Birding and Bird Photography

Thanks kevin, yea green jays are probably one of my favorite birds

 

Wow Mark I still can't get over the number of different birds you have access to! Glad to see they are coming back South for you. Which means there are fewer up here now although it is good to see the dark eyed junco's show up here again. They are the clean up crew around the feeders.

Well weatherman lied, there were really strong winds on the way North. I hit at least 2 warbles, nothing I could do about it. The birds come in waves across the road and the wind gusts freeze them or toss them around.

The girlfriend said that hawk took out one of the jays around the house while I was gone, just got back last night. Raked up some leaves in the driveway and there were blue jay feathers everywhere.

Had a common loon on the lake I stayed at every morning, hasn't headed South yet and was good to hear its call. It was always on the other side of the lake of course. The black flies were so bad this spring that ~70% of the Loons abandoned their nests with eggs on them.


Pair of trumpeter swans on a bend in a river. In another month the Tundra Swans will be flying down the Missisippi and that means a few days later the river will start to freeze and winter will be here.


Got back last night and washed the mud off the truck this morning. Took it for a drive to dry it off a mile down the road from the house and passed a road kill deer with 3 Eagles feeding. They are starting to come in larger numbers now as they move South. These 2 were busy fighting each other


So this juvi helped himself without much interruption.

 

Went to Tepui Fest this weekend. Managed to get this raptor with the 70-200. It's almost a 100% crop

 

Barred owl from this past weekend. This guy had been hooting at me all summer, finally saw him.

 

Prolly my favorite owl, "who cooks, who cooks, who cooks for you". BTW nice shot.

 

Nice migration birds and phenology, Mike! Loons are so crazy! I've never seen one before, though. Maybe this weekend! I'm headed up to New Hampshire for a few days to visit my sister and she's got a field trip for class to some tide pools that I get to go along on.

Nice Accipiter, Ian! Did you figure out what it was? Tough to tell if it's a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned...leaning towards Coop, though.

Oooooh really neat shot of the Barred Owl!

Got another shot of one of the Bewick's Wrens in my backyard last week:

Bewick's Wren by 92shawman, on Flickr

Then my mom and I went out to San Elijo Lagoon in Solana Beach this last weekend for a few hours. Got some good stuff! Possibly heard Clapper/Ridgeway's Rails, but not 100% sure on that one.

Photos:

Anna's Hummingbird by 92shawman, on Flickr

Pretty sure these are Short-billed Dowitchers...Short and Long-billed are tough to tell apart, surprisingly. At least for me they are

Short-billed Dowitchers by 92shawman, on Flickr

Caught this Blue-winged Teal pair! There was a monthly bird count a few days ago surveying the entire lagoon and no one saw them, so they must've migrated along.

Blue-winged Teal by 92shawman, on Flickr

Gonna use the ol' SOS trip report methodology and split these posts up after a few pictures...

 

One random Red-shoulder out on the one big shrub/tree in the middle of the estuary. Was funny out of place! But then he went and caught a mid-morning snack. This was the best photo that came out:

Red-shouldered Hawk by 92shawman, on Flickr

Shot of the day goes to this Common Yellowthroat. What a stud!

Common Yellowthroat by 92shawman, on Flickr

Saw at least two sub-species of Savannah Sparrow: Belding's and this Large-billed. I had never even heard of the Large-billed until this weekend when my mom told me about them!

Large-billed Savannah Sparrow by 92shawman, on Flickr

Lots of little Least Sandpipers probing around in the scum of the low tide. Kinda gross stuff, but guess there's lots of good food in there!

Least Sandpiper by 92shawman, on Flickr

 

And then there were these two Greater Yellowlegs...they were ridiculous! We watched them for a good half hour or more and the entire time they were chasing each other around. More likely than not there was just one that was chasing the other around the entire time, but they flew to a few different locations where we couldn't see them so I'm not sure. They were funny to watch, though, disturbing the peace amongst the plovers!
I got a video so we'll see if I can upload that...it was a bit shaky trying to hold still at 400mm...


Black-bellied Plovers and Greater Yellowlegs by 92shawman, on Flickr


Black-bellied Plovers and Greater Yellowlegs by 92shawman, on Flickr

Boo!

Greater Yellowlegs by 92shawman, on Flickr

And we saw this same guy coming back up the trail on the way out, too. Silly little molting hummingbird!

Anna's Hummingbird by 92shawman, on Flickr

Took a bunch more photos but those are the best few that came out this time...low light made it a bit more difficult, unfortunately. Good weekend, though! Added a few species to my year list. Up to 145, not including Ecuador!

 

I think the RS isn't so much out of place-just one to use the marshes for hunting. I'd always thought they were sort of territorial or at least tended to be more solitary hunters.

 

True, true, the marsh is good hunting for all. I've just always seen them in the wooded areas, even in the lagoon. When we first saw this guy we expected a Red-tail or Northern Harrier instead, so we were a bit surprised!

 

Thanks. Its the first owl I've seen in the wild. Wouldnt have seen it, but I startled a partridge, and it flew off in its direction.

 

Luck!

 

Subbing! Didn't know about this thread. I love bird photos. A few months back I wish I had a good camera...I saw a Greater Roadrunner. Had no idea we had them here, just came strolling by while I was sitting in the truck in a dirt parking lot. I lost track of him and walked around to try and find him again, but no luck. Did some research later and realized they go up into bushes. He was probably in the bush watching me Who knew they were so big?

 

Seems like that neck of the woods has gotten colder earlier the past couple of years? Could that be it?