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Willoughby

Social climber
Truckee, CA
Jan 9, 2015 - 01:07am PT
Man, I need to get down and catch that bunting! Sibes are my favorites. Great photos of a hard-to-photograph bird, Tony. Most of the pics I've seen of that thing are rubbish.
Bob D'A

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Jan 9, 2015 - 02:18pm PT
Nothing special, just a few from yesterday.


10b4me

climber
Jan 9, 2015 - 04:00pm PT
john hansen

climber
Jan 10, 2015 - 12:18pm PT
Can I get a little ID help on these two birds?

Saw both at Patagonia lake in AZ last October.

Crappy photos but hopefully good enough for an ID.

Ladder backed Woodpecker?


And some type of Flycatcher? Pacific slope?


dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Jan 10, 2015 - 08:19pm PT
The Sea and Sage Pelagic trip rocked today. It was the best in 3 years or so. We had...oh, where to start.... We had an Ancient Murrelet before we left the bay for a later total of 16 or so. We had a Glaucus Gull just after we left the bay. Once out to sea we had numerous Rhino and Cassin's Auklets, Red Phalaropes, Bonaparte's Gulls, 10 species of gulls, Thayer's etc. We thought the high point were 17 Brown Boobies on an oil platform until we got a Little Gull on the way back. DUDE!

Friday, I struck out on the Worm-eating Warbler in LA. I may go back Mon. AM.


GLGU


REPH


Common Murre (not so common)


Brown Booby



Aquatic Mammals (later a Fin Whale)


Little Gull


Gulls-

Ring-billed
Western
Cali
Thayer's
Glaucus-winged
Herring
Heerman's
Glaucus
Little
Bonaparte's









Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 10, 2015 - 08:50pm PT
The Little Gull was SICK! Now, about the photo., diagnostic as it may be. ;-)
Bob D'A

Trad climber
Taos, NM
Jan 11, 2015 - 01:53pm PT
A few from today. Looking forward to Spring.










Tony

Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
Jan 11, 2015 - 10:59pm PT
Dave,

That sounds like a fabulous pelagic trip. 15 Brown Boobies in one place! The Little Gull photo is funky, but it does capture the field marks.

Two days ago Darwin and I looked for the Rustic Bunting at Golden Gate Park in SF to no avail. It had been seen shortly before we arrived. After an hour we left to do some surf and seawatching. When we returned for the Rustic Bunting we were told that it been visible again about 30 minutes earlier!

Yesterday was more successful at Pt. Reyes. We hiked out to Abbotts Lagoon to look for a Le Conte's Sparrow that has been around for a couple of weeks. A bit of patience paid off with good looks at the bird, a pretty colorful sparrow. That was my third lifer of the New Year.


There were some pretty relaxed Turkey Vultures perched right by the trail.

Some shorebirds along the way were unusually tolerant of us hiking by.

We were entertained by a Gopher while waiting for our sparrow to show.

dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Jan 12, 2015 - 07:36am PT
Great shots Tony and Bob! Love the Leconte's Sparrow.
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
Jan 12, 2015 - 08:54am PT
Nice pics this page everyone, even some Boobies, hehheh. Keep up the good work! Mostly snowy and cold here lately, feeders are busy and we've had a new player this year as have many along the front range - Cassin's Finches :-)
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 12, 2015 - 10:14am PT
Yous guys make it hard on us patzers!
But I saw some birds this weekend, too!

On top of Dante's View, Death Valley...


I changed from the 16mm lens...

OK, so he wouldn't look at me. Can't blame him.

edit: I assume Dee is off to the Salton Sea for the Roseate Spoonbill.
little Z

Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
Jan 12, 2015 - 07:55pm PT
killer photos everyone.

Tony and Dar, looks like you all had a great trip. That Le Conte's Sparrow is a real looker. I've only ever seen it once, also as a vagrant, but that was back in the late 70's in Maryland (Patuxent).

