Ok Paulnj as requested :)

Dont have much to start this with but here it is , This Starling is using this Woodpecker hole in this Hydro pole as a new home to nest .

These should be easy, but I'm curious as to what the experts will call one of them as I was mis informed as to it's name.

Tim

Those are male(top) and female(left) house finches with a male house sparrow bottom right.

Ok Paulnj as requested :)

Dont have much to start this with but here it is , This Starling is using this Woodpecker hole in this Hydro pole as a new home to nest .


Starlings are very aggressive , even in there native europe. They nest earlier than the cavity nesters that live in the US and drive birds from there breeding grounds. That is a major ptoblem with some rare woodpecker species.

Those are male(top) and female(left) house finches with a male house sparrow bottom right.

Yes, house finches. I have known them as scarlet finches since forever and only recently found out they have a much less colorful name. Do they mate for life?

Tim

House finch(Carpodacus mexicanus) females find the most colorful males they can, so as with most birds they do not mate for life.

scarlet finch(Haematospiza sipahi) is an asian bird which looks more like a scarlet tanager ;)

American Goldfinch i think :)

Yes, and it's a male.

This one i havent a clue yet but im working on it :)

Well maybe a Purple Finch ?


And i think i have one that has not been posted here but i have a little work to do on it , so it will have to wait till tomorrow :)

BTW: do you have a preference for one of these ? Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 macro 1:2 or Nikon 70-300 f/4-5.6G I have to choose one of these because they fit my present budget .

This one i havent a clue yet but im working on it :)

Well maybe a Purple Finch ?

It's a house fince also. Not a very colorful name for such a bird.

Well, as you can tell.....

The PURPLE FINCH here has the vibraint red coloring going much farther down the body than the cassin's and house finches.The color of the head is a very deep red with only a patch of white near the beak, while the house finch has a pale area around it's eye too ;)

Smebody out west find me a cassin's finch ;)

I don't know if these count as spring birds but I've never seen one before. I don't think they have been on any of the ID threads yet either.
Mike

Here's another from today, this is the only shot I got of this bird. The bird was way under exposed and this is the best I could make it look in photoshop. I think this must be a spring bird hope it's good enough for an ID.
Mike

My god, where did you find chukars at? I have seen only one and it was just down the road on a farm leased for hunting birds in the winter.

That second bird has to be a northern parula(neotropical warbler)

Now I don't know about you, but birds on a 28-70 are wide to me ;)

MoDo nest at 50mm or so

BTW Mike , I emailed you yesterday, did you get it?

Now I don't know about you, but birds on a 28-70 are wide to me ;)

MoDo nest at 50mm or so


Hmmm, I'll have to see if there is a nest around here. Nice catch on that one.

JS

My god, where did you find chukars at? I have seen only one and it was just down the road on a farm leased for hunting birds in the winter.

That second bird has to be a northern parula(neotropical warbler)

The Chukars were up at Sunrise Mt. right along the trail that goes up to the overlook. If these birds were put out to be hunted they won't last long. The second bird was shot out near the Flatbrook where I read there has been a Yellow throated Warbler, I was hoping that is what I found. I sent a response to your e-mail right before I posted those pictures here.
Mike

Mike, then I do believe that is a YTWA ! That is quite a rare bird in NJ(bull's island and the spot you mention), so I ruled it out. I was at bull's island last week and got 2, but no images.

Chukars on sunrise huh, we found a ruffed grouse down the hill near the artisan well . That area has alot of birds too. Sunrise has ravens, indigo buntings, prairie warblers and in late summer the early migraints flock there like YT vireos.

Down the hill into stokes(near the bridge and artisan well) you will find hummingbirds nesting usually.

Ruffed Grouse , in a tree eating in front of my home :)

Probably a Redtail shot in very poor light with rain :( But my first Photo with my new D50 :)

GREAT FIND ON THE GROUSE!!!

Your hawk is a broudwinged hawk though. Could you get a easier image to ID ;) Actually the wing and tail give it away. OH btw.. Canada is a bit large, can you atleast give us a clue where in canada you live.

