We had NO IDEA when we were following directions from the Idaho Birding Trail that we were going to find a modern day “Brigadoon”.  June 7th had started out as a routine birding day.  At 6:15 am we were on the road in southern Idaho.  By mid morning we had already seen 42 species with 2 stops:  Bruneau Dunes State Park, which has “the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America” and Ted Trueblood Wildlife Management Area, a large lake surrounded by reeds.

Late morning we reached the Road to Silver City.  Not sure how far we could go with our little Ford Focus on what was reported as a 23-mile gravel road, we were pleasantly surprised that the 1st 7 miles were paved.  Further on, the road gradually deteriorated and the last 4 miles were quite rutted and rocky.   Twice we were met with signs that told us after that point, any rescue would be ‘on our own’.  However, there were some special birds to look for on the way and in the town, so we kept going.

The road was quite scenic winding back and forth with great views of the valley below and the snow-covered peaks above.  At 6600 feet we reached the top and started going down the other side.  Earlier a couple of trucks passed us carrying 4 wheel off road vehicles, otherwise we saw few people.  On the way were patches of snow and one snow bank about 5 feet high.  We later heard they had 2 feet of new snow about 2 weeks ago.
4 miles further on at about 6200 feet elevation Silver City appeared nestled into a steep mountain valley.
 
Silver City was built in the 1860’s to support the gold and silver mining.  There were 2500 inhabitants at it’s height and was actually the county seat until sometime in the 1930’s.  We expected to find ruins of buildings and some mining equipment.  However, when we arrived we saw people, some trucks, and a number of the 4 wheelers.  A sign indicated that the buildings were all privately owned.  Some looked occupied.  There was an old drug store (not active), a hotel and bar (open), and a number of other establishments.  The whole town looked like it might have at least 100 years ago with no running water or electricity.  There was even a public outhouse and campground.

We managed to find somewhat of a parking space, walked through the town, and talked to 3 fellows eating their lunch in the ‘park’.  They had passed us earlier on their OHV’s. There were hummingbird feeders on several buildings with fresh nectar.  Leaves on the trees were just leafing out and daffodils and tulips were blooming.  The creek was overflowing in places, so we could not get to the cemetery. 

In town among other birds, we saw Calliope and Black-chinned Hummingbirds, as well as Fox Sparrow and Green-tailed Towhee.  Both of the latter were ‘first of the year’ for us. Other ‘first of the year’ birds on the road were Chukar, Rock Wren (Anne), Cordilleran and Gray Flycatchers.  The trip added 22 birds to our day list. 

Though I, Anne, was skeptical of some spots, Chuck did a great job of maneuvering our faithful little car up the road and through town.  The trip to Silver City was just another eventful birding day!