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I've got a Nikon Monarch and have been pretty satisfied with it. Granted I mostly use it for astronomy and spying on the neighbors, but I guess you could use it to look at birds. I guess.Cythereal posted:Where are they from, anyway? I'd never heard of frogmouths before seeing that post, but they look very similar to the whipoorwills we have here in the eastern US. Australia, naturally. They are literally Muppets. 
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Jul 9, 2015 03:51
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The neotropics have something similar- meet the potoo! pantanal 301 on Flickr
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Jul 9, 2015 04:48
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Ah. Here's our eastern US version, the whipoorwill: WHIPOORWILL 4283 on FlickrAmazing singers, incredibly frustrating to actually find and see.
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Jul 9, 2015 05:02
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^ I had Chuck-Will's-Widows singing outside my tent in Bentson-Rio Grande SP in south Texas this year. Never got a look though  Nightjars are pretty much my favorite family of birds. Tendai posted:This is the birdwatching thread and I want them for watching birds, so I thought I'd ask -- does anyone have a recommendation for decent binoculars that aren't hugely expensive? We're in the middle of huge pastures which means a lot of birds, and I'd like to be able to see them in more detail when they're far off. I'm a big fan of Vanguard Endeavors (1st series). Every few months they drop down to under $200 on Amazon and they are really, really good for that price. They're not that low right now though, unfortunately. Put in a pricewatch at CamelCamelCamel if you're interested. hey santa baby posted:Speaking of which -- what do people use for tripods? On one hand the selection on amazon is positively overwhelming, on the other hand the only place I found locally that sells any is an Audubon outpost that has the choice of $300 w/o head, or $700 w/o head. For a meager Alpen scope I had hoped to get away with something in the $150 range plus maybe a $70 head. Any practical recommendation would go a long way. Check Craigslist for used Manfrotto or other good brands legs. With meager care a good tripod lasts a very long time. A lot of people are moving to carbon fiber so older, heavier tripods can be had for well under new prices. If it comes with a photo head (ball head, typically) just resell that and buy a video panning head or similar. I bought a set of Manfrotto legs for $20 at a garage sale a few years ago. They're about 15 years old and heavy as hell, but they get the job done quite well. BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Jul 9, 2015 |
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Jul 9, 2015 05:06
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BeastOfExmoor posted:^ I had Chuck-Will's-Widows singing outside my tent in Bentson-Rio Grande SP in south Texas this year. Never got a look though We have whipoorwills year-round in Florida, they're lovely to listen to. Though I think "Chuck-Wills-Widow" might be the strangest bird name I've ever heard (yes, I know they're named for their song).
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Jul 9, 2015 05:11
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BeastOfExmoor posted:I'm a big fan of Vanguard Endeavors (1st series). Every few months they drop down to under $200 on Amazon and they are really, really good for that price. They're not that low right now though, unfortunately. Put in a pricewatch at CamelCamelCamel if you're interested.
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Jul 9, 2015 05:23
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Eagle optics and Craigslist are good suggestions, thanks. It looks like it'll be a while before I get a tripod unless I see an incredible deal on CL. Would be nice if there was an easy way to find a tripod with particular specs: 66 in max. height, < 4.5 lbs, twist leg locks, otherwise no gimmicks (eg no tilting center column, no multiple leg angles). Sifting through catalogs will take forever. Apreciate the suggestions all the same. ETA - I have the Monarch 7 8x42, and would buy them again if lost. Lawson fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Jul 9, 2015 |
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Jul 9, 2015 23:15
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B&H has pretty good sort features- might help you narrow down your potential tripod choices.
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Jul 10, 2015 02:20
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BetterLekNextTime posted:B&H has pretty good sort features- might help you narrow down your potential tripod choices. Excellent, didn't know of this place. Thanks!
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Jul 10, 2015 16:27
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It's not a great picture since I had to screw with it so the nests were even visible, but I can't get a picture of the drat birds because they don't ever sit still: These guys nest under the eaves of our roof, there's two nests you can see there and one other on the other side of the door. I'm in New Mexico, around 9000 feet in the Rockies, just across the border from Colorado. The birds themselves are dark gray on the top and pale gray on their bellies and they've got babies in there right now and have for the past two weeks or so. They are incredibly territorial nesters -- if you sit on the front step where I sat for those pictures they dive-bomb you and get about a foot away till you leave, whether you're a person or the cat. Their wing shape is really streamlined, sort of like this when seen from the bottom:  I have used my Northern NM bird book, I have looked online, but I don't know if I'm looking at the wrong things or what. I cannot identify these drat birds and it is driving me nuts. And ideas, wildbirb goons?
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Jul 17, 2015 03:40
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Maybe a White-throated Swift?
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Jul 17, 2015 03:56
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I'm not familiar with the western half of the continent, but I think they're probably swallows of some kind? Barn Swallows have nests like that but the birds you're describing sound less colourful.
