Forum birdwatching 2009

[Humanzee]

Can someone tell me what this lovely is? Caught it this summer at Mahluer Oregon.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=355&pictureid=2145

 

[EHocking]

Can someone tell me what this lovely is? Caught it this summer at Mahluer Oregon.

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=355&pictureid=2145

That one is a Black-crowned Night-Heron.
(got a book for N.Am but not S.Am and seen these a number of times, so you can have confidence in this ID).
I saw the Yellow-crowned down in Galapagos.

 

[dasmiller]

That one is a Black-crowned Night-Heron.
(got a book for N.Am but not S.Am and seen these a number of times, so you can have confidence in this ID).

Definitely. I'd never heard of them before this year, but I've seen a number of them at the local wetlands now.

And most of 'em were just about as active as the one in the linked picture appears to be.

 

[Floyt]

Since there isn't a 2010 birdwatching thread yet and I don't want to usurp management, I'll just add this year's early crop here, and maybe a benevolent mod could move it later?

A few days' holiday around Wollongong, NSW, Australia - I came with high expectations, having been biodiversity-starved by New Zealand's rather impoverished terrestrial bird-life for five years. And by golly, there's lots a-wing around here! I haven't even made it out of the suburbs much yet, but I constantly keep running into birds I've never seen or heard. Very, very enjoyable!
Since my camera doesn't have a zoom worthy of the name, you'll have to take my word for these. Seen around Wollongong, NSW (urban, coastal areas, Mt Keira, and borders of Royal National Park) between 01/01/2010 and 06/01/2010:

Black Swan Cygnus atratus
Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa
Royal Spoonbill Platalea regia
Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa
Brown Cuckoo-Dove Macropygia amboinensis
Crested Pigeon Ocyhaps lophotes
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita
Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus
Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius
Superb Lyrebird Menura novaehollandiae
New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
Eastern Whipbird Psophodes nigrogularis
Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis
Grey Shrike-Thrush Colluricinida harmonica
Magpie-Lark Grallina cyanoleuca
Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa
Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen
Pied Currawong Strepera graculina
Australian Raven Corvus coronoides
Green Catbird Ailuroedus crassirostris

plus a couple noisy guys outside my window every morning at 5:00 that I haven't found the energy to get up and ID yet...

Happy New Year to all ye birders!

 

[Kotatsu]

I will start a new thread for this year, but as most of you have noticed from last year's thread, I've become very bad at updating things... I will take care of this during the week, though, and will send the final list to EHocking... However, for this years list, I will state already from the beginning that I won't be updating more than every second wee or so...

My last observations for last year is:
Tulln, Austria (27/12):
Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus

EDIT:
Also:
Krems, Austria (27/12):
Crested Tit Lophophanes cristatus
Coal Tit Periparus ater
Willow Tit Poecile montanus
Goldcrest Regulus regulus
Green Woodpecker Picus canus

 

[EHocking]

I've still to finalise my Ecuador list (Galapagos is pretty straightforward, but I'll need ruling on species/subspecies on the finches).

I'll update the web page as soon as I get the list from you, in the meantime I'll pilfer some more photos from this thread for our Gallery.

I'm still happy to continue to keep the list. If you prefer, you could defer that job to me and you can remain the adjudicator.

 

[Mercutio]

I'll update the web page as soon as I get the list from you, in the meantime I'll pilfer some more photos from this thread for our Gallery.

Two things--1) If you want pics of any of the birds I listed but did not post a pic of, let me know. Some of the pics suck, but most are pretty usable.

2) Going through my pics, I have a couple questions for the birders here. First, is the guy on the left here a red-billed hornbill? Or, perhaps, just a juvie yellow-billed? My book does not have enough info.

Dangit, it looks like the other birds I have questions about are not yet up on my flickr account. Just a couple I could not ID, but which I suspect are quite common.

 

[Uncayimmy]

In my backyard here in Phoenix, I saw a type of bird I've never seen before. It was about the size of a pigeon, but more "lean" or streamlined. The big was somewhat long and narrow to my untrained eyes. The breast was white/gray with black spots evenly distributed. On the "neck" area was a black mark, which looked like a semi-oval - rotate the following to characters anticlockwise (| to see what I mean. Under the teal appeared to be a bit of red, but it was hard to tell. The wings were like the breast except that rather than being spots it was more like stripes.

Any ideas? Anyone care to point me to a bird identifying website?

 

[jasonpatterson]

Any ideas? Anyone care to point me to a bird identifying website?

Just FYI, there is a birdwatching 2010 thread up now.

I'm not familiar with western N.A. birds at all, and I'm not sure if by pigeon sized you also mean pigeon shaped (very generally speaking, that is.) Cornell U has a great ornithology website.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org

 

[macdoc]

UncaYimmy

sounds like a Flicker

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/id


••

i'm just in South Africa - Western Cape and a bit overwhelmed by the bird life variety...it's like starting my life list all over again!!!!

 

[Uncayimmy]

MacDoc,

Thanks so much. I went and posted in the 2010 thread and forgot to come back and update this thread. I hope I didn't put you through too much trouble. I was pleasantly surprised to find some really nifty bird identification tools on the web. I didn't think it would be that easy for a non-birdwatcher like myself.

Turns out it's a gilded flicker (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gilded_Flicker/id), so great call managing that from just my description.

