Wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or not since August is over and these birds were shot today 9/03. It was easier to add to this thread so here are a few from today.

Mike

I didn't know there was a limit to pictures in a post, here's two more from today. The first one isn't the greatest but it is probably good enough for IDing. This bird was pretty high up and right above me. I had to lift the monopod off the ground to get this shot. The second one I popped up the flash to see what it would do, this bird was very close and it looks like it may have helped a bit. All six shots from Hyper Humus.

Mike

That's a cooper's hawk(rounded tail) and shre birds are not my strong point, but I will go with least sandpiper.

Wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or not since August is over and these birds were shot today 9/03. It was easier to add to this thread so here are a few from today.

Mike

New one started....

That is a willow flycatcher mostlikely(alders are rarer in NJ and look exactly alike)
song sparrow
northern waterthrush
young wood duck

ok these may be my worst images yet , lighting was bad rain everything was against me for these 2 and i cant ID them Paul . And i finally found a 400mm with a Tcon at a price my budget could handle. :)

You came to the right place because raptors are easy for me :wink:

Ist is a merlin(appears to be a male)
2nd is a male northern harrier

Glad to here you found a long lens. I may just get a nikon digi and be a nikon/canon guy :)

Some kind of titmouse?

TUFTED titmouse

Female Common Merganser`s did not have time to switch lenses for this one so it was taken with my 70-300mm with a 2X Tcon 1/500th iso 1000 Handheld.:)

Actually these are Juvenile common mergansers... notice the stripe on the face. Thast plumage will fade within a month, rhen we can sex them :wink:

Ok got it now , i was wondering about the stripe , Well i got a 50/50 chance one is female lol.
Is there a book that would have juvenile photo`s birds ?
Bought myself a new camera bag today that will let me have my 400mm on my D50 in the bag :) so ill be ready for a quick one almost all the time :)

The Sibley guide to birds(thick with over 500 pages) shows alot of juvenile images, but not FLEDGLING plumage(first few week out of the nest).

What 400 did you get?

I picked up a used in new condition Sigma Apo 400mm with a Tamron 2X Tcon for $250.00 from a retired teacher that has about 15 Nikon primes

Here's a couple more from sunday. I couldn't get any where near these birds and they never stopped flying so the pictures aren't to good. I passed a few people on my way in who were leaving and they told me to keep an eye out for these birds. Of course I had no clue what I was looking for but kind of figured these were the birds they told me about.
Mike

These have to be 2 of the hundreds of black terns migrating down :)

I can't tell in the first, but the second looks like an odd dark, thin billed laughing gull.... BLACK TERN

Here's a few from today, I went to a few places things were pretty slow.
Mike

Juvi something , i cant tell im in a slump here for ID`s :confused:

PS: Nice Captures MikeT :)

warbling vireo
male scarlet tanager(non breeding plumage)
black throated green warbler(male)
young chestnut sided warbler

glad you have time to go out, I work 5-6 days a week outside sun up to sun down. I found a wilson's warbler last week in a customer's bush at 8 am, it had a canada warbler as a friend :)

song sparrow

I think this is a Carolina Wren? What's with that no-tail?

Here's a few from todays walk. The third shot is pretty bad but it is the only one I got of that bird that shows its head.
Mike

After looking at that bird in the third picture in my first post I thought it wasn't enough of an image to get an ID so here is another shot of that bird and a few more from today. I went out looking for Warblers and did get a few but things were pretty slow again. Seems lately I see birds in waves, a bunch all at once then a lot of nothing.
Mike

I think this is a Carolina Wren? What's with that no-tail?

Sure that's a Carolina Wren with a molted tail. Don't worry, the tail feathers grow back fast and they fly fine without them.

Here's a few from todays walk. The third shot is pretty bad but it is the only one I got of that bird that shows its head.
Mike
BT green warbler
BT blue warbler
magnolia warbler(newer image helped)
HOODED warbler :D

Magnolia(tail is a dead give away)
eastern towhee
n. parula
B&W warbler

my grandaughter took this with the camera i gave her for her birthday. :D

asked me what it is and i was stumped but told her i would find out.

looks to be a plover but can't find which. what do you think paul?

she's starting out right!:thumbsup:

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

Sapsucker in transition from Juvi to Adult . I know theres a word for that but i dont know what it is lol.

Chipping Sparrow i think hehe.

PS: I think we are all going to try and give each other a hand at ID`s in Paul`s absence.:(

You ain't kidding there, Knight :p

My id's would go like, "...big one", "...brown one", "...big brown one", ......:idea:

A few shots from last thursday. I think these are young sparrows. The sparrows always give me trouble, but then again so do the Warblers, Vireos etc. etc.........

