Bird ID Pt. IV

[paulnj]

The only 2 sparrows that come to mind are savannah and vesper. Since the eye ring looks too narrow and no pink beak... savannah is my call. Sparrows are not my strongest subject though.

[dadas115]

Paul,

This was indeed a tough one because you can’t really see much of the tail and the head is sort of turned in an odd direction (at least to see the field marks). You nailed it down to the two most likely suspects but this one was actually a vesper. I had the advantage of seeing it fly and the white outer tail feathers. The two species are pretty tough to tell apart without getting a good look.

Greg

[paulnj]

"The two species are pretty tough to tell apart without getting a good look."

and size does matter usually when I see a vesper the eye ring jumps out at me and indeed the outer tail feathers give it away too.

[piermariopilloni]

Here is a quick edit from my latest outing.

Red phase screech owl... Full frame at 400mm on a 1D too !!

I really can't post the good ones, since it's a paid job and I don't want to loose the in ;)

Very nice photo ! What lens have you used ?
here is two my photos...do you like it ?

[paulnj]

Nice flamingos, but one tip I can give you is..

wildlife looks better facing you to some degree...usually

As for what lens I use..

I use the original 1D with a 100-400IS and sometimes use a 1.4 canon TC with it. The 300f4 is a very good lens, especially with a tube for close ups or a TC for tele work on a small sensor DSLR(d30, d60, 10D, 20D, Dreb, XT).

[dadas115]

Another ID, this one probably not so challenging.

By the way, I agree that the 100-400 IS is an outstanding lens (one of my all time favorites).

Greg

[Lava Lamp]

Tiny for a raptor. Not the greatest pic, but do you know what it is?

[Lava Lamp]

This guy landed maybe 30 feet from me on a hiking trail. Full frame cropped vertically.

[paulnj]

GREAT redtailed image LL, and that is indeed a male american kestral.

[mjs1973]

Tiny for a raptor. Not the greatest pic, but do you know what it is?

Looks like an American Kestral to me. One of my photo goals for this year is to get a print worthy shot of one of these little birds of prey.

[jfelbab]

I snapped a bunch of these at my Cape Coral home today. I have no clue what they are but they were pretty calm and allowed me to approach quite close. Guess I need a bird ID book for this area.

[paulnj]

Jim , these are young white ibises.

When I got the alert to your post, I read Cape Coral and was expecting to see a burrowing owl. Cape Coral is known for the easy to locate burrowing owls in empty lots, on street corners and even nesting under driveways and using a mailbox as a perch ;)

My GF's grandmother lives on Coranado pkwy I do believe, and I found 5 different sites within a 1/4 mile of her house. That was 5 years ago though.

[jfelbab]

Jim , these are young white ibises.

When I got the alert to your post, I read Cape Coral and was expecting to see a burrowing owl. Cape Coral is known for the easy to locate burrowing owls in empty lots, on street corners and even nesting under driveways and using a mailbox as a perch ;)

My GF's grandmother lives on Coranado pkwy I do believe, and I found 5 different sites within a 1/4 mile of her house. That was 5 years ago though.

Thanks for the quick reply, Paul. I have been on the lookout for the owls but haven't seen a single one so far. I'll be heading off to do a more detailed search soon.

[paulnj]

Actually, she lives on Eldorado a few blocks off of Coronado. I know that an easy pair to find has moved as of last year, or so my GF said.(she is a non birder though). That area and the golf course should yield atleast one!

My GF is heading down there in march. So if you haven't found one by then, I'll have her find one and we will get you an address ;)

[Lava Lamp]

I've posted one or two bad pics of this bird in earlier ID threads. This one -- though flawed -- is my best yet. They live in deep scrub and its hard ot get any kind of shot (at least for me.)

[Lava Lamp]

Not a prize-winning photo,. but the first time I've seen one of these. Taken today.

[paulnj]

LL.... you need to learn to "pish" . In other words , you need to learn to do the tufted titmouse distress call. That works every time on catbirds. So does a high pitched squeek or just plain mimicing the catbird.

These two images are not bad at all considering the lighting and hidden subject!

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bi...shing.html#see

[mjs1973]

I took this today. I haven't posted anything here for a while so I thought I would throw this one out there.

[Lava Lamp]

I took this today. I haven't posted anything here for a while so I thought I would throw this one out there.

Nice shot. I had one of these fly through my yard twice a few days ago, but faster than I could point the camera and focus.

[Lava Lamp]

We had some dicussion a while back on juvenile turkey vultures looking like black vultures. I think that's what we have going on here. There was a group of six in a tree in the rain today.

[paulnj]

These are indeed TV's

Nice kestrel too Mike!

[mjs1973]

Thanks. I see dozens of these birds when I go out driving around the country side, but they are always on power lines, or other man made objects. My goal is to get a print worthy shot of one of these falcons on a natural perch.

[paulnj]

Ah yes.... the bird on the wire that never lets you get it's image They are getting rare in NJ in the last 5 years due to lack of nesting areas I would think?

Well not to brag, but here is an image I took in 35 MPH wind at 500mm on film about 4-5 years ago. I have tighter shots of it, but this is the frame I have scanned in on my HD. My film scanner hit the trash about 2 years ago

The slide is PERFECTLY exposed, but the scan is BAD.

[Knight]

I havent been able to get a good shot of a Kestrel yet , even on a power line hehe. They wont stay still long enough for me to setup lol. Good capture on the TV`s LL

[paulnj]

The reason I could walk up on this kestrel(yes I walked 150 feet through a mower lawn very slowly) was due to the wind blowing so hard. It was facing into the wind as all birds do ;) When the wind would die for a few seconds he would shift to see what I was, then the wind would pick up again. I bet he was also tired from fighting the wind all day too .

I got as close as 15 feet from it, but this image is at about 25-30 feet I bet.

Kestrels are some of the hardest birds to get images of to me, due to them flying as soom as I slow down!!!!