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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Saw this pair along the Rio Grande near Pilar, NM today. Really pretty.
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Cool pictures (neat little Kingfisher too) and
speaking of camera lenses...
Anyone have suggestions?
I have Canon bodies, and own all Canon L series lenses.
What's good for birding?
I use a 200mm now, a zoom but have found that I always leave it at 200 so I'm guessing a fixed is probably what I need. Most of mine have IS, and autofocus.
What ya'll using?
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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EDIT: C: here is a Willet (top) and Greater Yellowlegs
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Slater,
I mostly use my 300mm f/4 IS, often with a 1.4x TC. I have a 100-400, but don't use it much. The 300 is more mobile and seems to to autofocus better, maybe due to the 1 stop difference. I think it is a little bit sharper too, but I haven't really done enough systematic comparison. I lust after the 500mm f/4 which BrassNuts uses. I think that, in addition to the extra tele, it is almost as sharp as the 300mm f/2.8, which is the gold standard of Canon tel lenses. I was told that the 300mm was the only tele lens with sufficient resolution to match the pixel number of the 7D camera. Other, more expert photogs should chime in.
Cyndie,
I think that is a Yellowlegs, probably Greater. I can't quite make out the upturn and length in the bill, though. Lesser Yellowlegs are definitely less common in these parts. Are you traveling back up to Alaska via NorCal?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sunday LA Times:
Whooping crane migration comes up short
While following an ultralight aircraft guiding them to Florida, young Maryland-bred birds get distracted in Alabama. They'll stay there for now.
By Tim Wheeler, Baltimore Sun
February 4, 2012, 4:07 p.m.
Reporting from Baltimore— What's that saying about leading a horse to water? The latest effort to teach Maryland-bred whooping crane chicks to migrate to Florida for the winter has been called off because the endangered birds will no longer follow the ultralight aircraft leading them.
Operation Migration, the nonprofit group that's been guiding captive-bred young cranes for a decade on their initial 1,300-mile flight from nesting grounds in Wisconsin, has called it quits this year in Alabama, 500 miles short of the destination.
While previous flights haven't gone smoothly, this is the first time the group hasn't succeeded in completing the journey to join the rest of the whooping crane flock wintering on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
The flight was grounded for a month in northern Alabama around the holidays as the group sparred with the Federal Aviation Administration over whether its ultralight pilots were properly licensed.
The FAA eventually relented and granted them temporary waivers to continue, but in the next two weeks the birds covered only 14 miles. Weather was partly to blame, but even when skies were clear and calm, the birds repeatedly broke away from their ultralight guides to land or fly off in different directions.
"Maybe we have stayed too long in Alabama and for them migration is over," ultralight pilot Joe Duff wrote in the group's online field journal chronicling its odyssey. "Or maybe they were just too long in one place. Maybe if we had a few flying days in a row to gain back their confidence, or maybe we just have a few too many aggressive birds with minds of their own."
Could unusually mild weather this winter have prompted the birds to lose their migratory urge? The group's blog contains a comment from a biologist in Indiana that a number of cranes, both whoopers and nonendangered sandhills, had flown no farther south this winter than the Hoosier State, where the grass has stayed green and the ground unfrozen.
At Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., whooping crane chicks are hatched and taught to follow crane-costumed humans piloting an ultralight aircraft. They're then transported to Wisconsin, their nesting grounds once they've returned from wintering down south.
Patuxent scientist John B. French said biologists weren't sure what would happen with these chicks if they didn't make it to Florida. Might they imprint on Alabama, or ultimately join the rest of the eastern flock in shuttling between Wisconsin and Florida? If they stuck with Alabama, how would such a small group — about 10 birds — fare on its own?
