Forum birdwatching 2009

[Kestrel]

Seen in Red Rocks Park near Denver, Colorado, USA:

White-throated Swift Aeronautes saxatalis

 

[Kestrel]

Seeing that first hummingbird -- whizzing past us where we sat, but still having time to stop, just for an instant, and have a look at us and see what we were up to -- instantaneously gave birdwatching a whole other meaning.

I wonder what the early European explorers thought when they saw a hummingbird for the fist time. They are rather astounding creatures.

 

[leonAzul]

Just this Spring began seeing both Brown and Blue Jays in Northern Dade County, FL.

Also a peculiar sort of Grebe in the canals here that doesn't quite fit the standard descriptions.

I'll make a point of keeping a camera with me so that I can document these sightings.

 

[bruto]

I can't even remember whether I've reported ruby throated hummingbirds (archilochus colubris) yet this year, but they're coming around now with some regularity now that the hostas are in bloom.

Hummingbird identification is really easy here in New England since we only get one kind.

 

[Kotatsu]

We went out catching at Boundary Bay again today, and got two new species:

Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus

On the way back, there was a Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto sitting on a wire. This bird is probably an escapee, and would likely not be of a permissible category. Still, David (my host's boyfriend) says he saw one in the same place last year, so it seems to be able to survive, at least.

I was planning to get some more photo posts done, as I have quite a lot of free time, but the internet connection where I live is crap, so it'll have to wait till I get back home.

 

[Kestrel]

We went out catching at Boundary Bay again today, and got two new species:

Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus

On the way back, there was a Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto sitting on a wire. This bird is probably an escapee, and would likely not be of a permissible category. Still, David (my host's boyfriend) says he saw one in the same place last year, so it seems to be able to survive, at least.

The Collared Dove has managed to spread across North America since the mid 1970s. From Birder's World:

Observers reported collared-doves in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Oregon for the first time ever, and they counted a record 10,542 collared-doves in 39 states and provinces, up from 8,080 birds in 35 states and provinces last year.

It's probably not an escapee.

 

[Kotatsu]

Well, there you go, then. Another species to add to the list. Thank you, Kestrel.

 

[Kestrel]

Seen in Denver's City Park on Friday (July 17):

Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax

Two small islands in the park have nesting colonies of Night Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons and Double Crested Cormorants. Trees covered with large birds, nests and fledglings is something you expect to see in a nature documentary about a remote wilderness, but this is in the middle of a city.

 

[sphenisc]

The Collared Dove has managed to spread across North America since the mid 1970s.

In Dances with Wolves there's a scene where Kevin Costner enters an old fort and is startled by one. Apparently it's not appropriate, on a date, to point out the anachronism. I'm told it ruins the atmosphere.

 

[sphenisc]

Isle of May, Fife, Scotland 19/07/09

Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis
Guillemot Uria aalge
Razorbill Alca torda
Puffin Fratercula arctica
Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba
Rock Pipit Anthus petrosus
Gannet Morus bassana
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisea
Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis

 

[davefoc]

I recently took this picture of what I think is a northern mockingbird. I was hoping that somebody might be able to answer a few questions about the bird in the image.

Is it really a northern mockingbird? It seems quite similar to some images of northern mockingbirds on the web and when it flew it had the characteristic wing patterns that I think of as indicating a mockingbird. It also seemed to be a good fit for the northern mockingbird described in a field guide I have. But the bird described in this site seems somewhat different:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/id

The beak of the bird in the article seems shorter and the body seems to have a thicker shape. The dark line through the eye seems more distinct than in the bird in my image. (In another image I took the black line can be made out but it is ragged and difficult to discern as a line.)

Do mockingbirds have eclipse plumage? Could the bird in my photograph be in eclipse plumage?

Can the sex be determined from the image in my photograph?

I got to wondering about this when I looked at the Wikipedia article on the northern mockingbird. Their image didn't look like a mockingbird to me but when I found another site that had a description somewhat consistent with the Wikipedia image I wondered what was going on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_mockingbird


Thanks for any responses to my questions and any information about the bird.

 

[sphenisc]

I got to wondering about this when I looked at the Wikipedia article on the northern mockingbird. Their image didn't look like a mockingbird to me but when I found another site that had a description somewhat consistent with the Wikipedia image I wondered what was going on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_mockingbird

The difference in appearance can be put down to two main factors, location and date.
Your photograph was taken, presumably, in Southern California this summer. The Wikipedia bird was taken in Canada, in December. It is hunched up on a branch, feathers fluffed up against the cold, neck pulled in, legs tucked up amongst its feathers. It may also be carrying a decent fat store to help see it through the nextfew days.
Your bird if anything has the opposite problem. It needs to be thin and lanky to help heat loss, and it doesn't need to carry any insulating fat, as food should be relatively abundant. The wings are slightly opened and drooped to catch any breeze and aid cooling, and the beak is open in the typical style of a bird trying to lose heat from the moist lining of the mouth. (Though alternatively it may be singing.)