As soon as i stepped out of my truck this guy took of lol Normaly i would not have tried to get a Photo but i had to try my new camera out :)

I live about 120km NW from our Capital Ottawa :)

So you are in Quebec or Ontario? Seems to me your close to the Ontario , but in Quebec.

I had no clue you were so close to me, I could be at you door in 10 hours.... if they let me through the watertown bourder that is ;) I used to go to Westport Ontario to fish the Upper Rideau .

I have seen a few kettles of broudwings passing through in the last week, so thst mske sense that it's in your area.

Fort-Coulonge Quebec :) Upper Ottawa Valley ..

Are these Boattails or Common?

25935

25936

I've never seen (noticed is probably a better word) these birds before.

Brown headed Cowbird?

25937

25938

Your grackles look like Common grackles to be.

That last image is perfect! Back left is a female brown headed cowbird, back right the male and the front a male house sparrow.

Enough for a ID Paulnj :)

Turkey vulture with the under wing is shadows . look closely at the trailing edge of the wing, it's lighter in color ;)

Do you ever miss lol :)

Absolutely I do, but not too often.

MikeT posted a parula which I ID then he told me where and I changed my ID to yellowthroated warbler because that image looked close to one and I really wanted it to be one too ;) It was indeed a parula after further review.
In the field I misID everyday when I go out warbler hunting with my friends, but always get the ID correct or write it off as unidenified. I bird by ear while we drive though and I can hear a gnat fart at 40MPH ;) Bird songs are not easy sometimes.

Your grackles look like Common grackles to be.

That last image is perfect! Back left is a female brown headed cowbird, back right the male and the front a male house sparrow.

Thanks Paul.

I'm posting a pretty red head as a seperate post in Nature.

Tim

Saw these two while walking the dogs and checking my bluebird nesting boxes today. Five little blue eggs in each box!! I only had my 100mm lens with me so I couldn't get as close as I would have liked.

I can't ID those swallows positively, but the second appears to be northern rough winged swallows maybe from the head shape and stance?

I have no idea what they are Paul... The lighting was poor and I couldn't zoom in enuf with the gear I had to get any clearer shots than these. Both pics are the same two birds, just taken from dif sides of the tree. I wish I had my 170-500mm with me. They didn't seem to be in any hurry to go anywhere, even with two dogs and myself walking around the tree.

Here is a shot, from this morning, of the Eastern Bluebird couple I have been watching. An
American Goldfinch from my backyard last weekend. At first, I thought the last image was a female house finch, but now I'm leaning towards female purple finch because of the white "eyebrow". Correct me if I'm wrong. The last two were posted in my 2k thread in viewfinder.

http://gallery.photographyreview.com/data/photography/500/237118CRW_1211b.jpg
http://gallery.photographyreview.com/data/photography/500/237118CRW_1161.jpg
http://gallery.photographyreview.com/data/photography/500/237118CRW_1166.jpg

Without a doubt that's a purple finch!

Here's one from today.
Mike

Another shot from this morning, shot this at the same place as the last picture. They started to tear this area up to make some ballfields but so far the birds seem to still be around. This was my best spot to go birding last year so I'm hoping that the fballields won't change that.
Mike

I took a ride out near the Delaware to a few places where there were reports of some Warblers I've never seen. I came up empty but did get this bird I've never seen before.
Mike

Black throated blue warbler and the last , which is an ovenbird, are exspected new migraints, but that white crowned sparrow is a great bird to find!! Where exactly did you find that sparrow?

They call the place Pond Brook Park now. I'm really bad when it comes to knowing the County RD. numbers around here.but if you need them I can get a map out. I think you know some of this area so here goes,, if you are driving out of Newton on 94 toward Blairstown you come to a light in Freedon right before the school you turn right at the light. Take that road until you come to a fork stay to the right. Go about another mile you'll cross over a stream ( Paulins Kill ) and then make the next left in about 100 yards ( If you didn't make the left this is the road that goes to Swartswood St. Park). Go about a half mile and on the left will be a dirt ( soon to be paved ) parking lot. This is the best place I've found per square feet for birds,it might not have the biggest variety but if I could only go to one place this would be it. The stream that comes off of Swartswood Lake near the Mill ends up running into the Paulins Kill here.
Mike

I took this photo in Los Cabos, Mexico about a month ago with a film camera and 70-300mm zoom using Kodak 200 Gold. I can't believe how bad the prints and scans look (courtesy of Mpix) but I submit this slightly cropped version for your consideration. I don't think its a house sparrow -- I think it's something else -- but I'm sure we'll know soon enough.

