Spring bird ID thread

[cyberlord]

Are these Boattails or Common?

[cyberlord]

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

Brown headed Cowbird?

[paulnj]

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.

[Knight]

Enough for a ID Paulnj

[paulnj]

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

[Knight]

Do you ever miss lol

[paulnj]

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.

[cyberlord]

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

[mjs1973]

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.

[paulnj]

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

[mjs1973]

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.

[paulnj]

Without a doubt that's a purple finch!

[Mike T]

Here's one from today.
Mike

[Mike T]

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

[Mike T]

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

[paulnj]

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?

[Mike T]

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

[Lava Lamp]

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.

[Lava Lamp]

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...

[Lava Lamp]

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.

[paulnj]

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.

[Lava Lamp]

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?

[paulnj]

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!

[Knight]

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 ?

[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 ;)