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Jul 17, 2015 04:04
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YggiDee posted:I'm not familiar with the western half of the continent, but I think they're probably swallows of some kind? Barn Swallows have nests like that but the birds you're describing sound less colourful. The swift doesn't look like them and they don't really live in large groups -- one to two adults per nest as far as I can tell.
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Jul 17, 2015 04:26
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How big are they?
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Jul 17, 2015 04:28
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About 5-6 inches? Kind of guessing, they REALLY don't ever just land that I've ever seen, they fly around and then somehow manage to fly into those entry holes without splatting into the side of the house.
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Jul 17, 2015 04:43
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Tendai posted:About 5-6 inches? Kind of guessing, they REALLY don't ever just land that I've ever seen, they fly around and then somehow manage to fly into those entry holes without splatting into the side of the house. I don't think cliff swallows make nests like that, do they? Huh. I used Merlin earlier and couldn't come up with anything either.
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Jul 17, 2015 05:13
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Kenshin posted:I don't think cliff swallows make nests like that, do they? Huh. I used Merlin earlier and couldn't come up with anything either.
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Jul 17, 2015 05:34
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Kenshin posted:I don't think cliff swallows make nests like that, do they? Huh. I used Merlin earlier and couldn't come up with anything either. From Sibley's: quote:nests mostly on manmade structures such as under bridges or house eaves...Nest a gourd-shaped mud cone with small entrance hole Although it says it nests in tightly packed clusters in large colonies, large colonies have to start somewhere! I think it's cliff swallows, based on the description.
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Jul 17, 2015 15:14
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Linedance posted:I think it's cliff swallows, based on the description.
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Jul 17, 2015 15:27
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The nest looks like cliff swallow to me, but they are pretty distinctive- they have a light colored forehead patch that would be really obvious when the bird is sticking it's head out of the nest hole, and an obvious light rump patch too. It makes me wonder whether some other swallow like a rough-winged swallow is using an old cliff swallow nest.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:36
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Could a Vaux's Swift be using a cliff swallow nest? Because the color description and wing drawing kinda matches a Vaux's Swift, but the nest is nothing like they use, and they'd be quite the vagrant in northern NM... Yeah, this probably isn't going to be solved unless you can get pictures of the birds.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:45
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Ah-HA! The mysterious Northern New Mexico Unidentifiable rear end in a top hat bird has, in fact, been identified. There was a brief traffic jam at the hole that leads into the nest and one of the males finally hung on the outside for the 5 seconds it took to see a very distinctive red butt-band and a bit more of his head, albeit in shadows at dusk. Seriously, the hummingbirds around here are still more often than these birds are. Anyhow... They are in fact cliff swallows! This is the picture that really clinched it since it was in more similar lighting effects to how I've been seeing them, I think:  Thank you for your help and especially those who actually said this but got shot down because I hadn't realized their heads were THAT red before I saw the male tonight. In other news, there is some kind of just exceedingly dramatic Brewer's Blackbird love triangle taking place out on my driveway today. One male trying to impress two females, both of whom looked vaguely disinterested and kept looking for food. They sound like the aliens from Mars Attacks 
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Jul 20, 2015 03:17
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Tendai posted:In other news, there is some kind of just exceedingly dramatic Brewer's Blackbird love triangle taking place out on my driveway today. One male trying to impress two females, both of whom looked vaguely disinterested and kept looking for food. They sound like the aliens from Mars Attacks More fun than the birds around my apartment complex have been having.  Watched a hawk grab at least one fuzzy duckling as its mother was leading them across the road while I was heading out to my car. Mama duck with a train of yellow fluffballs behind her walking across the road, then hawk swoops down and grabs at least one. Didn't look like it even landed.A shame. It's a hawk family that's been preying on birds around the apartment complex for a while and I cheer every time I see evidence of a dead grackle.
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Jul 20, 2015 03:37
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Hi bird buds, I have a possibly vague question. Every evening around sunset and somewhat past it, especially if I'm hanging out near a river (I live in Pittsburgh fyi), I see a bird or bat flying and making crazy tight turns, and making a screeching sound. I think it's a bat, it even sounds like the generic bat sound from an old scary movie (though in those you usually hear a whole swarm chirping). I assume they're out catching bugs, hence why they hang out around the river a lot. There's some birds who go out in the evening and fly erratically around the river too (sparrows I think?) but I swear these screechy guys have a different silhouette, and I really think they're bats. I've thought this for years and I always get all  when I hear them screech cause I love bats.Someone recently told me that it's not a bat at all though, and now I don't know what to believe  . Is there any other likely bird who has a screechy noise? Or, what sort of bat would it likely be? If I could listen to example calls of some likely candidates I could definitely ID the sound I'm thinking of.
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Jul 28, 2015 17:10
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Lots of birds fit that description. Not familiar with your area, but it sounds like some type of swallow or nighthawk. They're usually most active around dusk and eat bugs.