Dee ee, I see your friend Jeff has vanished from the top 100 eBird output. I know you can choose to opt out in your user settings, but any idea about his motivation for this? ... just curious.

Did my last CBC a week ago at the Rainforest Aerial Tram. That was the first CBC anywhere to get over 400 species (that was back in 2002 or something like that), but now there are a bunch of counts in South America that blow that out of the water.

We had wind and rain with brief sunny spells. Only 369 or so spp total. Got to ride the tram all day (and also do laps on the maintenance trail). Only 73 species on our route, but some fun ones.




both were perched right next to the tram line.

Already have 3 species that I didn't get last year for the old CR year list. Managed 729 for 2014 which is my personal best. Biggest year I know of is 746 which my friend Kevin Easley did in 2009 (that included a trip to Cocos Island). He doesn't list in eBird though. But in Costa Rica I think you could easily get up to 775 with a good effort, and maybe 800 if you were truly insane. Because it is such a small country, you wouldn't need to be rich to do a record big year. You can even get to Cocos Island for free if you sign up as a volunteer with the Park service, although I hear it is sort of like slave labor. Anyways, big years are fun even if they are only in your head.
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Jan 13, 2015 - 07:39am PT
little Z, nice camo on the Common Potoo.

Yes Jeff opted out and no one knows why yet. I called him last night and he didn't answer, pretty strange for a guy who never puts his phone down.
I have been getting emails from others wondering why as well.
I did peek at his Facebook page and he is posting run and walk stats, looks like a possible total paradigm shift.
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 13, 2015 - 02:05pm PT
^^^wrt Tony's Pt Reyes photos.
Thanks for posting the photos Tony.

Going to Pt Reyes after coming down from Seattle in mid-winter was a gobsmacking treat for me. It's hard to beat the mild weather, lots of birds that I don't see around Seattle proper, and getting to hang with Tony and the "Y" person who shall not be named. And the surf was pumping, if mostly closed out and being cruised by Great-White Sharks. Birding-wise: watching lots of C.B. Pelicans ride updrafts along the waves, seeing the Sanderlings and working-for then seeing the Le Conte's Saprrow were the high points that come to mind. Oh, and we got pretty close to a White Pelican, too. But heck I get excited about seeing Brown(California) Towhees when I go down there so, I'm not particularly discriminating. Talk abut excited, Little Z's Christmas bird count is mind boggling.



Anyway, here is another photo of Tony's of the Le Conte's Sparrow that highlights the unique coloring on the nape. I did crop it and ran it through Gimp's sharpen and contrast stretch. The colors are slightly over saturated but still pretty true. In some lights the throat took on an rose color that the photos didn't capture.

(Tony I didn't get your permission, I'll of course pull the photo if you want.)


dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Jan 13, 2015 - 07:59pm PT
That's a beautiful Sparrow.
BrassNuts

Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
Jan 13, 2015 - 09:13pm PT
We're happy to have a new visitor in the hood this winter, Cassin's Finch
Another newcomer, a partially leucistic House Finch
And of course, the usual winter suspects
Delhi Dog

climber
Good Question...
Jan 14, 2015 - 01:11am PT
Super Brass!

Well I went ahead and bought the 50-500mm Sigma.
Haven't used it yet except out the hotel window in Bangkok trying to catch some Barbetts.

Not worth posting, but I am headed next week to a NP and will bring the bazooka along.
Looking forward to what it can (or can't do).

Meanwhile:
Darwin

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 14, 2015 - 11:19am PT

Oh, no: Delhi Dog gets a better lens! I'll never bother posting again.

Apropos Little Z's Costa Rica yearly count records: I could probably find out online, but about how big is a big year in in India?
(if anyone says 366 days, I'll pout)
10b4me

climber
Jan 14, 2015 - 03:39pm PT
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Jan 14, 2015 - 03:45pm PT
Nice Wobbler and all of yers Brass.!
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