hatched near the Idaho Environmental lab!
(-;
Guardian, you’ve illustrated one more NICE aspect of bicycle-as-transportation. Pracically every weekday day, I ride along a stretch of the Greenbelt when I’m homeward bound. On some days, the herds of Canada Geese are so thick I have to go quite slow, and weave my way through ’em. (Shades of “The Birds”!) Unfortunately, Canada geese generate a lot of… um, uh… “by-product” that gets deposited on the pathway and all over the grass. That’s my only complaint.
Do they taste like chicken? The thought has occurred to me that I could “harvest” a fat Canada goose, if I carried a golf club and whacked one of ’em in the head. (Just kidding, of course.)
There are a half-dozen or so good-size mule deer that seem to have set up housekeeping in the wooded area right behind Kathryn Albertson Park (between the park and the railroad-trestle-converted-to-greenbelt). I see ’em a couple times a week as I ride toward Garden Street. I’m sure if I stopped for a moment, I could spot ’em every day.
The motorists – zooming by a block away – are enjoying their heaters and cell phones and such… but I’d sure never trade places with ’em.
Dec 4, 2006, 5:54 pm
Bike Boy,
It’s called bird poo. It is really ok to say “poo” on the Boise Guardian site. As a matter of fact I think the G-man encourages it. I love the ducks and geese and other birds so much I pay scant attention to the poo. As a matter of fact, I have almost quit hunting them. I let a magnificent rooster pheasant go last week out hunting because he was so shiny, handsome and big. My dog looked at me like I was nuts. Bird poo is a small inconvenience to pay for so much wildlife to enjoy in our urban backyard. I love the deer herd on the Greenbelt too.
Dec 4, 2006, 6:00 pm
I love nature, it’s breath taking beauty, it’s colors…Just look at the trees and their majesty in Julia davis Park! I’ve seen a pair of Kingfishers usually near the friendship bridge; Have spotted a bald eagle perched near the same location and a pair of Blue Herons.
There are also quite a number of red shafter flickers making the rounds–they look like woodpeckers. The geese were flying south Saturday evening as the sun set…
I wish mankind would learn a few lessons from nature but apparently we know it all. Maybe we would’nt be destroying ourselves and our precious environment.