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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Great shots everyone...John...Cactus wrens are huge.
Great Kiskadee
Laughing Falcon
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Common Ground Dove...really tiny...maybe 6 inches
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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found something really cool last week - a Great Potoo on it's nest, with a nestling!
Here is the adult on it's nest as I saw it from afar(that little blip on the horizontal branch at the center)...
came back a few days later with my scope to get some digiscope photos.
here's a photo form the web to give a better idea of what you're looking at.
Strictly nocturnal, they catch big flying bugs (and even small bats!) with their big mouths. Their eyes are huge, and you only get to see them with their eyes open at night. During the day they hang out on some branch and depend upon their camo for protection and a peaceful day's rest. They always lay just 1 egg and both adults participate in incubation and rearing.
Potoos are often heard at night. Their calls are from another world. Take a listen:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/15586
edit: as always, sorry for the poor quality of my photos. I'm waiting anxiously to hear responses about Dirt's camera gear question
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dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
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Me too. :-D . Nice shots man. That is a really cool looking bird. Where do they reside?
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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DC,
thanks, the 7 species of potoos that there are in the world all reside in the American tropics from Mexico down into Argentina, and on Jamaica and Hispanola islands in the Caribbean.
Maybe Bob will get some potoo photos while he's in Colombia. It's on everyone's wish list.
JZ
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dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
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My family is from the Chiapas area, I wonder if they have them down there, never seen one or heard of them before. Perhaps my mom heard of them when she was growing up, will have to ask her.
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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D,
if your Mom has lived in a forested rural area in the lowlands she may have heard potoos, or heard of them. Both Northern and Great Potoos are found in Chiapas. Because of their reclusive/nocturnal nature there's a lot of mystery around the birds which are much more often heard than seen. Here in Costa Rica rural folks often mistakenly attribute potoo calls to sloths. Here they are known as "Pájaro Estaca" or stake birds because they often perch in the day on the top of a post or dead snag to make best use of their cryptic plumage and drawn out posture.
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dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
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Cool, you ever had a chance to eye on of these (Quetzal) down there before, I know they are really rare.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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I saw a pic of a potoo a while back and I thought it was digitally created or photo shopped or something, I didn't believe it was real, wild looking!
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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Alki Beach
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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I hope to see Potoo, heading up higher tomorrow.
Snowy Egret
Neotropical Cormorant with lunch.
Ruddy Ground Dove with it young one.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Bob and little Z, livin' the birders life.
OK, some of the rest of us aren't doin' too bad either.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Dave...I think you and a lot of birders on ST are doing better than just OK.
A few more from today.
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john hansen
climber
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Amazing stuff everyone, 11 days into my 3 week birding thing. 19 lifers and 149
different birds so far.
White winged dove
Alperts Towhee with it's nose cut off.
Both lifer's
And green Tailed Towhee
All from Sweetwater sewage ponds. a bit scuffy and smelly but great birding. hard to get around the construction detours.
Went to Madera canyon yesterday,, saw the sign that said smuggling and stuff were possible here. Saw way many more birder's than birds,,, got an American redstart though, another lifer.
Crimpie and Brass are probably staying there.
Harris Hawk,,,,
OK, this was at the museum and it was sitting on it's owner's gloved hand...so I guess that does not count,,,
Have seen surprisingly few hawk's on this trip. Not even a cooper's
I should get one when I go back to the coast.
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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It is a rainy evening on the Kenai Peninsula, about 38 degrees. Most of the geese and cranes have moved away from the roadway, but more and more ducks are being seen daily. I saw Snow Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Cackling Geese,Sandhill Cranes, Northern Shovelers, American Wigeon, Mallards, Yellowlegs, Northern Pintails and two Tundra Swans.
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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Thanks Timid, correction made.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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More owls.
The reason I'm seeing so many of them is because they have a nest here in the yard.
The babies are big enough to fly between the trees.
There are three babies this year. In the evenings they hang out in the tree tops, waiting for mom & pop owl to bring them something to eat.
Mom & pop owl are busting their owl asses for sure. I've watched them show up with three rodents in a half-hour.
I have traps out, and if I hit the rat/ground squirrel/gopher trifecta in a week, I consider myself successful. These owls do that in a half-hour.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Good stuff everyone!
I went on a 3 stop OC loop yesterday, got 2 lifers.
This Ross's Goose off the OC RBA at Eisenhower Park.
Wilson's Phalarope at Bolsa Chica.
...and HELP ME OUT WITH THIS ONE. The beak looks finch like but...at Hunt. Beach Central Park
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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^^^
Female house finch, as best as I can tell. They're all over CA and other states west of the rockies.
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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This thread just gets better and better. Great photos going up too quickly for me to be able to compliment the birders/photos!
Keep them coming Bob! So interesting to see these birds from other places
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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If it's a little too big for a House Finch, I would guess a female Cowbird. That conical bill is my tipoff.
e.g. from www.sialis.org
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