Bird Id Part 2.5

[jfelbab]

The hawk is a juvenile redtailed and the second is a dark eyed junco.

But Jim , your's is a red bellied woodpecker, what is that on the back side of the feeder ;)

Right you are. I totally missed that id. Thanks for setting me straight.

The other is probably a purple finch. I have scores of finches around.

[paulnj]

They all look like house finches to me.

Purple finches have a pointy beak and DO NOT have an eye ring like most house finces do. The male house finch is very red in the head and chest, while the male purple finch is DEEP RED in the head/ chest with duller red running through most of the other parts of the body.


Here is a female purple finch, the males never get close enough to me when I have my camera ready

[jsmith75]

What type of hawk is it? Though it might be a harrier. This picture was taken in western Kentucky.

[paulnj]

It's a young Cooper's hawk.

[mjs1973]

The male didn't want to stick around for the photo shoot, so all I got was the lady of the nest.

[paulnj]

There you go. Though cardinals are fairly common, I don't have too many images of them.

[mjs1973]

I think this is my first shot of one. They are quite common, but they don't seem to like to sit in one place too long. I started adding some saflower seed to my feeders this weekend in hopes to attract some now that we have a good 4"-6" of snow on the ground.

[jfelbab]

We have a lot of Cardinals around here. I love watching the male feed the female. I get a lot of them at my tube feeder with black-oil sunflower seeds. I believe they prefer other feeder types but they make do. Here is a female at the feeder with a Goldfinch I believe. My home backs up to a natural wooded area and I get a great assortment of birds. I don't know a lot about identification yet but I'm learning, and enjoying.

[paulnj]

"I don't know a lot about identification yet but I'm learning, and enjoying."

Those words are music to my ears! ENJOYMENT of your subject matter is KEY to producing images of quality and furthering your knowledge!



you're correct! I will surely help you to ID birds better.

spring plumage birds from texas as they migrate back, try searching Alan Murphy photography. His images have dropped my jaw for YEARS!!

[jfelbab]

Those really are beautiful photos. I like the way he has diffused the background which accents the bird. I need to learn how to use PhotoShop too I guess. I hope an old dog like me can still learn a few new tricks.

I'll be taking a spin down to Cape Coral soon and I'll see what I can find to shoot down there. I appreciate your offer to help me with ID. I find watching birds is really a nice way to pass a little time and relax.

If I become a pest let me know.

Thanks for all your help.

[paulnj]

Cape coral huh ;)

Let's see.... on tuesday my GF's brother is going there to see granny. I will see if he can find a few BURROWING OWLS in her neighborhood . If so, I will get you rough addresses. They are pretty easy to locate too. Alot of the sites were they nest have a perch set up near the burrow(they live under ground) The nest along driveways and use mailboxes as a perch, they nest on street corners and use fire hydrants too.

From Cape coral I would advise you to try sanibel/ captiva(a few hurricanes have smashed those islands since I was last there though) Ding Darling(on sanibel island) was a great place for birds, but I hear it isn't as good. Isn't as good still should produce enough birds to see anyway. EAGLES, OSPREYS, WADERS, PELICANS, GATORS, RACCOONS.......

[srobb]

What type of hawk is it? Though it might be a harrier. This picture was taken in western Kentucky.

Looks like the one I saw Friday on my way to Lexington to pick up my 2x teleconverter. Then saw a redtail swooping down, but lost him in the tree line.

[Knight]

These guys are becoming regulars , there letting me go in closer now.The Jay loves peanuts and the other loves my home made feeder .I used a fire log and drilled holes in it then packed the holes with suet .

[mjs1973]

Great idea for a easy to make feeder Knight! I haven't picked up any peanuts for my winter mix yet, but it's on my list. I saw a Downy the other day, but didn't have my camera with me.

[ken1953]

Hello all...
I was outside a little while ago, shooting some icicles intertwined in my christmas lights, when something flew overhead. I had just set my Nikon CP 8400 to "Sport" mode to try to stabilize my photos a bit. I jumped on the chance to shoot this bird all the time thinking, wow, what luck...I'm set for a sport setting, I should get a nice pic.... :-( well...1 out of 3 came out recognizable, I think...I spent 3 years hoping for a shot like this with my Kodak, which would have caught this bird clearly at this range, only about 20' above me. Anyway...here it is...the second pic is cropped as close as I can get it without causing an unrecognizable photo. The first photo is so that anyone who can tell me how to set my camera settings to prevent this type of problem in the future, can see what I got.
Anyway, here they are...

[paulnj]

Well your bird is an adult redtailed hawk. Remember I ID hawks at 2 miles from a pair of 10X binos, so this is an easy one for me. Eventhough your hawk is blue(holy white balance batman) I can see every field mark

[ken1953]

Well your bird is an adult redtailed hawk. Remember I ID hawks at 2 miles from a pair of 10X binos, so this is an easy one for me. Eventhough your hawk is blue(holy white balance batman) I can see every field mark

Thanx Paul..."holy WB, NOISE, ISO, APETURE...." Actually, I thought the first one would come out....but not so...I had just turned to the scene mode for sport, when I glimpsed him over my head...so I didn't even know what I was shooting...all I knew was that it was a hawk of some sort...hehe..I chased it down the street, but lost it in some trees. I got a ton of snow in shoes...had no socks on as I had only stepped out for a few seconds...until I saw the hawk...haha..
Anyway...I'll say it again...YOU ARE GOOD!
Ken

[jfelbab]

Anyone have a clue as to what this is?

[paulnj]

It's a vulture... as in TRUE VULTURE from a non US country IMHO.

[jfelbab]

Maybe that explains why this was nearby.

[paulnj]

Where did you shoot these? Look at the lower mandible on that herbavore... MY GOD that looks like a cow !!

[Lava Lamp]

I don't think we've had one of these in any of the ID posts. Thought it was a Willet for a moment, but don't think it is...

[paulnj]

It's a yellowlegs, hence the YELLOW legs ;) I am not too good at the lesser/ greater ID, but I would say it's a GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

[Knight]

One from today dont know what he is , but im almost sure hes not a Great Gray owl.

So Paulnj ?

[paulnj]

YOU ROCK!!!!!

Though I have seen a decent number of them in Florida, NJ, NY, and even Ontario. I do not have but one image of a.... BARRED OWL. Your's is even in the open, which BTW is odd in itself! This Owl has mostlikely been forced to relocate and feed by day due to snow cover.