Mike

You and me both then :)

Unless they are near feeders, I can't seem to get close enough.

I got out today for the first time in months and saw these. A first time for me. I think I got an ID, but could use a second opinion. (Found in FL.)

Looks like Mrs. and Mr. American Redstart to me.

Very good Captures LL:)


Heres a American Kestrel from 2 weeks ago had forgoten about this one .
400mm Sigma and a 2X Tamron converter from the hood of my car :)

Here's one from today. I almost wasn't going to go out today since the weather wasn't so good this morning, when the sun popped out a little after noon I grabbed the camera and took a walk. Saw a lot of birds today I'm glad I went out. This one is giving me a problem. The first two are the same bird, the third I think is another of the same type ( maybe the same bird taken a while apart ).
Mike

I will go with song sparrow on the first 2(has to be) and chipping on the last

I shot these today with a Sigma 300mm f/2.8 I picked up for $650 plus a Tamron 1.4x TC. This is a first time capture for me and I think I know what it is, but welcome your advice. Shot is Central FL...

Is this a juvenile of the above, do you think?

F/M redstart indeed.

yellow warbler..... Nice price on that lens too!

red-eyed vireo :wink:

So sorry for the delay!!!!!!

These must be SOLITARY SANDPIPERS in migration, becauase they are rare in California.

Well, perhaps I'm not looking hard enough. I'm certain this is very common, but what is it?

Maybe a Brown Trasher , if you have a wing shot it would help :) Just my guess lol

That's it, thanks Knight!

Shame on me for not knowing my state bird. :blush2:

correct you are :)

:thumbsup: :D

I haven't been out shooting birds much in the last couple months, but I made it out today. Here is a female belted kingfisher, a great egret, and a canada goose.

:thumbsup: 2 Very good Captures Michael O'Canon:thumbsup:

Here's a bird from today. When I was shooting this one I thought I had a new bird but it looks like I just have another young bird fooling me.

Mike

Another shot from today. With this photo I ran into a problem that I don't have to often. I was so close to this bird ( it actually came toward me as I was taking its picture) that the whole bird is not in focus. This is a full frame no crop just downsized.
Mike

Bottom one is ,i think a immature Chestnut-sided Warbler .

Now Paulnj correct me lol

fem,ale chestnut- sided warbler :)

Migratory warblers will do that, especially the palm warblers(which you have here)

Things seem to be slowing down now. I went out today and didn't see a lot of the birds that were here thursday, I might have to start going to different areas. Took this one this morning, I hate trying to ID sparrows more than warblers.

Mike

This late in migration, your best bet for finding birds is the day after a cold front/ rainy period. Winter birds are starting to show up , so soon you will be chasing ducks, gulls and winter finch types.

This is a swamp sparrow

Congrats on the Featured Photo MikeT :)

May be out to lunch on this one Paulnj , but im going with Rough-Legged Hawk :)

Sigma 400mm f6 1/250s handheld and afraid he was going to come at me lol

and it's the rarer DARK MORPH too :)

buteo lagapus is my favorite winter hawk too.

Mike,

Congrats on the Featured Photo, you certainly deserve it. Really enjoyed your collection of birds; some very nice captures in that bunch.

Congrats again.

CF

This one i would ID as a Redtail but i am not 100% sure .
But then again im thinking Juvi Northern Harrier lol . I have a distant inflight shot that i will not post because it`s really bad , But i can C a thick white band on the upper part of it`s tail feathers.

what did i get here?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/terryg/ducks/gamecam082.jpg

It's a redtailed adult alright

what did i get here?

GOOD ONE HERE!!!!!

Young williamson's sapsucker... first one on this site EVER :D

Thanks for the congrats. I haven't been here in a few days and was surprised when the page opened and my picture was up in the corner. It's always nice when the bird poses for you.
Here's a shot from yesterday,not near as a close up as the Palm Warbler. We had a nesting pair of these birds in the area this year so most times I see one I think it's probably one of them. But the tip of the tail is telling me this is a different bird.

Mike

:D My Thanks to the forum Admins (Paulnj Loupey) for the featured Photo:D

I went out for a bit this morning didn't see a whole lot but did get a few shore type birds. This one caught some lunch and didn't want to share.
Mike

Nice image, Mike! Looks like he was running away real fast :p

Do you have any more from this series? One perhaps with more separation between the birds?

