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Crimpergirl

Sport climber

Boulder, Colorado!

Apr 13, 2012 - 11:47pm PT

Awesome photo! Love all the Goldfinch.

While in Rancho Palos Verdes, we saw lots of birds enjoying the Bottle Brush and the Coral Trees. You guys have great bird trees out there.

Tony

Trad climber

Pt. Richmond, CA

Apr 14, 2012 - 01:02am PT

Slater,
That is a pretty cool sight. Are they American or Lesser Goldfinches? What is the crop?

Matty,
I page back, those are Pigeon Guillemots, closely related to Black. The black bars in the white wing patches is diagnostic, as well as the range of course. I look forward to seeing some of the Black Guillemots as well as many other seabirds in the Scottish Hebrides in a couple of weeks.

BN,
Mating Dippers! Are you kidding me? I can't imagine there are many similar shots.

We just got back from the Eastern Sierra. Again failed to see leConte's Thrasher, so had to be satisfied with the best-ever views of breeding plumage Chipping and Vesper Sparrows. The Vesper Sparrow even showed its chestnut lesser coverts. The field guides say they are rarely visible.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Apr 14, 2012 - 02:43pm PT

BD, great shooting! Yer Lumix is doin' ya proud!

Those flippin' sparrows drive me nuttier than I already am.
But then you don't wanna get me started on immature gulls or shearwaters
while yer slippin' around on other people's puke neither.

Anyone up for a tango?

I know it ain't real sharp - I don't wanna spoil y'all.

Mike Bolte

Trad climber

Planet Earth

Apr 14, 2012 - 11:00pm PT

Nice afternoon here in Santa Cruz. Took a walk up through the campus and saw the usual suspects. Click on them for larger versions.

Slater

Trad climber

Central Coast

Apr 15, 2012 - 01:09am PT

Woohooooo! Sweet Mike. Great day to bird!

Had myself a big day!

Went to Goleta Beach/slough and Los Carneros Lake and got 7 new ones! so I'm up to #154

Got some birds I've been looking for! FINALLY!

and about a million Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and more than I can list. My buddy got 20 new birds so he was stoked.
Great day to be out! Hope everyone else is getting theirs!

Mike Bolte

Trad climber

Planet Earth

Apr 15, 2012 - 01:30am PT

hey! some great shots and good birds Slater. Love that hummingbird and the gnat-catcher.

Those are Royal Terns in the winter plumage.

Maybe it is the perspective, but I'd be a little uncertain about the Greater vs Lesser Yellowlegs.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Apr 15, 2012 - 01:43am PT

It looks a Lesser to me too. Something about the way she walks. Or maybe
it is just her boyish figure.

Tony

Trad climber

Pt. Richmond, CA

Apr 15, 2012 - 02:28am PT

Slater,

Looks like a Glaucous Gull. They are huge, bigger than Westerns. Damn, you are doing OK on gulls. I'm still leaning toward Iceland on the earlier one. You should show that photo to some gull nuts. I also agree that that looks like a Lesser Yellowlegs. The bill seems straight rather than upturned. You certainly had a great day of birding. We used to participate in the Santa Barbara Xmas Count. They are usually in the top four or so count circles. Too bad I wasn't birding in my first year of college at UCSB. Even so, I managed to about flunk out with too much surfing, etc.

Slater

Trad climber

Central Coast

Apr 15, 2012 - 02:49am PT

Thanks for the comments and insight guys.
Lesser it is.
Glaucous... don't have one yet! Now I do!?

I should have surfed Campus Point but it would have cost me some birds!
Off shore and peeling pretty good!

I even had the board in the car...

birds have taken over...

am I crazy?!

Tony

Trad climber

Pt. Richmond, CA

Apr 15, 2012 - 03:05am PT

Slater,

Yes, you are crazy, like the rest of us.

I think it looks pretty good for a 1st-winter Glaucous Gull: chalky white, large size, two-toned bill. Were there other "reference" shorebirds? That would help to nail down the Yellowlegs as a Lesser. The Greater is about the size of a Willet. The Lesser is about the size of a Dowitcher.

The sad thing about my year at UCSB (1966-67) was that it was the worse surf in recent memory. There were only a handful of good days.

BrassNuts

Trad climber

Save your a_s, reach for the brass...

Apr 15, 2012 - 10:14am PT

Eggzellent new bird pics, Thrashers, peeps, Oak Tits etc. More birds! A couple more pics of the GHO happily preening - check out the tongue action on the talons...

Slater

Trad climber

Central Coast

Apr 15, 2012 - 11:30am PT

Yes, a Greater Yellowlegs then for sure, it was exactly the size of a willet. I saw it from ACROSS the channel and it was still fairly large. Thanks!

Speaking of feeders...

It's OFFICIALLY SPRING in Slater's backyard...

A blackhooded Grosbeak!

#155 !!

and all I had to do was wake up and look out the window of my kitchen.

Crimpergirl

Sport climber

Boulder, Colorado!

Apr 15, 2012 - 11:31am PT

Nice stuff Slater! We see few Black-headed Grosbeak here at our feeder-ville - like one each Spring. No sighting here yet. Jealous!

Mike Bolte

Trad climber

Planet Earth

Apr 15, 2012 - 01:29pm PT

A note on equipment. I've been using a Nikon D7000 plus Nikon 70-300mm f/4-f5.6 VR up till a couple of weeks ago. This is a nice lens that is plenty sharp from 70-240mm and the vibration reduction is excellent. But, got a good deal on a Nikon 300mm f/4 and bought it. I wish it had vibration reduction, but that aside it is a clear step up from the prosumer 70-300mm. Sharper (incredibly sharp), better contrast and deeper (whatever that means) colors. 300mm is a little short some of the time, but being patient and getting closer works most of the time.

Bob D'A

Trad climber

Taos, NM

Apr 15, 2012 - 02:16pm PT

A few more from Central America...

I'm camera-less for the first time in years..feel somewhat naked.

Sold all my gear. Looking forward to the new gear coming later this week.

Really great photos from everyone.

Mike Bolte

Trad climber

Planet Earth

Apr 15, 2012 - 02:35pm PT

Bob - did you keep track of species count on your honduras trip? If so, what was it?

Bob D'A

Trad climber

Taos, NM

Apr 15, 2012 - 02:45pm PT

Mike..I think close to 175 or more...have to look at my records. I saw a sh#t load of birds. The Neo-tropics are pretty amazing. Next trip is to Copper Canyon and then over to the Sea of Cortez in the fall.

cyndiebransford

climber

31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska

Apr 15, 2012 - 09:00pm PT

I took a short trip over to Kenai this morning. The river is breaking up and and a few of our migrants are arriving. I saw Mallards, Pintails, Snow and Canadian Geese. One American Wigeon. Several immature Bald Eagles, some Barrow's Goldeneyes way out in the inlet and a Loon, too far away to identify which species. I also saw one Yellowlegs. On the flats I saw two Lapland Longspurs, but I was unable to get good photos of them. They are a new life bird for me so very exciting.