 

[macdoc]

No problem - had the ID from the description but you are in a different region so it was a guess...turned out well.....golden

Finding a photo took a bit of time...connection slowish from South Africa

 

[EHocking]

Two things--1) If you want pics of any of the birds I listed but did not post a pic of, let me know. Some of the pics suck, but most are pretty usable.

2) Going through my pics, I have a couple questions for the birders here. First, is the guy on the left here a red-billed hornbill? Or, perhaps, just a juvie yellow-billed? My book does not have enough info.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4284040540_024003cd9c.jpg

Dangit, it looks like the other birds I have questions about are not yet up on my flickr account. Just a couple I could not ID, but which I suspect are quite common.

I'll have a check when I get home tonight - my favourite souvenir from our Africa trip was a comprehensive bird book!

I'd put my money on it being a Red-billed. The "skinny" bill is pretty much a distinguishing feature of them, compared to the relatively "massive" bill of the Yellow-billed.
Check the photo at this link: http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/red-billed.hornbill.html practically the same as yours.

Where was the shot taken?

 

[macdoc]

Merc
I'm in SA right now and have a very good bird book but I'd have to chase through it - where was the photo taken?

 

[Kotatsu]

2) Going through my pics, I have a couple questions for the birders here. First, is the guy on the left here a red-billed hornbill? Or, perhaps, just a juvie yellow-billed? My book does not have enough info.

I'd say a Red-billed, but my information comes from two of those lovely old books with "British style" illustrations: Roberts Birds of South Africa, in an edition from 1958 (revised by G. R. McLachlan and R. Liversidge), and African Handbook of Birds by Machworth-Praed and Captain Grant, from 1957. They both state that the young Yellow-billed had a "dusky yellow bill".

---
(1) This book was "given" to me by the university, along with about 150 others in our recent down-sizing, when we had to abandon the old systematics library. I got a whole set of nice old bird books, as well as numerous biology books of all kinds, including "Anthropogenie oder Entwicklungsgeschichte des Menchen" by Haeckel, in an edition from 1903, Menge-Güthlichs "Lateinisch-Deutsches Schulwörterbuch" from 1911, and Gegenbaur's "Grundriss der Vergleichenden Anatomie" from 1878. Great da for my book collection, bad day for the university...

 

[Kotatsu]

I have no added records by dasmiller, jasonpatterson, EHocking, davefoc, Fiona, sphenisc, N. Texas, Angus McPresley, Mercutio, Mr. Clingford, bruto and myself, that is ALL of them. Finally. I am sorry it took so long. I will now send the list to Eric, and then we can all blame him for all delays.

I will probably be going to London again this February, by the way, in case Eric or someone else wants to meet up.

I will now start on 2010's list, including Floyt's sightings.

Eric: I will send you 2009's list tonight. Would you add your Ecuadorean birds yourself?

 

[Mercutio]

Where was the shot taken?

Kruger Park, Northern end.

It looks red-billed to me to, except for three things, which is why I asked the experts here. 1) We saw tons of yellow-billed, and as you can see, this guy is hanging out with them. 2) Our guides pointed out the yellow-billed, the ground hornbills, and even a crown hornbill (I did not get that shot), but I don't recall them mentioning a red-billed. 3) In my guide, the one shot of a red-billed has a slightly different connection of bill to head (whether more or less streamlined, I don't recall, and don't have the book with me at present). (ETA: looking at your link, I am much more comfortable with an ID of red-billed!)

It did look most like red-billed to me, too, but I will happily defer to those more knowledgeable about such things.

On the plus side, knowing that a few of you have the appropriate books means I can now upload that handful of other unidentified birds!

 

[Mercutio]

I have no added records by dasmiller, jasonpatterson, EHocking, davefoc, Fiona, sphenisc, N. Texas, Angus McPresley, Mercutio, Mr. Clingford, bruto and myself, that is ALL of them. Finally. I am sorry it took so long. I will now send the list to Eric, and then we can all blame him for all delays.

In your first sentence... I am assuming that "no" is actually "now", and not "not". No?

 

[bruto]

I have yet to register any birds for 2010. I'll try to get together a list of the routine ones soon, but it's been a scanty season for interesting or unusual birds of the sort that require a post of their own.

 

[Mercutio]

Ok... pics of birds I have not ID'd. Bear in mind, I am an idiot; these may very well be pics of birds I have, in fact, ID'd, but which I do not recognize in these particular pics. I will try to give any info I have, but please ask if you need more.
First... not a great pic, but it's what I have. Northern Kruger Park, late July (winter). A large duck or small goose, but with a beak like a steam shovel:

At the airport in Johannesburg (July), this little bird was on the sidewalk. I would not have thought twice about him except for this thread:

On Robben Island (just off Cape Town, for those not familiar), midwinter (late July). Actually, in the prison yard where Mandela used to be imprisoned. Again, a nondescript bird I only photographed because of this thread:

Not a great shot... this bird was in the rafters of a thatched building, northern Kruger Park, late July.

Gorgeous little bird, sitting in the middle of the road (Kruger park, late July). Our guide went nuts about him, but I do not remember the name.

Saw this bird a lot, eating bugs from the thatched roof. Could easily be an already ID'd bird, but not by me.

Saw this handsome bird a couple of places--this shot is from Johannesburg, but I saw one on Robben Island as well. July, natch. I am betting he is so common they did not even think of putting him in my guidebook.

Lastly, a challenge: A pair of slightly out-of-focus yellowish birds in an acacia tree (Kruger park, July):