Nice catch :)

I would say they are greater yellowlegs from the bill length, but I am not 100% sure.

HI to all. thanks for your good pics . but why u don't write photgraphic situations and specifications. that is good for others to learn more about films and cameras. thanks

HI to all. thanks for your good pics . but why u don't write photgraphic situations and specifications. that is good for others to learn more about films and cameras. thanks

Hi, fashgi, and welcome to the forum!

That is a good point. When situations/conditions are very unique, many people do include shooting info. But as people post more and more images and equipment/location become rather unchanged, they/we sometimes feel that we are being overly repetitive.

Sometimes, it's as easy as just asking and we are more than happy to share :)

Thanks for posting.

I do agree that specs are helpful, but we can't require it (or can we). I agree with the suggestion and Loupey is correct in saying we would surely share them if asked.

Welcome abourd!

Welcome to PR.

Nature shots don't always have perfect repeatable settings. Lighting is so variable from one time of the year and part of the world to another that exposure has to based on that set of conditions.

Equipment can be highly subjective as well. Some of the best macro photography is at the scale we are looking at it on the web will have been done with Point and Shoot cameras. Just look at the galleries for examples.

The galleries will often have a much greater detail as to equipment, settings, and sometime conditions. They are set up for that specifically.

Most of us when asked will gladly tell you what we did, if we know :). Digital imagery I can always go back and read the camera data attached to the files as I always shoot RAW for this kind of photography.

If I was shooting film, not all my cameras of the 'olden days' recorded all the data. Sometime with those the best I can do is film, camera body and most likely lens. The rest is iffy from fast moving conditions.

Again, welcome to PR.

Nice image, Mike! Looks like he was running away real fast :p

Do you have any more from this series? One perhaps with more separation between the birds?

Nice catch :)
Here's one a few moments later with the bird by itself. Sorry for the late response I was out of town a few days. I was taking pictures while away but they are shots that would need to go on the sports forum.
Mike

Camera info : Canon 30D , 300mm F2.8 lens with 2X extender. ISO 200 , Shutter speed 1/800 f /5.6 camera in Aperature Priority . Picture taken at Duck Pond in Swartswwod State Park , NJ.

Now that's a great shot Mike!

I took this one last thursday. This duck was part of a large group of Mallards and it flew off with them and then I saw it again with the group later on. Is this an albino or was a domestic duck adopted by this group of Mallards ?
Mike

Camera info : Canon 30D , 300mm F2.8 lens with 2X extender. ISO 400 , Shutter speed 1/1000 f /5.6 camera in Aperature Priority . Picture taken at Duck Pond in Swartswwod State Park , NJ.

That doesn't look like the typical "peking duck at the towns pond" type duck . My bet is it's a domesticated mallard that excaped, but can you give me a tighter shot of it ? It could be a leucistic mallard, but I highly doubt it.

I couldn't get any where near these birds so the best I can do is a big time crop.
Mike

domesticated duck is a safe bet

The small redish color bird in front is the one I'm wondering about. They seem to only come around this time of year.

(that's my home-made feeder for taking pics :rolleyes: )

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/paulk_68/IMG_1312.jpg

Another one from today which I'm not sure of...

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/paulk_68/IMG_1337.jpg

I could ID that bird in your other post from the back too :D It's a male house finch while the dark bird is a male dark eyed junco on winter territory :)

Thanks Paul. It was amazing how many birds were around today with the weather being a bad as it was.

I haven't picked up my camera in months(busy life), but had planned to today. My GF's car broke down, so I spent all afternoon hunting down parts and fixing it :mad2:

I was going to hunt TROPHY CLASS DEER(I know were massive unhuntable deer live in a few neighborhoods) and try to get a few hawks too!

Here's one for ya'…

Now this is a pretty hard raptor to ID, but I am going with juvenile harris hawk Parabuteo unicinctus

Another domestic hang'n with the wrong crowd? He flew off with a group of these geese.

I wonder if Paulnj can ID these :D they should be easy

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/paulk_68/IMG_1471.jpg

I couldn't get any where near these birds so the best I can do is a big time crop.
Mike

Easy ID, Dude. What you got there is an AFLAC!

This fella was on a leash, but I took his picher anway...

This guy wasn't on a leash and I was really glad there was a rail fence between us. He was dowright scary.

Lava Lamp, that is one AWESOME owl image!

that's a snow goose :)

and the other's are domesticated mallards, though the far left one has male northern shoveler colors in a way.

Yeah, that barn owl is hot! the ostich is cool too(or is that a rhea?).