Not sure what happened here -- I've never seen a shot like this and I'm not sure if I like it or hate it, but there's a bird in it...

Moving locations to WI, these birds are in Lake Michigan. This might be the lamest photo I've posted in a while, but by golly, there are birds in this one, too. They look like Canada geese a little, but in person I could tell that they were too small. Also the bills looked rather white.

That sparrow looks more like a yellow rumped warbler going into breeding plumage than anything else. It does have house sparrow quailties, but I am leaning more towards YR warbler(which BTW was moving through at that time)

I have no clue about that C41 frame scanned as E6 ;) but it looks like a hawk the way it's perched, but I think it's way smaller ;)

The last are coot so it looks and sounds.

That sparrow looks more like a yellow rumped warbler going into breeding plumage than anything else. It does have house sparrow quailties, but I am leaning more towards YR warbler(which BTW was moving through at that time)

I have no clue about that C41 frame scanned as E6 ;) but it looks like a hawk the way it's perched, but I think it's way smaller ;)

The last are coot so it looks and sounds.

I've seen about a billion yellow-rumped warblers around here this winter and I don't think that was it. How 'bout a sage sparrow? Watchoo think?

I thought coot on the Lake MI birds, but I have only seen them one at a time (not in flocks) and only around vegetation. Could they be brandts, do you think?

Well, you said the "geese" had white bills, no duck or goose has a white bill ;) They look just like coot and believe me, I have seen coots in flocks well over 30 plenty of times. In NJ we get flocks of brandt numbering well into the thousands, so I assure you those aren't brandt ;)

Though the head is a bit dark, with that strong eyeline it isn't a sage sparrow.
http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Species/sags.html

Your right, I was totally wrong about YR, but it's not a house sparrow either from what I see. The beak looks warbler/vireo like in a way and not sparrow / finch like.

The only birds I can think of that have those facial features are....first winter tiaga orange crowned warbler(never seen one), male tennessee warbler, chipping sparrow or an odd female house sparrow. It would help to see the back, wings or legs, but we can't have it all ;) was this bird brown, grey, blue... ?

I have a feeling we have hit a dead end with that bird, but I will see if CJ can help, since he's an AZ bird guy. He just might have our answer!

Ring-billed Gull or a MacDonald`s Gull :)

LL your Geese with white bills could be Double-crested Cormorant i have seen them in lake Ontario what do you think Paulnj ?

LL your Geese with white bills could be Double-crested Cormorant i have seen them in lake Ontario what do you think Paulnj ?

Sitting too high in the water and the neck's too short ;)

A House Wren, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Not the best pics, but good enuf for an ID.

I found these this weekend, but I have no idea what they are...

That's a pair of cliff swallows

Here's a bird I shot on sunday. I was thinking some sort of sparrow but I just can't narrow it down.
Mike

Here's one more from sunday. I set out on sunday to find some warblers, I had read of a few places where people had reported seeing over 15 different birds. I stopped by my favorite spot for a quick walk and staid there over four hours. I did get some nice shots ( I don't include these two among them ) but they were of birds I've already seen.
Mike

The top one is a female rose breasted grosbeak ;) That second one seems to be a female redstart, but it could be an odd warbling vireo too.

Birds are a bit tough this year with bad winds for noctural migration. Between my cousin and I on friday we had 19 species locally in a few hours. Thursday I did a watergap to high point run and we found roughly 13 species of warblers stopping here and there briefly. We were more scouting than birding though.

Here's another bird from this past sunday. I think I may have posted one of these birds before but since this bird was nice enough to let me take about 60 pictures of it I'm putting it on.
Mike

Yeah, you have posted the louisiana waterthrush before, but they are a great bird. Was it calling, because the call is so loud !

