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That’s rad, congrats. We have black-headed here but they haven’t really found the feeders yet this year. e: to make top of page more interesting, have a red-tailed hawk and a raven  Raven Hawk Battle-5302 on Flickr
BetterLekNextTime fucked around with this message at 20:32 on May 6, 2018 |
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May 5, 2018 17:23
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Anyone know what this guy is, seen in Vermont? Indigo Bunting maybe?
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May 6, 2018 13:59
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Yup! The only other possibility would be Blue Grosbeak but that should have a bigger beak, black face, and some brown in the wings. How cool to get an Indigo Bunting at your feeder! We have a ton of Lazuli buntings in the nearby park but they don't make the trek to my yard except once in a blue moon.  Wildcat Lazuli Bunting in Yellow-6028 on Flickr
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May 6, 2018 20:31
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Yup! The only other possibility would be Blue Grosbeak but that should have a bigger beak, black face, and some brown in the wings. How cool to get an Indigo Bunting at your feeder! Yay, thanks. We seem to be getting some different birds this year; that guy was sitting there with a catbird which I didn't manage to get a photo of.
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May 6, 2018 21:49
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BetterLekNextTime posted:That’s rad, congrats. We have black-headed here but they haven’t really found the feeders yet this year. Also, yesterday driving back towards town on the highway we passed under a raven cruising along at about 30ft altitude, getting harassed by a crow. Repeated dives by the crow onto the raven, with the raven rolling inverted to present claws to the crow on each pass.
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May 7, 2018 15:54
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YES!! Alameda Brown Booby no process-6241 on FlickrDumb rare birds almost never stick around long enough for me to go after them.
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May 7, 2018 22:33
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This just happened about 7 feet from me, I don't know if it's a mating display or what. Two hummingbirds flew down, one was perched deeper in the bush and the other was doing, well, that. And buzzing. He left then came back and did it again; I've seen them squabble and chase each other off and it was definitely not that unless it was a different method. [failed gifv attempt] edit oh god it's kinda big sorry edit 2 it won't let me leave it as a gifv and not automatically in-line it so have the mp4 instead https://i.imgur.com/VrOwxmX.mp4 edit 3: drat it it does the same thing to mp4. edit the 4th: now with sound! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyc2Bcjyx4s Tendai fucked around with this message at 23:52 on May 7, 2018 |
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May 7, 2018 23:46
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Another mystery: can you guys help me identify this bird? Seen near Osoyoos, British Columbia.  My best guess is a purple finch, but  I'm just on vacation here, so all the birds are unfamiliar to me.
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May 10, 2018 06:26
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I’m thinking house finch, but the females are hard for me to tell apart even with photos. https://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/purple-finch-house-finch-and-cassins-finch/ The yellow around the head is apparently a dietary thing.
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May 10, 2018 06:38
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I’d guess House Finch too.
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May 10, 2018 15:49
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Yeah, I'd say that's female House Finch, not a female Purple Finch. Purple finch females have strong face markings, and a short tail with obvious deep notch. Here's a female/juvenile Purple Finch with face markings to compare. 
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May 10, 2018 17:47
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Platystemon posted:House Finch BetterLekNextTime posted:House Finch WrenP-Complete posted:House Finch Seems unanimous, thanks all!
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May 11, 2018 19:41
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Osoyoos is beautiful country! There's a great vantage point of the city just east at the top of Highway 3. Watch out for the flooding though!
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May 12, 2018 05:26
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Nailed a Bicknell's Thrush this morning. Maybe my best ever find.
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May 18, 2018 21:39
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I've got some male-appearing Northern Cardinals who keep on having sex in my garden. I thought they were fighting at first but nope, definitely cloaca touching. I'm not sure if it's the same cardinals each time because I'm not sure I can tell cardinals apart reliably. 
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May 18, 2018 21:47
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Can anyone identify this big boy or girl who spent 20 minutes checking out the garden this afternoon, and maybe take a guess at what his band is for?
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May 18, 2018 22:09
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Kawalimus posted:Nailed a Bicknell's Thrush this morning. Maybe my best ever find. Wow, that's awesome. I've never seen one. WrenP-Complete posted:I've got some male-appearing Northern Cardinals who keep on having sex in my garden. I thought they were fighting at first but nope, definitely cloaca touching. I'm not sure if it's the same cardinals each time because I'm not sure I can tell cardinals apart reliably. That's cool. You should try to get photo/video to document, and maybe write up a description for your local bird club newsletter or something. I know there have been some published reviews on all the species showing same-sex behavior, and having more data out there helps answer some of the how/why questions about it.
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May 18, 2018 22:10
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Psychepath posted:Can anyone identify this big boy or girl who spent 20 minutes checking out the garden this afternoon, and maybe take a guess at what his band is for? What's your location? Hard to make out what kind of dove this is. Maybe rock dove? BetterLekNextTime posted:Wow, that's awesome. I've never seen one. Yeah, that's a good idea! WrenP-Complete fucked around with this message at 01:43 on May 19, 2018 |
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May 19, 2018 01:41
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Psychepath posted:Can anyone identify this big boy or girl who spent 20 minutes checking out the garden this afternoon, and maybe take a guess at what his band is for? pretty sure that's jeff
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May 19, 2018 02:00
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WrenP-Complete posted:What's your location? Hard to make out what kind of dove this is. Maybe rock dove? I'm in Northwest Illinois. Here's a different angle of it. It was tame and curious enough to come over and check out what I was doing, but not friendly enough to let me get within its personal space. And those red feet. 