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Jul 28, 2015 17:14
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Could it be a chimney swift? There's a recording of their calls here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chimney_Swift/id
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Jul 28, 2015 17:49
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EPICAC posted:Could it be a chimney swift? There's a recording of their calls here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chimney_Swift/id No, but that's absolutely the other bird I always see out over the river, thanks! The suspected bats have like a .5 s long, trilled chirp, then are silent for at least a few seconds before going again.
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Jul 28, 2015 20:09
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Maybe they're tree swallows?
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Jul 28, 2015 20:21
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YggiDee posted:Maybe they're tree swallows? Looked them up - nope :-/ It's funny, but the most comparable sound I can think of to show you is the very first bat you hear in the Scooby Doo Where Are You intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTq6nwO4oJU except it's a little more trilled than that, and they're spread out by several seconds as opposed to all quickly in a row like that cartoon bat.
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Jul 28, 2015 20:34
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alnilam posted:Hi bird buds, I have a possibly vague question. Like Cythereal mentioned, it could be a nighthawk. Do you see a white band on the underside of the wings? Here's the ID page--be sure to check out the audio, too: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/id
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Jul 28, 2015 21:06
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Arriviste posted:Like Cythereal mentioned, it could be a nighthawk. Do you see a white band on the underside of the wings? Here's the ID page--be sure to check out the audio, too: That's definitely the one!  Bummed they're not bats as I've thought for years, but not really cause birds are rad too.
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Jul 28, 2015 21:14
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The cliff swallows managed to fledge finally. And of course they chose the few days where we've had solid rain to do it. Watching awkward juvenile birds fly around getting wet is way more entertaining than it has any right to be
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Jul 28, 2015 22:23
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Tendai posted:The cliff swallows managed to fledge finally. And of course they chose the few days where we've had solid rain to do it. Watching awkward juvenile birds fly around getting wet is way more entertaining than it has any right to be You can't just say that and not post pictures dude.
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Jul 30, 2015 00:35
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Pile of Kittens posted:You can't just say that and not post pictures dude.  I can sometimes take OKAY pictures of birds that are sitting perfectly still, but swallows in flight are probably not going to be legible.
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Jul 30, 2015 01:58
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I crossed two birding goals of my bucket list yesterday morning. While seawatching in Puget Sound I spotted an odd bird flying away from me about a mile away. Another birder and I followed it in our scopes for about 40 minutes before it finally came close enough to confirm my suspicions. Brown Booby! Not only a first county record for my home county, but also the first bird I've ever found that's a review species for my home state (10th WA record, if accepted).
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Aug 22, 2015 17:28
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BeastOfExmoor posted:I crossed two birding goals of my bucket list yesterday morning. While seawatching in Puget Sound I spotted an odd bird flying away from me about a mile away. Another birder and I followed it in our scopes for about 40 minutes before it finally came close enough to confirm my suspicions. Brown Booby! Not only a first county record for my home county, but also the first bird I've ever found that's a review species for my home state (10th WA record, if accepted). Cool! My partner just looked it up, apparently it was spotted later hitching a lift on a boat down to Edmonds waterfront. Great spot for birds there, that's where she saw the snowy owl last year. Need to get out west again soon!
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Aug 23, 2015 03:13
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Linedance posted:Cool! My partner just looked it up, apparently it was spotted later hitching a lift on a boat down to Edmonds waterfront. Great spot for birds there, that's where she saw the snowy owl last year. Need to get out west again soon! Yea, Edmonds is a nice spot. It's only fifteen minutes from my house and has the marine birding during late summer and fall is pretty excellent. There's lots of "good" birds that are expected and a decent number of rarities that have occurred. Last year I had a Leach's Storm-Petrel from there.
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Aug 24, 2015 21:05
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Does anyone have any experience looking for southward-bound migrants in southern or southwestern Ontario in autumn? I am nearing the end of my field work season, and by early-October I will be in Kitchener-Waterloo, not too far from the north shores of both lakes Erie and Ontario. Google maps shows me a number of provincial parks and wildlife refuges along those shores, would Canadian thanksgiving (mid-October) be a good time to look for birds pausing before hopping over the water?
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Sep 1, 2015 02:09
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ExecuDork posted:Does anyone have any experience looking for southward-bound migrants in southern or southwestern Ontario in autumn? Definitely go to Point Pelee. We went around the same time last year, there were shitloads of raptors making their way down. Little woodland birds were a little sparse, they were mostly gone already or just laying low. Leamington is a nice town too and there's good accommodation around. There is a bird festival some time around then I believe, so during that time the accommodation will be pretty booked solid, but the rest of the time should be fine. You should also catch the monarch butterfly migration, it's pretty amazing. They all stage at the point before crossing.
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Sep 1, 2015 03:01
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Looks like I'm going down to Texas in a couple of days, for a couple of days. The plan, such as it is, is to head down the gulf coast from Houston, taking in the coast and Rio grande valley possibly. I know less than nothing about the area. Any tips?
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Sep 1, 2015 03:05
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