All my time in the field is scouting birds, so the camera doesn't come out much. I did try to get some bluewinged warblers fighting over territory today to no avail though. Actually I think one was a hybrid(lawrences) because it had alot of black in the face so it appeared from the brief look I got of him. No fear, because they are obviously on territory and are 3 miles from my house. As Arnold says" I'll be back"

at the time I was taking this birds picture it wasn't calling. A while before I took these I ran into one on a different part of the stream that was calling out, could have been the same bird.
A week ago I was down near Watergate and watched two American Redstarts going at each other for over a half an hour. They almost flew into me a few times as I stood there. They were still at it when I left them. I thought it was pretty funny they were fighting over that one spot when there is all kinds of land there.
Mike

Watergate huh... I was there last week scouting for the WSB and found tons of cool birds.

I will be there tomorrow. I'll be easy to find too, because I will have my head out the window as we drive saying " hooded, redstart, ovenbird, flicker, cerulean, black and white, yellow rump, titmouse, yellow throat, blue headed, least fly, nashville, cooper's, great blue, green heron, purple finch, house wren, carolina, blackburnian, grey cheek, goldenwinged, blue winged..............."

I know that road like the back of my hand :)

I didn't see much the day I was there ( 4/30 ). Somebody told me a good spot for warblers was the dirt road that goes from Millbrook Village to Watergate. I saw some Yellow Warblers the Redstarts and this bird but that was about it. When is the World Series ?
Mike

Bald eagle... yes! They haven't nested on the island off poxano(sp?) boat launch this year that I am aware of(and I get the inside scoup from fish and game on eagles)

The WSB is in 2 hours and 15 minutes midnight to midnight saturday may 13 ;) My cousin's team will be in the great swamp at midnight then up north by day break. From there wind down to cape may. I am going from my area up to old mine by 6:30, then wind over to high point and down to my house again.

BTW... just past the enterance to watergate is a small pulloff with a chain across the gravel road that goes to the trail you speak of. least fly, blue winged, golden winged are pretty much a given there in late may as nesters. I had a nashville there last week and purple finches usually are in the village at the end of that trail. The road down into wurthington is usually hot and the camp grounds to the left of the building are too. Hooded warblers are vermon in that area, as are parulas. CERULEANS are hear and there before wurthington about a mile after the light in the big parking lot on the left. I can go on for days ;)

A blue jay and a baltimore oriole from my backyard this morning, and a turkey vulture from a morning drive.

I found these turkeys while out driving around this morning. The female seems to be playing hard to get. There was another tom strutting in the same too.

Not too shabby there!

Funny story...

There I am this morning birding hard. We are cruising 30 miles an hour and I yell "STOP"
We get out and try to find the cerulean warbler I heard. I am scanning the trees(mind you it's 6AM), when I hear this noise. I turn around thinking a bike is going by me and realise a turkey just jumped roost and is coming at me. I instantly dunk as it goes 2 feet over my head.

I was awake after that ;)

Found this bird this evening right before I got rained on. The light was getting bad I guess I should have gone out right after work instead of watching the hockey game. I think I know what this bird is ( one of the Warblers on my want list ) but I just want to hear it from the expert. How did you do in the World Series ?
Mike

That is a male canada warbler. high piched wispy whistling sound(best way I can discribe it's song) . I found one today by ear at 35 mph and it was hundreds of feet away ;) They are a late migrating warbler and don't stay here to often. I bet yours came in last night ;) That is a very good find BTW.

We do the WSB blindly and for fun. We don't actually enter and we would need 2 more to be a team anyway. 19 species of confirmedwarbler(3 unconfirmed) with a total of 86 species. Man I wish I had my camera with me all the time(it was packed away in the back) because we found a woodcock with 4 babies right at the enterance to watergate. I walked up to them and the babies were dancing at my feet.

We could have easily doubled that number had we done some coastal birding too or actually scouted our route. I was scouting for others and local nesters all week ;) I hope my cousin's team makes atleast 210 and places top 3 in the state.

