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dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Feb 13, 2013 - 08:33pm PT

Your welcome. I just wanted to share what has taken me months to learn!

ps. not to mention 5 million Yellow Rumped W's!

pps. I found the Golden Crowned Sparrow a few days ago as well in Laguna Canyon. It was not a lifer but good for the 2013 list.

john hansen

climber

Feb 15, 2013 - 10:24pm PT

Where and when did you get that one Dingus?

Is that Shasta in the background?

Nice shot.

cyndiebransford

climber

31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska

Feb 17, 2013 - 12:43am PT

I went for a drive today from Soldotna down to Homer. I made stops in Ninilchik, Anchor Point and other spots to look for birds, no species in particular. I had a great day, walked on the empty beach and picked up agates and saw about 20 species of birds. It was about 24 degrees and no wind until the Homer Spit. I did see an injured Bald Eagle and called the local wildlife person to let them know the location.

Tony

Trad climber

Pt. Richmond, CA

Feb 17, 2013 - 02:41am PT

We recently got back from a great visit to Seattle with Darwin and Laurel. In the evenings there wonderful musical performances as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the UW Ethnomusicology Dept. During the days there were birding outings. The Skagit area is always good for Geese and Swans. There were large groups feeding in the fields.
Of course, where there are wintering geese, there are Bald Eagles all about.
I’ll leave it to Darwin for photos of the owls. As there was last winter, there is an irruption of Snowy Owls south of their usual winter range. We saw 9 Snowys near a town called Stanwood. We also saw an incredible number of Short-eared Owls perching, flying, and stooping in the area.

The next day we visited Elliot Bay. There was a huge (~50) group of Barrow’s Goldeneyes. Here is a pair that was displaying in the marina.

A few Harlequin Ducks were a ways off from the marina.

In the marina, a Belted Kingfisher was foraging using the boats to perch.

This Glaucous-winged Gull (the predominate gull here) got a prize starfish.

A California Sea Lion bull was hauled out on one of the docks.

The bird of the day was a Rhinoceros Auklet that came into the docks.

At the place we stayed right in Seattle there was an active Bald Eagle nest (no photos).This Golden-crowned Kinglet provided a rare close eye-level view.

We made a trip over the Cascades on the last full day. We visited a Garry Oak forest reputed to be the Lewis’s Woodpecker capitol of Washington. It lived up to its reputation with at least 50 Lewis’s Woodpeckers flying all over.

We failed to find Bohemian Waxwings and Northern Shrike, which would have been lifers. The only possible lifer was a Harlan’s Hawk which will likely be re-split from Red-tailed Hawk

On the day of departure I made a quick trip to Alki point which is a pretty nice spot on Puget Sound for wildlife viewing. There were more Rhinoceros Auklets and Harlequin Ducks.

Sanderlings are common here.

Lots of Red-necked Grebes were offshore.

I came across a Harbor Seal pup that was hauled out on the beach. The area was cordoned off and a docent was informing passersby about it.

Pigeon Guillemots were in transition from winter to breeding plumage.

[Edit]
Cyndie,
I'm jealous of all the Long-tailed Ducks. We were hoping to see bays filled with them in Estonia this spring, but we were a couple of weeks late.

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Feb 17, 2013 - 03:04am PT

Added in edit{ just notice Tony posted above, and there aren't many redundant photos. Also w.r.t Cyndie's rafts of Long Tailed Ducks: YEAH!!!}

Tony was just up for a visit and some Washington birding. We went to Skagit/Stanwood area (Geese, Swans and owls), birded around town the next day, and then went to Eastern Washington for to look for Lewis's Woodpeckers and Bohemian Waxwings. We got skunked on the Waxwings, but scored on the woodpeckers. Tony takes better photos but didn't have his camera out on the owl run, so I'll mostly post those.

If you're a glutton for punishment by overshare of unedited photos, you can see them all at:

http://173.160.158.251/postings/2013_02_10_StanwoodSkagit/index.html

little Z

Trad climber

un cafetal en Naranjo

Feb 17, 2013 - 06:51am PT

Hey Reilly,

just finished guiding a birding trip with a guy from Monrovia. Dr. David Comings. He's mostly into photography. He got some good stuff, but this is the only one he shared with me...a Masked Booby we saw crossing the Gulfo Dulce on a boat between Golfito and Pto. Jiménez. The picture quality isn't great, and I'm sure David wouldn't want to present it as an example of his work. It's just to document the record - Masked Booby is super rare anywhere near the coast. All the other ones I've ever seen here have been way out on pelagic trips.

Mike Bolte

Trad climber

Planet Earth

Feb 17, 2013 - 12:29pm PT

great bunch of shots added the last few days! Nice trip Tony/Darwin.

10b4me

Boulder climber

Somewhere on 395

Feb 17, 2013 - 08:28pm PT

[Click to View YouTube Video]

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Feb 17, 2013 - 10:01pm PT

hey there say, dingus, great hawk shot :O really neat!...

every one else:
great stuff... lots of it i can't even see... but i know it's great!

did see the blue cranes, and wow!

keep sharing folks, love it so much!

ekat, of course, really love the owl!

Slater

Trad climber

Central Coast

Feb 17, 2013 - 10:57pm PT

Chewybacca

Trad climber

Montana, Whitefish

Feb 18, 2013 - 03:56am PT

Wow, lots of great pics since I last checked in here. Here are some pics from last month. They were taken near the north shore of Flathead Lk and an area locally known as the Lower Valley.

Downy Woodpecker

Killdeer admiring itself

Ruffed Grouse

Bald Eagle with lunch

Rough Legged Hawk in the fog

Rough Legged Hawk in flight

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Feb 18, 2013 - 11:30pm PT

Slater

Trad climber

Central Coast

Feb 18, 2013 - 11:39pm PT

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Feb 19, 2013 - 12:09am PT

Chewy, great shot of the 'Ruffled' Grouse!

Slater, it looks a Mew/Franklin's hybrid. And how did you catch a Snipe out for a nice graze on the lawn?
Love the Acorn acting goofy-as-usual shot!

There's a 2nd phase Icelandic hanging about the Boontsma Dairy ponds north
of the Ramona Expressway. More details and pics on the CALBIRDS@yahoogroups.com.
I wonder if the bad weather tomorrow will keep him there. I am sorely tempted.

So I rarely tire of watching these guys; I love watching others work. But
the thought occurred to me what effects this behavior caused them from the
nasty chemicals in telephone poles. I mean it hasn't seemed to have affected
their numbers. In fact, despite the chemicals, they seem to have flourished.
I don't remember them being so numerous as a kid in the OC.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Feb 19, 2013 - 05:54am PT

hey there say, ... i DID put a grown robin, on a chair, up here, before... but not sure if i ever got the baby, on the chair, up here...

here is one of the babies:

Chewybacca

Trad climber

Montana, Whitefish

Feb 19, 2013 - 01:58pm PT

Hehe, I must have been a little ruffled when I gave that grouse a free 'L'. :^)

Since I'm already posting I may as well add a couple more shots.

This sleepy owl was in a barn on the Blasdel WMA yesterday.

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A Bald Eagle taking flight, also taken at Blasdel yesterday.

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A Black Billed Magpie. (It was surprising tough to get this poorly focused shot of a common bird.)

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Red Tailed Hawk showing off.

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