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little Z

Trad climber

un cafetal en Naranjo

Dec 27, 2013 - 11:05am PT

loved the pinguinos Reilly. I'm with Darwin, stumped as the what and where without a book?

dee ee, birding is like learning a language, you can't be afraid to put your foot in your mouth. Tough for climbers to accept making mistakes, but all those good birders you know, they've made their share of bad calls, and have gotten better for it. And remember, as Kenn Kaufman says "...birding is something that should be thoroughly enjoyable. Don't let these tricky identification problems keep you from having a good time in the field."

Nita, thanks for the birdy links. Are you going to the Snow Goose festival?

I invented a digiscope camera adapter with a-buck-fifty trip to the hardware store and some rubber bands (tried to fit duct tape somewhere into the design, but failed). Works pretty well, although the view-finder is useless. Have to get the bird in focus and centered, then just slap on the camera. At least it makes getting photos faster and also removes the shakes.

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 27, 2013 - 11:34am PT

We're waiting for the results of the digiscope+ with bated breath Little-Z.

I've thought about more about the Penguins. The bottom photo does look like those are Magellanic Penguins (the only ones I've seen in person), and the top ones maybe Gentoo?
So I'm revising my guess to Tierra del Fuego, Falklands or Elephant Island.

BrassNuts

Trad climber

Save your a_s, reach for the brass...

Dec 27, 2013 - 11:53am PT

Cool new shots gang! Ho Ho HO! Some winter Bluebird pics for a little color during the holidaze...
We hope to see these guys again sometime soon. Always a treat, incredible coloring.

Happy New Year all!

nita

Social climber

chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.

Dec 27, 2013 - 12:07pm PT

Little Z, I may attend if i can talk a girlfriend into joining me on one of the Sutter Buttes trips .....Timid Toprope ( Andy) is one of the group leaders for the~ Butte Creek Ecological Preserve, and the~ Thermalito Afterbay...

If you want any info on the best trips, ask, Timid ( Andy) about them...

BN, love the Bluebird pictures..

little Z

Trad climber

un cafetal en Naranjo

Dec 27, 2013 - 01:00pm PT

well Darwin, here're two quick shots of the backyard pigeonry.

Not up to par with Brassnuts (amazing Dave, that first shot is a Hallmark Christmas Card!) or most of the others who post here, but it works for me. Took about a minute to get those shots, and I want it mostly for documenting rarities, where set-up time is often critical.

Case in point. I went out yesterday to try for 2 birds that would have been new ones for my Costa Rica life list - Dunlin, and Vermilion Flycatcher, but dipped on both. Did however manage to get these shots of Cave Swallow - only my third record for this in over 25 years here, and another tick for my 2013 CR year-list (up to 708).

Happy New Year to all, and Happy First Bird of 2014!

Marlow

Sport climber

OSLO

Dec 27, 2013 - 01:10pm PT

I wonder how BrassNuts is making those phenomenal bird photos... they're almost three dimensional...

Reilly: I agree on the framing... a Chinese master of the art would be proud...

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 27, 2013 - 01:17pm PT

Marlow, BrassNuts is an artist first and a technician second.
I take his technical mastery for granted by now but his framing still amazes.
The 'high-key' effect is sheer magic.

Bob D'A

Trad climber

Taos, NM

Dec 27, 2013 - 02:13pm PT

Great photos everyone and brilliant colors Dave.

A few from this morning, getting ready for a trip to Costa Rica in less than month.

Tony

Trad climber

Pt. Richmond, CA

Dec 27, 2013 - 11:54pm PT

Darwin's right, I did take the "Oh No, Not Gulls!" workshop a couple of years ago. I am now in dire need of a refresher. In February, we will have Herring spawning runs near us and thousands of gulls pour in to shore. That's when the local gull experts comb through them for rarities. Last year I did find a Glaucous Gull on my own but couldn't eke out an Iceland or Slaty-backed Gull that people were reporting. I did see one of the latter, but only because someone showed it to me in his scope. I did manage a photo for a record to submit to the CA Bird Records Committee.

Thanks to our own Dee ee, I will be participating in the Coastal Orange County Xmas count in a couple of days. This count circle is always among the few highest for species, so it should be good. We get to count on a usually off limits marsh, too.

Thanks to all for the great photos to get me out looking at our local birds. I had gotten a bit burned out from our Australasia trip in October. I still need to post the last installment of photos from the New Zealand leg of our trip.

I missed about all of the migrants in October, but we did have a couple of locally uncommon sparrows show up in our local park in November.

We also found a Cattle Egret on our Xmas count in a city park. They are not uncommon in the CA Central Valley, but seldom venture this close to the coast.

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Dec 28, 2013 - 08:57pm PT

Tony (Brake) and I went over to the Mile Square Park today to scout for our CBC tomorrow. We got 38 species including a very bright male Vermilion Flycatcher. Then we went over to the SA River for another try to pick out a Pac. Golden-Plover out of the many hundred BBPL. We were unable to do so. As well the Swan was gone.

I did get a couple of OK pics.

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Dec 28, 2013 - 09:03pm PT

Thanks for the words of encouragement littleZ. Birding is fun, more fun that sitting behind a computer and finding mistakes!

Many ultra rad shots above, Brass N, you are an artist!

Mike Bolte

Trad climber

Planet Earth

Dec 28, 2013 - 10:18pm PT

Up on Whidbey Island for a few days

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Dec 28, 2013 - 11:12pm PT

That's a beautiful photo of the White-Winged Dove (wouldn't have gotten that one!).
And the details on the back of the Golden-crowned Kinglet are awesome: gold crown, white racing stripes, and the red tinge that I had never seen before!

We have a visiting Palm Warbler that stayed around until now. Here are too many unedited photos of it. It's a big deal in Seattle, at least for me. A lot of them, especially the first few are pretty weak.

http://173.160.158.251/postings/2013_12_16_Palm/index.html

little Z

Trad climber

un cafetal en Naranjo

Dec 28, 2013 - 11:44pm PT

looks like Neil Hayward surpassed the Big Day record earlier today with a Great Skua, bird # 746, on a pelagic trip off of North Carolina. Additionally, he has 3 birds that are provisional (birds not already on the American Birding Association's 2013 list) and he has seen Aplomado Falcon but is not counting it. The three provisonal birds (Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Redstart and Rufous-necked Wood-Rail) would be new additions to the ABA list and so must first be evaluated by a check-list committee. So if all those birds are eventually added in, he'll have 750. The former record holder, Sandy Komito, had 745 plus 3 provisional birds that were eventually accepted, and so his actual total is 748 (stated as 745+3). Most folks are doubting the Sparrowhawk, but the Wood-Rail and the Redstart look like they'll pass muster. The Aplomado Falcon might be a vagrant from Mexico (countable) or part of a US based reintroduction program (not-countable), but Komito saw an Aplomado under similar circumstances and counted it. Confused yet? See the following for an ample disccussion on the topic (certainly not everyone's cup of tea):

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=266296

Neil's best chance to add another bird appears to be a White-cheeked Pintail that has been seen in Florida, although he says he's loathe to make the trip down there again - this would be his 4th try for the species this year (twice in Texas and once in Florida). We'll see what he can do with the 72 hours still left.

dee ee

Mountain climber

citizen of planet Earth

Dec 29, 2013 - 09:29am PT

Go Neil!

10b4me

Ice climber

Bishop/Flagstaff

Dec 29, 2013 - 11:28am PT

I want to reiterate what dee ee said up thread. I am a total beginner. I want to thank Crimpergirl, and Brassnuts for the inspiration. I hope we all can meet up again this spring.