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May 19, 2018 02:02
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Psychepath posted:I'm in Northwest Illinois. Here's a different angle of it. It was tame and curious enough to come over and check out what I was doing, but not friendly enough to let me get within its personal space. And those red feet. Thank you for additional info. It looks like a Rock Dove to me. My more bird educated friend (who is in your neck of the woods) said "100% rock dove. Probably a feral cross breed of either an Arabian Trumpeter or a Damascene or a Cumulet with the standard rock dove." Sometimes racing or homing pigeons are banded by their owners - they use the bands to figure out what birds they want to continue racing and breeding. Sometimes they get lost. A few sources I read online said that sometimes they are released to the wild, but maybe that depends on location. The American Racing Pigeon Union has a page where you can contact the owner to report a lost bird. https://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm
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May 19, 2018 02:33
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I suspect it’s a rock dove. Rock doves come in many colourations and that one doesn’t have the distinguishing features of the other species you’re likely to find in Illinois.
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May 19, 2018 02:38
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WrenP-Complete posted:Thank you for additional info. It looks like a Rock Dove to me. My more bird educated friend (who is in your neck of the woods) said "100% rock dove. Probably a feral cross breed of either an Arabian Trumpeter or a Damascene or a Cumulet with the standard rock dove." Sometimes racing or homing pigeons are banded by their owners - they use the bands to figure out what birds they want to continue racing and breeding. Sometimes they get lost. A few sources I read online said that sometimes they are released to the wild, but maybe that depends on location. The American Racing Pigeon Union has a page where you can contact the owner to report a lost bird. https://www.pigeon.org/lostbirdinfo.htm This was fascinating, thank you. From reading the pictures I got of his bands, it looks like he started out in a club outside Lansing, Michigan in 2009. I'll shoot them an email, but I just wish he'd stuck around longer to tell me some stories.
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May 19, 2018 02:51
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Saw a White-Tailed Kite and Western Kingbird today. Not bad for northwest Indiana.
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May 19, 2018 02:56
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Saw an unusual bird on my evening walk today, a Great Crested Flycatcher. I'm in Florida right on the border between where they summer and where they live year-round, so dunno if this one's a full time resident I've just never seen before or a new arrival for the summer.
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May 19, 2018 03:44
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https://www.audubon.org/news/inside-birdings-most-dramatic-24-hours That's pretty good Red Lancer. You could be in California with those birds. And Cythereal, nice! I got back last week from a quick trip with my dad. He's in NC and I"m in CA so we met in the middle in Oklahoma. Saw 1 real lifer: Dickcissel. They were EVERYWHERE. I'm sure there's some clever word for birds you thought were lifers but you actually saw them years ago and have no recollection of seeing them. Re-lifers? 2nd lifers? I saw two of those (Bell's Vireo and Cassin's Sparrow) too. Felt good about the Bell's Vireo- I had a few minutes to kill in the hotel room and played the song for myself, and then I actually heard it and recognized it a couple of days later. The Cassin's sparrow I had no clue and mis-identified that but a bunch of FB friends who are better birders than me figured it out. The scissor-tailed flycatchers and prothonotary warblers were so nice and I never got sick of seeing them.
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Jun 11, 2018 20:07
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I just recently (finally) graduated from CSULB, and my family got me a DSLR as a graduation gift! Going to start trying to get some bird photography going. I'll post my results here so everyone can see!
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Jun 12, 2018 22:20
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Zuul the Cat posted:I just recently (finally) graduated from CSULB, and my family got me a DSLR as a graduation gift! Going to start trying to get some bird photography going. I'll post my results here so everyone can see! Congrats (on both the BS and the DSLR)! Definitely post your stuff here. You may know already but there's also a Bird Photography thread in the Dorkroom too. The OP is a little old but there's usually a good mix of photos and gear discussion.
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Jun 13, 2018 00:49
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Congrats (on both the BS and the DSLR)! Definitely post your stuff here. You may know already but there's also a Bird Photography thread in the Dorkroom too. The OP is a little old but there's usually a good mix of photos and gear discussion. Thank you! I dropped a line in there for some advice. Also, crossposting the bird shots i got today! Zuul the Cat posted:Here’s the best of what I got today along the Santa Ana River in Anaheim, CA.
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Jun 13, 2018 03:38
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Hey birding thread, can you recommend me a decent pair of budget binoculars for a beginner? I live in a pretty rural part of Georgia and hear birdsong every morning and see tons of birds throughout the day but it never occurred to me to start attempting to ID them and join birder groups. We even have a family of red tailed hawks that nest near the house. Even saw an egret getting harassed and chased off by crows during nesting season. Badass lil dudes. 