Oh, just though I'd let you know that a hybrid bluewinged/goldenwinged is on the gravel road just past watergate and hooded warblers number in the HUNDREDS on old mine rd. If you go up there, I found a northern waterthrush and hooded on territory right behind the mill. At the end of old mine make a right and go 300 feet up the hill and park at ther mill. They are right behind it screaming. Least flycatcher, orchard oriole , yellowthroated vireo and a bunch of other average birds are in the parkinglot at watergate near the pond side. REDEYED VIREO is nesting in a maple? on the hill and can be seen(with keen eyes) right from the parking lot full frame with your camera with ease!

Not too shabby there!

Funny story...

There I am this morning birding hard. We are cruising 30 miles an hour and I yell "STOP"
We get out and try to find the cerulean warbler I heard. I am scanning the trees(mind you it's 6AM), when I hear this noise. I turn around thinking a bike is going by me and realise a turkey just jumped roost and is coming at me. I instantly dunk as it goes 2 feet over my head.

I was awake after that ;)

That is a good story Paul. Maybe you should start wearing a helmet when you go birding.:)

I went out and sat in my blind this afternoon for about an hour in a light drizzle, but nothing was moving. I wasn't at all surprised, but with all the turkey activity I saw this morning, I was hoping to call something in. Maybe tomorrow, if the weather lets up a bit.

Wilson Snipe i believe :) And could there be something else in that tree that i did not C when i took the pictures ? seems to be some eyes in the hole in the trunk of the tree :)

Yes that's a snipe and there is what appears to be an owl in there. Most owls are not cavity nesters in your area, so I think it's a screech owl. Then again... wood ducks and mergansers are cavity nesters too.

One from today.

nice job at getting close to a perched gold finch. They always bail out before I can get a close shot.

Thanks Paul,

She did sit still long enough for me to get a couple dozen shots. I would have gotten more but the 4 shot burst on my DRebel was killing me yesterday. :( This shot is a pretty tight crop of the original. Maybe about 10-15% of the original. I was close, but it's never close enough. :)

Broad Winged or Red Shouldered Hawk ? 100% sure its not a Redtail Hawk :)

Not an easy ID for beginners, but I am very good with eastern raptors. It's a broudwinged hawk, notice the think white band in the tail. that's an easy ID mark.

?????????? i think its in the rail family but can't find a match. any guess?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/terryg/bird.jpg

You were warm..... :)

That's a juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron ;)

well, know that ya mention it i can see the shape. it was the juvenile colors that had me stumped.:thumbsup:

thanx !

Not an easy ID for beginners, but I am very good with eastern raptors. It's a broudwinged hawk, notice the think white band in the tail. that's an easy ID mark.

Hey Paul do these birds make a laughing type call ? I was out walking earlier this year and had a small hawk fly right behind me and up into a tree. By the time I got the camera pointed and focused it flew off but I do remember a band on the tail.
Mike

Having never heard one.... I just looked in the sibley and it appears they don't sound like that

What you heard was a cooper's hawk on territory I bet. They make a "cakcakcakcakcak...." sound.

http://www.hangingrocktower.org/calls/cooper.htm

Bobolink i think ,first time i C one :)

Sure is and in flight too! How about that call huh ? Is that not the coolest sound.

They sure do sing up a storm :)

Now im having a problem with this ID the yellow line is trowing me off .

looks like a savannah sparrow to me, was it in the same habitat as the bobolink? That were they nest along with vesper sparrows and the rare grasshopper sparrow.

Yup same habitat as the bobolink . If i get a chance next week i will go back to the same area and C if i cant spot other sparrows.

Shot this one today, I'm thinking some sort of Vireo. Sorry about the picture it's the only one I got of this bird.
Mike

RED EYED VIREO, but I haven't noticed that much black in the crown before. It may just have the crown fluffed a bit with the right angle to see the dark interior of it's feathers?

I haven't been doing a lot of bird shooting in the last couple of weeks, but I got this gull over the weekend. Ring--billed?

I would say that's a ring blled gull. I does look a bit herring gull like, but that dark ring on the bill gives it away.

