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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Nice "catch" Reilly
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john hansen
climber
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Jan 11, 2018 - 11:23pm PT
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Well I am back on the Mainland for the first time in 20 months.
Good to see some birds again.
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john hansen
climber
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Jan 14, 2018 - 06:41am PT
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Can any of you confirm this is a Ferruginous Hawk?
Junk photo, he was pretty far away.
I don't think any other west coast hawk would be so white.
Seen at Merced NWR, would be a Lifer for me.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Jan 14, 2018 - 10:49pm PT
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John,
Looks like a Red-tailed Hawk to me, with the belly band and hood. They are quite variable and can be pretty pale. Now's a good time see them in the Central Valley, Pt.Reyes, etc. I don't know here you will be, but a reliable area for both Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawksis between Dixon and Rio Vista along Hwy 113. Ferrugs like to perch on those large rolling irrigators in cultivated fields.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Jan 14, 2018 - 10:58pm PT
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little z,
We went with Heritage Expeditions on their "Birding Down Under" trip Subantarctic Islands Voyages Highly recommended. The expedition leader was Rodney Russ, who is the founder and owner. He has been heavily involved in the protection and restoration off those islands for quite a while. There were 2 birding guides, and a guide specializing in plants and marine mammals. They have some shorter trips to a subset of the islands. You'd definitely want to get to the Auckland Islands for certain looks at Light-mantled (Sooty) Albatross. Taking short pelagic trips out of Kaikoura results in an amazing variety of seabirds usually only seen much further offshore.
I've uploaded a bunch of photos here: New Zealand Wildlife I need to add photos of the islands themselves, with some of the wild vegetation.
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Jan 17, 2018 - 06:13am PT
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Tony - thanks for the lowdown on your southern ocean trip. Great photos also on your homepage. Love the names of some of those birds: Wrybill and Rifleman. Reminds me of the fun Australian bird names like Dollarbird, Willie Wagtail, and Jacky Winter. Really want to do that trip.
Added a new species to my Costa Rica list. Didn't get any new ones in 2017. It's getting harder as time goes by. A few White-crowned Pigeons were blown over from some Caribbean Island to our Atlantic coast at Tortuguero. A few days before my trip a friend went over to see the pigeons and also found a young Great Black-backed Gull which was a new species for both Costa Rica and Central America. Figured I had to make the trip over there after that. I got the pigeon but dipped on the new gull. Only a pair of Herring Gulls, still a good bird for CR but nothing like that GBBG.
White-crowned Pigeon, bird 1
White-crowned Pigeon, bird 2
Herring Gull (Laughing Gulls and parts of Royal Terns in background)
Hoping to also tick a White-crowned Sparrow that has been hagning out down in the Osa, but will have to wait another week or so until I have to head down there for work. Another new CR and Cen.Am. species.
John - I agree with Tony, your hawk looks more like a Red-tail than a Ferrugy
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BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
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Jan 21, 2018 - 11:30am PT
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Snowy Owl in Boulder yesterday!! Very cool and my first :-) On boat masts at the local reservoir, of course ;-) Stayed about 110' away to give it some space, seemed very relaxed, a fair number of birders out there to check it out. Apparently a little earlier in the day there was a second Snowy out on the reservoir ice chatting with an Eagle, sorry I missed that!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 21, 2018 - 11:55am PT
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Nice shootin’, as usual! 😉
Didn’t know Boulder was a yachting capitol! 🤪
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Jan 21, 2018 - 11:59am PT
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I think I'm a real birder now! This was the first time I got a rare bird alert and was actually able to go find it.
Probably the first common ground dove in Fresno County. Not particularly pretty, but very small and cute.
And here's a dead owl I found while caving in sequoia a couple weeks ago. I think it's a screech.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 21, 2018 - 12:15pm PT
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Be careful around dead owls, or any bird, as many die of W Nile IIRC.
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john hansen
climber
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Jan 21, 2018 - 04:56pm PT
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Great shots above. Finally got a good day with good sun and good birds.
Got these at Pinos Point in Pacific Grove.
Oystercatcher
Surfbird
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Jan 21, 2018 - 06:51pm PT
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Dang, BN--no phonecall????
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BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
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Jan 22, 2018 - 07:20am PT
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Steve, about 3pm after we got home from the Denver march, someone posted on the Colorado Field Ornos FBook page that some people had seen a snowy out there that morning, so I grabbed my stuff and got up there just before 4 pm and there it was 😀 Too late for a call to anyone.
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Jan 22, 2018 - 07:29am PT
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As in climbing and so much of life, it is the ephemeral that we chase. . .
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john hansen
climber
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Jan 25, 2018 - 08:00pm PT
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Pacific Grove
Says Phoebe
Black Turnstone
And a local birder told me this was a first year Mew Gull. A lifer.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jan 25, 2018 - 08:16pm PT
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Jan 26, 2018 - 09:57am PT
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StahlBro, nice. JT?
BN - I'm so glad they sent you a nice white one and not one of those smudgy grayish oones. You deserve only the finest Snowy Owl.
speaking of chasing the ephemeral... picked up another rare one for Costa Rica, a Lincoln's Sparrow. Surely pushed down by the consecutive cold fronts. I see it when I'm back in Washington state, but fun to get it here shoulder to shoulder with Stripe-headed Sparrows, Blue-black Grassquits and Whire-collared Seedeaters.
Lincoln's Sparrow
here are some recent odds and ends
Lineated Woodpecker
King Vulture
Red-billed Pigeon
Rufous-and-white Wren
and we might as well end this page as it started...with
Snowy Plover
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 26, 2018 - 07:32pm PT
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Tony and I went for a visit to Pinnacles this last week. We saw weird little rock climbs:
little birds
and BIG birds
Copulating big birds
Then back in Seattle,
re Trumpeter vs Tundra
OK, it wasn't a bad week. The California Condors and a Rufous-crowned Sparrow(no good photo) were lifers for me. Finally: Why-tf don't my Snowy Owl photos look that crisp and beautiful!?
(+minor edits)
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 26, 2018 - 08:56pm PT
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Boy, when I was there two weeks ago the big birds were nowhere to be seen! 😡
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