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Jun 14, 2018 20:56
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Judas Horse posted:Hey birding thread, can you recommend me a decent pair of budget binoculars for a beginner? We bought Nikon Monarch 5 8x42's from REI for $279 4 years ago and have been very happy with them. Just like with a camera, buy a better strap. You can go both cheaper, smaller, and used on something like this if you want a lower investment up front. https://smile.amazon.com/Nikon-7576-MONARCH-Binocular-Black/dp/B00C66C950 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001HN5GS0/ (No longer sold, but you get the idea, $23.)
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Jun 14, 2018 21:09
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Luckily most binoculars you'll get in the ~$150-$300 range are really good- these should all have some sort of weather sealing and some sort of optical coating on the lenses, plus many have good warranties. I've had Nikon Monarchs in the past and they were great. Usually 8x30 or 8x40-ish are the recommended specs. If weight is a real issue then there are smaller ones, but they tend to have narrower field of view (the 2nd number) which makes it a little harder to center on the bird. Stay away from the 12x marine binoculars which are generally too cumbersome. https://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/birdwatching-binoculars.php ~5 years old now but still useful https://www.allaboutbirds.org/best-binoculars-the-cornell-lab-review-2013/ Zuul the Cat, thanks for posting! I saw you got a lot of feedback in the other thread
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Jun 14, 2018 21:50
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Thanks very much for the tips and links! That's a lot more reasonable than some articles I was seeing insisting you have to start off with a $500~ pair.
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Jun 14, 2018 21:59
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Maybe if you use them every day for work and do a lot of dawn/dusk/inclement weather birding you'd "need" something more, but for a beginner with moderate use, yeah, you'll be fine. Twenty years ago you had to go a little more expensive to get something with good weather sealing, but it hasn't been like that for a long time.
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Jun 14, 2018 22:20
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https://www.audubon.org/gear/binocular-guide Suggests some of the best options in each price tier. The other usual advice is not to go overboard on the magnification... Pablo Bluth fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Jun 14, 2018 |
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Jun 14, 2018 22:35
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You can sometimes find good binos (weathersealed, decent lens coating, respectable brand) on sale. My Nikons were like $150 a year ago. Almost every gear-centric hobby (binos for birding, cameras & lenses for photography) will have an overabundance of advice pushing the most expensive options while loudly claiming these are not, in fact, the most expensive options and are anyways absolutely necessary for every rank novice to "invest" heavily in.
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Jun 15, 2018 15:52
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ExecuDork posted:Almost every gear-centric hobby (binos for birding, cameras & lenses for photography) will have an overabundance of advice pushing the most expensive options while loudly claiming these are not, in fact, the most expensive options and are anyways absolutely necessary for every rank novice to "invest" heavily in. This is perhaps the only advice ever to read about anything with super-linear/exponential price curves. You can always spend more on these hobbies. The question is what are you getting, and is it appropriate for your interest level. You can extremely quickly get into the equivalent of gold plated oxygen filled (removed? who cares) power cords @ $100/inch for your home stereo setup. Make sure any time someone is telling you that you need something newer/better/faster that you can say out loud what benefits it will give you to a problem you currently are experiencing. For example with binoculars, a friend (who is likely to see this post) let me borrow these: https://smile.amazon.com/Canon-10x42-Stabilization-Waterproof-Binoculars/dp/B0007W4IW2 . Were they better than the binoculars I wound up buying? No question, way better. Were they something I felt I was missing in my life? No. The $1,000 price premium to get image stabilization just wasn't there for me on something I use once a month at most. (Or hours/day if on vacation.)
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Jun 15, 2018 18:28
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This is the current best deal in binoculars, IMHO. Pretty similar quality to the Nikon Monarch 7's from everything I've read, but Roger's is clearing them out for half price. I bought a pair and went out and bought another pair to keep in my car. I wouldn't recommend anything else from Bushnell (They have an amazing number of mediocre models), but these are great.
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Jun 15, 2018 18:44
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Item# BU-199842 i mean with rhe bridge that connects the two halves of the binoculars shouldn't this be model B^U-199842
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Jun 15, 2018 19:26
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H110Hawk posted:For example with binoculars, a friend (who is likely to see this post) let me borrow these: https://smile.amazon.com/Canon-10x42-Stabilization-Waterproof-Binoculars/dp/B0007W4IW2 . Were they better than the binoculars I wound up buying? No question, way better. Were they something I felt I was missing in my life? No. The $1,000 price premium to get image stabilization just wasn't there for me on something I use once a month at most. (Or hours/day if on vacation.) That's me. These binoculars are amazing. I bought them as a gift to myself after using a decent pair of east german binoculars for 15 years. You don't have to spend nearly that much either, https://www.amazon.com/Canon-10x30-Ultra-Compact-Binoculars-Black/dp/B00004THDC will get you 99% of the benefits, cost a third as much, and weight half as much (I kinda wish I got these instead). Imaged stabilized binoculars are the best thing you can get for bird watching, any difference in optics quality from spending more is completely overwhelmed by the human inability to hold something steady. IS binoculars also work handheld for astronomy. Aquila fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Jun 16, 2018 |
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Jun 16, 2018 00:39
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