I haven't pointed my camera at a bird in over 3 weeks, life has me a bit busy lately.

Thanks for conferming the ID Paul. I have never really given much thought to gulls. I have always considered them more of a pest than anything else. But after watching them for a while, they can be pretty entertaining. We watched a bunch of them diving head first into some very shallow water and I was hoping to get some pics of them as they hit the water, but we let the dogs out of the car to play, and our little golden retriever took care of those thoughts in a hurry. :)

First arrival this year :) Ruby-Throated. Only species we get up here :)

There you go and it's a male too.

I never have too much luck getting ruby-throated to pose, but that has alot to do with my style though.

nice capture knight. one we don't have out here.love my hummers:thumbsup:

went by a yardsale on sat in the foothills and could not believe my eyes. woman had 3 feeders hung 1 foot apart and there had to be 20 or more hummers working them. with the agression level of our birds i am pleased when i get 5 at one time. :thumbsup:

Im lucky if i get two at a time hehe , would just love to get 5 let alone 20 or more would be awsome . Then i might be able to get some inflight shots :) But then again summer is just starting so i can only hope :)

When I was in Sedona a few years back, I seen a home that had 80+ hummers feeding at it, and the neighbor had 50+ :o

The east coast has far less hummingbirds, so 5 would be alot!

Got out for the first time in a long time. Used the new D200 with a Sigma 50-500mm and SB-800. Need an ID on this warbler, if you please...

First time I've seen and photgraphed one of these. I have a few ideas, but need a confirming ID.

HOLY SH.......!!!!!!!!!

I honestly believe that's a CONNECTICUT WARBLER!! but need to forward it to my cousin for further input. He knows warblers even better than I do ;) I have never seen one and honestly NJ has one spring record EVER of that species.

That is a great crested flycatcher, if someday can show me in that image why it isn't I am a good listener ;)

Well 3 votes for connecticut, so change the file name ;) A small number are seen every may in FL, but are still rare there too. That is the GREATEST bird posted in ANY ID thread if you ask me!

Here's another bird from sunday, I went down as low as my monopod goes to get this one. I haven't gone to your extreme of crawling on my belly for a shot yet.
Mike

Well 3 votes for connecticut, so change the file name ;) A small number are seen every may in FL, but are still rare there too. That is the GREATEST bird posted in ANY ID thread if you ask me!

That's cool. Warblers confuse me. I was happy to shoot two birds I hadn't seen before. I saw something small and colorful that I thought was maybe a male bunting today, too. I say him for an instance in the viewfinder a couple of times, but we he was gone before I could focus and take the shot.

Here's one more I liked from today...

Ah..snowy egret ;) nice shot too

Here's another bird from sunday, I went down as low as my monopod goes to get this one. I haven't gone to your extreme of crawling on my belly for a shot yet.
Mike

I am going to have to say veery on this, though the color looks slightly wrong.

My better half shot this in AZ this week. Could a brother get an ID, please?

No problem BRO, white winged dove ;) notice that large dark mark below the eye :) They look very similair to mourning doves, but have that large mark and a white trailing edge of the wing(hence the name)

So I see not only you , but your daughter and wife like taking images too! GREAT!!!!!

not to challenge your knowledge paul as it is sharp but depending on the lighting i have that flycathcer as either ashthroated or dusky cap. we have a lot of both out here.

what do you think?

No, please do challenge ANY ID.

I would tend to agree that is does look very close to dusky capped, but I am almost positive this was shot in FL. LL will have to confirm the location, then we can guess(hard ID angle) by location what it is ;) Myiarchus genus birds are HARD and that angle shows very little to me. Breast color would indicate alot more , as would a profile view.

Maybe can can recall the sound it made ;) hahaha

No, please do challenge ANY ID.

I would tend to agree that is does look very close to dusky capped, but I am almost positive this was shot in FL. LL will have to confirm the location, then we can guess(hard ID angle) by location what it is ;) Myiarchus genus birds are HARD and that angle shows very little to me. Breast color would indicate alot more , as would a profile view.

Maybe can can recall the sound it made ;) hahaha

Yep, Florida.