Do I win a prize for kinda-sorta stumping Paul? They are all Northerns :p The colors are very similar to mallards. I've read that some people call them 'laughing mallards.'

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/paulk_68/IMG_1470.jpg

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/paulk_68/IMG_1473.jpg

cheater :p yeah, you got me with that sneaky image alright.

I see N shovelers in my area AFTER thanksgiving(end of hawk watch season), so males in transitional plumage are not what I am used to seeing. I have seen many mallards with that color to their plumage though :wink:

Took both of these on 11/02 . Nothing that hasn't been on here before but birds are getting harder to find around here, I guess there all heading south and I can't say that I blame them. I like it when I get a shot of the bird looking at me. The second bird suprised me because I thought they would have already passed through and I wouldn't be seeing one again until early spring.
Mike

actually, palm warblers and yellow rumped are quite late to migrate, so your palm isn't too off schedule. That golden crowned kinglet is cool!!!!!

I seen a few tree swallows this week! Now that's late! I also have 2(well as of thursday) winter wrens singing at work and that's quite rare to have and even rarer to be singing in fall!!!

I don't have my field guide today and captured this guy (or girl) in the morning. Dives underwater. Pointed beak.

COOT....

hehehe, that coot must be korean to like seaweed(asian joke for my asian side kick)

You crazy guy :p

ID these two. Can't seem to get a concensus between the wife and I here.

The first one runs up the side of a tree like a son of gun. Small.

The second one has a head like it wants to be gold finch but the wings are different.

brown creeper and goldfinch in winter plumage. Brown creepers have a very faint high pitched call and are actually there wintering :)

I haven't seen one of these before, but I think I know what it is, but haven't confirmed it yet...

Not a wild bird, although I suppose they are still wild in South America.

Groan...:)

tough call, but that's a young common moorhen :)

Blue and gold macaw and barred owl(is that wild?)

Blue and gold macaw and barred owl(is that wild?)

While I have seen and photographed a few wild barred owls, this one is not. He is a resident of a halfway house for injured birds. I think he damaged his wing in a tussle with a power line.

Nice day yesterday so I took a walk, didn't see a big variety of birds but saw enough to keep me happy. This first Sparrow wouldn't let me get close so this is about as good as it gets. The second shot I stood in one spot for about twenty minutes and this bird came up from under some thick brush. I think I'm going to have to ask Santa for a Sparrow book this Christmas.
Mike

That second shot is nice -- 'bout as good as it gets.

Saw many, many of these in Central FL last week.

Nice and close.

Remember this guy?

Mike,

That first image is a fox sparrow. An a few easy ways to ID them in the field is... Large in size and brick red color streaking and main body color. We get the Tiaga subspecies mostly(from ontario area)

The last nearly fooled me, so don't feel bad. I had to go to my Sibley to make sure it wasn't a Lincoln's sparrow. That is a Song sparrow you have in image 2.

Double crested cormorant, redtailed hark and a grey phase eastern screech owl.

Nice image this week everyone!

This seems to be THE SPARROW BOOK to own, though I have never seen it.
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7446.html

This in my areas local NJ audubon center in bernardsville. call them and ask if the have "sparrows and finches of ontario by Chris earley" and "warblers of ontario by Chris Earley"

Those two POCKET guides are a must have for eastern US birders who need help ID'ing sparrows or warblers in the field!

Honestly, I live 3 miles from the center, but never go there. They all know me well, so if they have one, I can get a member's discount(won't be much on a book though) for you if you'd like to go there and get one or both.

Three different types of gulls? I always guessed the brown one is a mix.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/paulk_68/IMG_2330.jpg

left to right..

herring gull - most likely adult but I can't see the bill, so it may be a 3rd winter gull.

behind it is an adult great black-backed gull

RIGHT gull is a young(juvenile going into it's first winter molt) great black-backed gull.

most ,if not all, gulls have 4 distinct winter plumages because they take 4 years to mature to adulthood.

Thanks Paul

So I went out and bought a field guide to help with ID's, Loupey is right.... this is ADDICTING! The only birds in the guide that these look similar too are some kind of merganser or grebe... LOL. the pics in the field guide are too small :p

Mixed flock(male/female) of winter plumage common mergansers.

Bottom right... male(closer) with a female behind him.

So what book did you get?

Thanks again Paul,

It is the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (Eastern Region). The guide is ok, but most of the pictures are in 4 inch by 4 inch frames and a lot are even smaller. I also wish I didn't have to flip from the front of the book to the back to find out about habitat and etc.

That's a decent book.