Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
Score +1 for Sport Birding!
It took two tries but I was able find Steve's Budgerigar this morning.
I tried to get better photos of this trashy bird but a sound like a gunshot sent all the birds flying. I waited for quite a while but the POS did not return.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
Marlow, HaHaHa! Merci! And that's why Renault sucks - they spend time
doing stoopid shite like that instead of figuring out why their engines
can't compete with Mercedes'. ;-)
|
|
Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
I had a green budgie come to my backyard for two summers and eat eats with House Sparrows and other assorted wild bird. I lived in Houston at the time. It was always a joy to see him surviving in the wild in a place far from his home habitat. I really enjoy your posting such "trash" birds. :)
|
|
Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
|
|
We recently (well not that recently now) returned from a fabulous trip to the Arctic, cruising along the western coast of Spitzbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago. We first had a couple days to explore Oslo a bit. The highlight was the Fram Museum which had many great exhibits and articles from Norwegian polar explorers. It actually has the Fram, the ship used by Nansen and Amundsen for their expeditions.
We then flew to Longyearbyen, where we were to board the ship in a couple of days. This is way further north than I had been, as shown in this map.
We rented a car and explored the Adventfjord Valley. Although Polar Bears would be quite rare at that time, we stayed near the car, as we understood they can appear anywhere. There was a great seawatching spot near the entrance mouth of Adventfjord. Many seabirds flew right by us at close range, such as this Northern Fulmar.
Glaucous Gulls were abundant everywhere. In the absence of raptors, they are the predominant bird of prey.
We only saw about 26 bird species, but 7 were lifers for me. Snow buntings were present just about everywhere.
We saw this Svalbard (Rock Ptarmigan) pair at the cemetery.
King Eider was another lifer. Check out the cool scapular “sails”
We saw thousands of Common Eiders on the trip. These ones have figured out that nesting next to the dog cages affords protection form Arctic Fox.
This is the first we have seen Red Phalaropes (Grey Phalaropes in Europe!) in full breeding plumage.
After this we boarded the MS Stockholm which had previously been on in the Hebrides. It’s nice small ship with only 12 passengers, 2 guides and 8 crew.
Our first landing was at Ny-Alesund a research settlement which was the take off point for air attempts to the North Pole. (Maybe some of our local climatologists should go there and set them straight ;)
On the shore across the bay this Long-tailed Skua made an appearance.
A Svalbard Ptarmigan on the snow was quite striking.
We then headed north exploring some of the countless fjords and toward the pack ice.
We had seen thousands of Little Auks flying high around their cliff nesting sites. We finally started seeing some fairly close.
Other Alcids were abundant.
More King Eiders, even in small flocks.
The main draw for most on this trip were Polar Bears. We saw only two, but got to watch some interesting behavior at length. One of the guides was a Russian biologist who has studied Polar Bears for many years at Wrangell Island. He spends the season there without a rifle, but only a stick with pepper spray as a backup! The Polar Bear we watched at some distance was stalking Beaded Seals. She didn’t get one, but the tactics were great to watch. The next day we were able to parallel in a Zodiac as a male walked along the shoreline for almost two hours. He was aware of us, but indifferent. His focus was following the scent the female that we had seen the previous day.
Eventually, he got in the water and continued swimming. They are definitely all-terrain animals.
I seem to remember a “Mammals” thread, but it is gone?
We also saw a number of Walruses, including this bachelor herd of about 25.
It included some big bruisers
We also saw Belugas a couple of times. One group was probably over 100. It included some calves.
Sorry for hogging the page. There are more photos here:
http://tonybrake.smugmug.com/Nature/Svalbard-2014
Also, a video of the polar bear. It’s long, but if you fast forward to 18:00 you can see him in the water.
http://youtu.be/d4luLKdsem0
|
|
Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
|
|
I forgot these. We almost missed this important species, but we had a couple of hours after disembarking the ship, so we headed to the sewage outfall, where gulls were gathered. We then got got good looks at this Ivory Gull.
Also, on our last landing I saw a strange flying object which turned out to be a Black-legged Kittiwake latched onto the foot of a Northern Fulmar. They flew a long way like this before the Fulmar got free. I guess they must have been fighting over a nest site in the cliffs above.
We had a couple more days outside Oslo and did some more birding as well as visiting the Ski Jump and Ski Museum as well as the Viking Ship Museum, all of which were very cool.
There were no new bird species for us, but we were right in the midst of breeding season and saw lots babies of various species at Ostensjosvannet, a lake in Oslo.
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
Wow Tony, what a great trip! I am envious.
|
|
Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
Fab stuff Tony! Please "hog" more of these pages! :) Love it!
|
|
Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
|
|
Really great stuff Tony...looks like an amazing trip.
|
|
Plan B
Ice climber
Agua Dulce,CA
|
|
What great arctic photos!!!
Glad you found that Budgie, Dave :)
Here's a Black-chinned Hummingbird, seen a few days ago in Pinion Hills,CA
|
|
BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
|
|
Great birding TR Tony! :-)
|
|
cyndiebransford
climber
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
|
|
I spent about 45 minutes at the Kenai Flats this evening. I saw Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Dowitchers, Whimbrel, Semi-palmated Plovers, Glacous-winged Gulls, Yellowlegs, Savannah Sparrows, Green-winged Teal, Sandhill Cranes, Bonapartes Gulls...things are returning from farther north. It was warm and no wind, a beautiful evening to bird.
|
|
CClarke
climber
La Paz, Bolivia
|
|
I'm taking a break from posting the Galapagos birds. A Giant Coot from today:
And an Andean Crested Duck:
I'm going trekking in the Yungas for a few days so maybe I'll get lucky and see a few birds.
|
|
Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
Such a good thread, and if you blink you're on another good page.
Giant Coot, what like 2' tall? ;-) OK, it's on this page
Tony's from the previous page. flying King Eiders, lord it over us Tony!
Kenai Flats as a reminder to me of days gone by, and all the rest.
OK, It's not a bird and better belongs in another thread, but I feel like a free loader and there is a flying animal it the photo. It's been a good year for bees here in town. Tangentially, Laurel and I have had a couple good nights out on the deck watching more bats than I recall seeing before.
|
|
Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
|
|
Great stuff above, just a few from me in the last few days.
|
|
Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
|
|
I had to whistle at him to get him to look at the camera. He was busy picking at his feathers.
|
|
little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
|
|
Instead of waking up to the usual morning sounds of Brown Jays, Melodious Blackbirds, Inca Doves, Hoffmann's Woodpeckers and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, this morning it was Stellar's Jays, Chestnut-backed Chicakadees, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Flicker and Anna's Hummingbird. At least the sound of Vaux's Swifts was still the same.
Darwin, dude? PM me with a plan. I have to go out to Sequim to visit my cousin one day this coming weekend, and have tickets for the Mariners game on Monday, otherwise no commitments.
|
|
CClarke
climber
La Paz, Bolivia
|
|
Chatham Mockingbird on San Cristobal:
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
I'mstuckinBarstowthisweek.
Thespacebardoesn'tworkonthehotelcomp!
GotacouplegoodBarstowlistbirdsyesterday.BlueGrosbeak,White-wingedDove,etc.
WeareofftoYellowstonetomorrowwhenIreturn.HopingforBarrow'sGoldeneyeandHarlequinDuck.
Cheers!
DE
|
|
john hansen
climber
|
|
DeeeeHopeyougettheHarlequin.AwonderfulltownBarstow.
|
|
Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
|
|
A few from the Bosque today.
Deehopeallworksoutwiththecomputer.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!