In addition to the behavioural/physiological differences between individuals there's also an evolutionary pattern where more northerly members of a species tend to have shorter, thicker limbs and appendages. This is known as Allen's Rule^WP. So it's not too surprising that the Canadian bird might show a slightly different bill shape to the one from California.

So, basically they're all northern mockingbirds, but some are more northern than others.

Hope that helps.

 

[davefoc]

That was a great reply sphensic. Thank you.

ETA:
Allen's rule was interesting. I assumed that something like that was true, but I had assumed that the difference in morphology was driven by genetic differences. The Wikipedia article suggested that there might be a biological mechanism that causes animals raised in cold climates to be stockier.

 

[Kotatsu]

Robert's Bank 19/7:
Dunlin Calidris alpina

Boundary Bay 20/7:
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

I just missed the car this morning due to crappy Internet connection, but hopefully tomorrow I will be going out to sea and help catch (and collect lice from...) Surf Scoters! I will probably also be going to the US in a few weeks to visit Miss Kitt in the Seattle area, so if anyone lives there and wants to meet up...

 

[EHocking]

Just this Spring began seeing both Brown and Blue Jays in Northern Dade County, FL.

Also a peculiar sort of Grebe in the canals here that doesn't quite fit the standard descriptions.

I'll make a point of keeping a camera with me so that I can document these sightings.

Oops, nearly missed this post while I was updating the list.

Welcome leonAzul. Hope you stick around and post more and participate.

 

[Kotatsu]

I was in the US yesterday, trying, in vain, to catch Surf Scoters and White-winged Scoters, but there were simply no moulting ducks anywhere, so we had to give up. Anyway, I had my binoculars with me, and managed to get a few birds, some of which, I believe, have not been reported from the US before, and some of which are new for the year:

22/7 Point Roberts, Washington, US:
Domestic Pigeon Columba livia domestica
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
North-western Crow Corvus caurinus
Common Loon Gavia immer
Brandt's Cormorant Phalacrocorax perspicillatus
Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus (1)
Glaucous-winged Gull Larus glaucescens
White-winged Scoter Melanitta perspicillata(2)
Pelagic Cormorant Phalacrocorax pelagicus
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
California Gull Larus californicus
Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Surf Scoter Melanitta fusca
Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata
Scaup Aythya marila
American Robin Turdus migratorius

---
(1) These are everywhere!!!
(2) This means I have seen all the Melanitta species of the world, I believe.

 

[jasonpatterson]

(3) So, I've seen hummingbirds, and I was smitten instantly. Hummingbirds are wonderful. I love hummingbirds.

A bit late to reply, but congratulations. They are incredible creatures, to be sure. I've always been astounded by how territorial they are, for such a tiny animal. I recall sitting on my porch one summer day, watching the clouds go by and occasionally a hummingbird would zip up, feed, then zip away. It took me a minute to realize that the chirps I was hearing were the battle cries of a hummingbird chasing away newcomers to the feeder. Cardinals, goldfinches, and hummingbirds are what make life liveable here...

As far as what I've seen lately, in Macedonia, Ohio, USA:
Blue Jays
Everywhere, all the time, screaming their ****** heads off. They must have nested heavily in my patch of woods, there are at least 10 of them back there and they NEVER stop screaming during the day.

Unfortunately that's it, I haven't even seen sparrows or robins of late, it's been a solid month of working on the new house, with no real end in sight. Perhaps I'll beg a day off from the wife and kids and go to the lakeshore for waterbirds...

 

[Kotatsu]

Yesterday:

Trout Lake, Vancouver:
Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter sp

Robert's Bank, Vancouver:
Bonaparte's Gull Larus philadelphia

 

[Kestrel]

Seen on July 26, Northeast of Denver, Colorado, USA:

Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
Swainson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
Prairie Falcon Falco mexicanus

 

[jasonpatterson]

I went to my hometown to tend to a geocache that I placed as a memorial for my grandfather and looked for birds while there. Things were going well early on and I saw several sparrows, but then I stepped onto a yellowjacket (aggressive, carnivorous wasp, Vespula maculifrons) nest and got stung a dozen times before I could run away. Of course it was a mile walk to finish checking on the cache and get back to my car, and all of the stings were in my legs... In any case, here's what I saw:

Mt. Vernon, OH, USA, 7-27-2009:
American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
American robin (Turdus migratorius)
Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) (2 flocks of several hundred birds each...)
Gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)
Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)

To add a bit of humor to the stinging incident, the high school in Mt. Vernon is the one that I attended, they are the fighting Yellowjackets...