Clare's First BY

[campsafari2015]

58) Snow Goose - 3 Jan 

 

Made a cameo earlier in the post, but I didn't have any other Canada Goose photos...

 

[campsafari2015]

59) Black Turnstone - 3 Jan

 

Adding Snowy Egret and European Starling to the "not pictured" list to round out the 8 short of my eBird count of 67 by the end of the day 3 Jan. 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by campsafari2015

[PeterHG]

Beautiful sunset shot with the pelicans!

[Dave Williams]

That's a high impact start mid way through the year! Welcome from me too. You live in a beautiful part of the world, or at least it was in 1984! Always meant to visit again but the more time goes on, the less likely it becomes so I will have to enjoy it through your lens instead. 

[Peter Connan]

7 hours ago, PeterHG said:

Beautiful sunset shot with the pelicans!

 

+1

[campsafari2015]

18 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

That's a high impact start mid way through the year! Welcome from me too. You live in a beautiful part of the world, or at least it was in 1984! Always meant to visit again but the more time goes on, the less likely it becomes so I will have to enjoy it through your lens instead. 

I truly love it here, and could think of very few counties in the USA I'd rather shelter in for 3+ months

[campsafari2015]

And carrying on to 4 January sightings...things starting to get a little sparse as the holidays end and the low hanging fruit are mostly picked

 

60) Nuttall's Woodpecker - 4 Jan

 

[campsafari2015]

61) Osprey - 4 Jan

 

Here's a really terrible picture. Turns out that I don't see them often around these parts, and they're not willing subjects like those back in Colorado...

 

[campsafari2015]

62) American Robin - 4 Jan

 

 

[campsafari2015]

63) American Kestrel - 4 Jan

 

[campsafari2015]

64) Pygmy Nuthatch - 4 Jan

 

[campsafari2015]

Now...for the Pièce De Résistance. 

 

I was actually on a minor twitch for the previous observations, as we had a rarity reported in the county a few days prior. Snuck out of the house to try my luck. There was still a TON of interest, even after a few days. So, I didn't spend too much time trying to get a good photo. 

 

65) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

 

[campsafari2015]

Had a lovely coyote sighting in the neighborhood as well that day. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by campsafari2015

[elefromoz]

@campsafari2015, a great collection, I visited Monterey quite a while back, pre birding for me, what a shame. The Annas Hummingbird is dazzling, Id love to see a Hummingbird one day but I wonder now if it will ever happen. The "Surf Scooter" and "Bufflehead" sound like two young, good time blokes!

[campsafari2015]

So, here we have a serious breakdown between my eBird numbers and my BY here. I went on a 3 day trip to Virginia in early January. There was no time for dedicated birding and I mostly just snapped photos where I could of birds I didn't immediately recognize. Observations noted but not pictured were Blue Jay, Black Vulture, Bald Eagle, Carolina Chickadee, Red-bellied Woodpecker. I only got pictures of one species I didn't know immediately: 

 

66) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 10 Jan

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by campsafari2015

[campsafari2015]

67) Brandt - 19 Jan

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by campsafari2015

[campsafari2015]

Here's a fun one (heavy sarcasm for those who aren't larophiles). 

 

This single photograph constitutes species counts 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, and a hybrid. I can only claim credit for being able to identify 3 personally, and got help for the others. 

 

I'll let everyone try their hands at this, if they like  

 

Answers will be updated during the next batch of photos! 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by campsafari2015

[shazdwn]

Welcome Clare.  Some great images so far - and an impressive number of sightings already.

[campsafari2015]

1 hour ago, shazdwn said:

Welcome Clare.  Some great images so far - and an impressive number of sightings already.

Thank you! I got really excited, hoping that someone had long last decided they wanted a stab at the gulls. Haha, turns out safaritalk members aren't THAT crazy

 

 

[shazdwn]

44 minutes ago, campsafari2015 said:

Thank you! I got really excited, hoping that someone had long last decided they wanted a stab at the gulls. Haha, turns out safaritalk members aren't THAT crazy

 

 

Well there are only two species of gull where I live and they are very easy to tell apart so I know I'm not up to the challenge.  

[Kitsafari]

Well, I'll never win that contest as I'll never be a larophile - a term which sent me googling for its meaning! waders and shorebirds are a nightmare for me. 

 

 

That sapsucker has an intriguing and fun name, and a cute bird too. 

[Galana]

6 hours ago, campsafari2015 said:

Haha, turns out safaritalk members aren't THAT crazy

There is Crazy, Stir Crazy and Plumb CRAZY. I am not sure where I fit in that line up but here goes with a few.

1. You have far too many Gulls in USA and with two Oceanic seaboards to choose from.

2. You are on the Pacific so that should help narrow it down.

3. Size matters so let me have a go but it would help if we could see more legs. (Story of my life)

 

There is a very dark bird. Is that a Jaeger (Skua?) If so then odds on its a Parasitic.

If not then Heerman's Gull?

There has got to be some Western Gulls in there as you don't have GBB on Pacific coasts.

Scatter gun approach suggests:-California, Ring-billed and Herring.

So there are five suggestions.

The little guy front centre. I would expect more contrast in the dark back but as a wild card why not Bonaparte's. Good a guess as any.

[Soukous]

2 hours ago, Galana said:

There is Crazy, Stir Crazy and Plumb CRAZY. I am not sure where I fit in that line up but here goes with a few.

1. You have far too many Gulls in USA and with two Oceanic seaboards to choose from.

2. You are on the Pacific so that should help narrow it down.

3. Size matters so let me have a go but it would help if we could see more legs. (Story of my life)

 

There is a very dark bird. Is that a Jaeger (Skua?) If so then odds on its a Parasitic.

If not then Heerman's Gull?

There has got to be some Western Gulls in there as you don't have GBB on Pacific coasts.

Scatter gun approach suggests:-California, Ring-billed and Herring.

So there are five suggestions.

The little guy front centre. I would expect more contrast in the dark back but as a wild card why not Bonaparte's. Good a guess as any.

 

We can discount Heermann's Gull as that has already been included #37 

[Galana]

2 hours ago, Soukous said:

We can discount Heermann's Gull as that has already been included #37

Well Clare did say that there were only 5 ticks for her and anyway it still might be a Skua..

[campsafari2015]

15 hours ago, Galana said:

There is Crazy, Stir Crazy and Plumb CRAZY. I am not sure where I fit in that line up but here goes with a few.

1. You have far too many Gulls in USA and with two Oceanic seaboards to choose from.

2. You are on the Pacific so that should help narrow it down.

3. Size matters so let me have a go but it would help if we could see more legs. (Story of my life)

 

...

This is a good approach  

 

For all who were curious: 

 

Here is the photo with the individuals pointed out that I'm sure of (aka, got confirmed from experts). I was only able to do 1-3, and had I looked closer, I would have known #4, but alas...I wasn't being as careful as I could have been before phoning in for help. 

 

 

68) Western Gull (1)

69) Ring-billed Gull (2)

70) California Gull (3)

71) Glaucous-winged Gull (4) - if you look carefully at the primaries, you'll note that they're the same color as the mantle- a dead giveaway on such a large bird with a hefty body.

HYBRID Olympic Gull (5) - HerringxGlaucous-winged 

72) Thayer's Gull (6) - Thayer's is a subspecies of Iceland Gull 

 

Moving on!