Birding and Bird Photography

Just ran across this thread. Cool! I'm actually a transplanted marine biologist from Central California, and while Florida has an ocean, going from the kelp forests of Monterey to the dredged and devastated coastlines of South Florida is like going from studying ecology in the Amazon to doing it in a vacant lot in New York City. So, to get my nature fix, my wife and I go birding.

We haven't really been out this season, but here are a few pics from just from the backyard and the nearby area:


Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Red-Bellied Woodpeckers Excavating Nest by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Juvenile Cooper's Hawk by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Female Painted Bunting by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Blue Jay by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Blue-crowned Parakeets by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Spot-Breasted Oriole by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Palm Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Orange-winged Parrot by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Cedar Waxwings by Gary Villa, on Flickr

 

Thank you! My dad said that was a cormorant too! Keep birding - I like knowing more about the animals I see.

 

We have a lot of water around here, so lots of waterfowl and wetland birds


Black-bellied Whistling Duck by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Roseate Spoonbill by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Osprey by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Juvenile Common Gallinule by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Red-winged Blackbird by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Pied-Billed Grebe by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Anhinga by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Green Heron by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Purple Gallinule by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Cattle Egret by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Black-necked Stilt Chicks by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Black-necked Stilt by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Least Bittern by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Great Blue Heron in Bullrushes by Gary Villa, on Flickr

 

Nice shots, @Evo1ve!

Hopefully you can get some trips around to other marine areas for pleasure, at least!

 

Thanks!

Thought it was! LOVE owls, rarely seen and so majestic.

 

Thanks! I really enjoy seeing the Western birds you and some of the others have posted. Reminds me of home.

Unfortunately between work and all the other things I have going on, I haven't kept up with the marine stuff the way I should have. It's orders of magnitude more involved even just to go diving now than it was when I lived and worked in Monterey. Plus the diving here is hardly worth the effort, and with all the idiot boaters here it's a lot more dangerous. One of my students was run down and nearly killed just a couple of years ago, despite being in a no wake zone, surrounded by dive flags. And when I do travel it's usually for other purposes, so not much there either. I'd hoped to get to do a few weeks back in California last summer, but that didn't pan out. So it's mostly birds for now.

 

Here are a few more from the archives, mostly warblers and other random Florida stuff:


Northern Parula by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Black-and-White Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Prairie Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Ovenbird by Gary Villa, on Flickr


American Redstart by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Cape May Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Male Pileated Woodpecker by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Female Pileated Woodpecker by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Northern Mockingbird by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Male Northern Cardinal by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Female American Redstart by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Male American Redstart by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Male Common Yellowthroat by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Female Common Yellowthroat by Gary Villa, on Flickr


House Finches by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Indigo Bunting by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Worm-eating Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Palm Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr


Male Black-Throated Blue Warbler by Gary Villa, on Flickr

 

How's the winter treating everyone? Ready for spring migration?!

Figured you all would enjoy this...



And have you seen these, too? There are a bunch of them, but it looks like ebird is updating the website so I can't get the link to work. All created based on ebird checklist data! Here's a brief article with the link in it.

 

I hope this thread gets rejuvenated.

 

I had taken this when I was in British Columbia.

 

I forgot about it and have been slacking in getting my bird photos edited...

Birds!

Black-throated Gray Warbler by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Here's a fun one... great size comparison!

American Crow and Sharp-shinned Hawk by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

How do you ID between Allen's and Rufous?? Look at the tail feathers, of course!

Allens Hummingbird by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

This poor thing...

Annas Hummingbird by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Annas Hummingbird by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Costas Hummingbird by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

My parents had 5 species of hummers in their backyard at their feeders this last fall. Anna's, Allen's, Black-chinned, Costa's, and a Broad-tailed that made a surprise appearance. That one was something like the third record in San Diego county and when my mom put the word out that it was there suddenly their house became an Ebird hotspot! Unfortunately didn't get a photo of that one...

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Winter courtship!

Red-tailed Hawk Winter Courtship by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Couple of crappy shots of some Ruby Throats. These are about the only ones we see east of the Mississippi River. However, lately it seems I catch a transit, mid fall specimen that’s not the norm. Not certain what they may be.

 

Also, strangely enough I watched a few crows (not certain if that qualifies as a murder) wearing a red-tailed hawks’ ass out just today as I returned to work from lunch.

 

Haha, yeah that's one we definitely don't get!

Any distinguishing features on your mystery migrant?
Take a look at Anna's hummingbird. One of the volunteers I've worked with in Ecuador lives in South Carolina and was talking about seeing Anna's in the fall, oddly enough. Way far away from the usual home range!

 

OH! I completely forgot to post about this. In November we had a first county record of a Groove-billed Ani in north county San Diego, less than a mile from where I live! Super easy to photograph and not timid of people at all. Just hangin' out getting fat on grasshoppers in the park while kids ran around and people played soccer right alongside it.

Groove-billed Ani by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Groove-billed Ani by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

It took a bath in the puddle next to the picnic bbqs...

Groove-billed Ani by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Welcome back Kevin

That is all we get on the West side of the Mississippi up here too.



Pheasant hunting in SD had a large hummingbird I couldn't ID fly through a field we were pushing ahead of me. With snow on the ground. Wasn't moving fast or going far. Never did catch up with it, wonder if it made it South.

 

Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend! Contribute your observations to the global snapshot of bird diversity and richness.

4 days, Friday through Monday. 15 minutes of observations at any time on one or more days. Super easy! The hardest part is getting set up on Ebird if you aren't already.

Audubon article: http://www.audubon.org/conservation/about-great-backyard-bird-count

Official website: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/

How-to PDF: http://gbbc.birdcount.org/wp-conten...6Updates_English_DownloadableInstructions.pdf

Bird!
Broad-billed Motmot by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Dang, that bird is tiny! That would be amazing to see, and such a great photo!

The one I posted is a Broad-billed Motmot from my most recent trip to Ecuador. A fair bit larger than that little guy.

 

Snow. Cold. That map you posted earlier explains it all here right now

Going to be a few months yet it was 2° when I woke up this morning. Birds aren't that dumb Goldfinches. Crows. A few hawks. Eagles where water is open from power plants. Hmm maybe time to take a trip over to the river...