For now, at least, Operation Migration has decided to load the chicks into crates and drive them to a nearby national wildlife refuge in Alabama rather than try to get them to Florida. It would be too stressful to keep them cooped up for a ride that long, it was believed.
twheeler@baltsun.com
Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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Thank you Mike Bolte and Tony for your ID help. Yes, I am heading back to Alaska via California. We have family in Ontario, Bakersfield, and Sacramento. Also in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA. So up the 5 we drive. Today I stopped at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge near Willow and took the 6 mile auto tour. I saw a marsh wren and ring-necked pheasant, both of which are new on my list. Lots of birds. This is a great stop to bird watch.
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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I birded at Hart Park in Bakersfield. Here are a few birds that were seen.
I also birded at the Vic Fazio Wildlife Refuge at the Yolo Bypass near Sacramento.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Mike...I use a Sony A77 with 70-400 (105-600) setup. Really nice.
Great shots from you and everyone else. Great thread.
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Gary
climber
That Long Black Cloud Is Coming Down
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Couple of weeks ago I saw my first cedar waxwings feeding on a toyon up in Little Santa Anita Canyon. We hung out and watched the flock clean out one bush.
The favorite in our backyard is the plain titmouse. That and the band tailed pigeon. We call him Lenny, and every once in a while he brings his gang along.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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A little tug 'O war last weekend
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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Here are a few more from today at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge, which is really near Willow, CA.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Cyndie, great shot of the egret!
The ugliest parrot I've ever seen. No wonder the shameless hussy has 3-8 mates!
But who am I to judge? Perhaps she's a good conversationalist too.
Wiki:
The Greater Vasa Parrot Coracopsis vasa is one of two species of vasa parrot, the other being the Lesser Vasa Parrot C. nigra. The Greater vasa parrot can be found throughout Madagascar and the Comoros. In Madagascar it is more common in portions of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests, compared with the Lesser Vasa Parrot which is more common in the humid forests of the east coast.[1] The Greater Vasa Parrot has a very unusual breeding biology and mating system. Females are 25% larger than males and are physically dominant. The species lives in loose polygynandrous groups wherein each female has at least 3-8 sexual partners. The males have re-evolved a phallus, one of the largest known in the avian world,[citation needed] and copulations can last up to 120 minutes.[citation needed] Copulations come in two varieties, short duration (1–3 seconds) and long duration (averaging 36 minutes), with the latter involving a copulatory tie.[2] During brooding and chick-rearing, females shed their head feathers and develop bright orange skin coloration, and also sing complex songs from perches close to the nest.[2] These serve to attract males to approach and regurgitate food, which the female accepts while off the nest.[2] The females also defend a territory around their nest from other females during this period.[2]
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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I think they are both adorable. :) I'm biased though.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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HaHaHa! Yer excused from the jury pool Crimpie. That male looks a young condor wannabe!
Girl's gotta a good thang goin' though with her 'boys' bringin' free food and luv!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I got a little better shot of 'my' Bulbul, but still far from decent.
He and his little lady are definitely camera shy. He skedaddled back
to his thicket upon hearing the one shutter release. He does have a very
nice song somewhat House Finchy but more concise and much richer.
Think Luciano Pavarotti vs Andrea Bocelli.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Cool! I've looked for a Bulbul twice in FL. Denied both times. So cool!
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Gary
climber
That Long Black Cloud Is Coming Down
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Reilly, we saw them in Sierra Madre a couple of years ago. Had a hell of a time identifying them. Nice song, indeed.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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‘What would you say a bulbul is?’
[…]
‘Not one of those ladies who takes money?’ I said.
‘No.’
‘Not the brass knobs on a German steam organ?’
‘Not the knobs.’
‘Nothing to do with the independence of America or suchlike?’
‘No.’
‘A mechanical engine for winding clocks?’
‘No.’
‘A tumour, or the lather in a cow’s mouth, or those elastic articles that ladies wear?’
[…]
‘A bulbul is a Persian nightingale’.
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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Nice Bulbul! I have not seen one.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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I just love saying their name: Red-Whiskered Bulbul. How could a bird with that name not be cool looking?
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