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BrassNuts
Trad climber
Save your a_s, reach for the brass...
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Great nesting shots AT! Do you charge them rent for the use of your yard? :-)
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Thanks DT for the correction. Great book and good movie!
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Wow - lots of outstanding photos here.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Re: the Lucy's Warbler.
BN brought those photos home. He *believed* the two photos to be of the same bird. I saw them once and they were squirreled away. Because the second photo was fuzzy, he wouldn't leave it on the screen at all. I'm happy he didn't delete it! I couldn't tell what the first bird was and suggested we put it on the taco given all the expertise here. Weeks later he did.
The first bird really puzzled me and I ended up thinking it was a warbler given the bill, but figured it was some female non-breeding plummage bird - beyond my capabilities as a birder. The bill has always looked to skinny to be a vireo - but what do I know?
It was great fun working it out. As we talked, I wondered if it was a Lucy's because I was thinking it was a warbler, and I faintly recalled the other photo having some rufous on it's head. I had no access to the other photo. As we discussed it online, I was digging in my book and noted that a Lucy's has rufous on it's head (the male anyway). Then I asked BN to post the other photo (which he initially didn't want to do when I asked since it's soft).
When he did finally post it, it seemed clear. But even then he couldn't be sure it was the same bird. He thought it was, but following a little bird with a big hand-held lens isn't easy. Only hearing what Willoughby had to say makes us feel sure it was the same bird.
It was a great exercise to talk about it and I appreciate everyone
s input. I learned a ton.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Brown Jay? Cool.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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More like dumb luck. I'm a marginal birder at best. I was pleased though that I did it the way we are taught...look at bill, look at head, at eyes, etc. If I were a great birder, I would have been able to ID him alone.
You made the call on some weathered feathering. Never thought to consider that.
The eye ring was baffling me as well. It was so large compared to what I saw on the vireos in the book. I didn't get to see the bird in real life so I didn't really know how big it was or how it moved. That would have been really helpful!
Even after BN posted the second photo, I was trying to figure out if they were the same bird - I decided it was he same bird. But one never knows is it because I want it to be the same bird, or because I see evidence - real evidence - that it is the same bird. I rationally thought it was partly because that was BN's first impression when taking the photos, due to the little time that passed between the two photos and because of the eye ring. It was great fun seeing Willoughby use far more sophisticated methods. Neat stuff.
It was a fun puzzle to solve. Willoughby's knowledge of birds continues to blow me away.
I wish we had more birding puzzles to play with!
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scuffy b
climber
dissected alluvial deposits, late Pleistocene
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What's the nesting pair below the Bewick's Wren?
Nuthatch?
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Peggy-o
Social climber
Kingsburg ca
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Peggy-o
Social climber
Kingsburg ca
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Mike Bolte - those babies *crush* me! So cute!
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john hansen
climber
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A few more to keep this thread going.
Chipping sparrow
Osprey,, too bad he was behind the wire.
And an American Goldfinch..
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Tony
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Here is a Merlin attacking a Golden Eagle in spite of the huge size difference (~25x ?). In the second one the Merlin was briefly attached to the back of the Eagle.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Y'all are going to make me blush.
You know, if anybody out there in Tacoland is really digging on the birds and wants to combine it with a climbing trip to Lee Vining, the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua is a pretty sweet festival coming up June 17-19. I'll be leading a bird tour in Lee Vining Canyon on Friday, and then a dragonfly tour on Sat. Lots and lots of other fun outings and workshops, but they fill up quickly - check it out:
http://www.birdchautauqua.org/
And if you're looking for a FREE bird hike in Tahoe (or wildflower hike, or butterfly hike, or...), please tag along on one of my nonprofit's outings. Calendar's on the Home page, and we'll be adding a lot more hikes as summer progresses: http://www.tinsweb.org/
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Thanks for the links. BN is digging the Pygmy Owl! You are 'liked'. :)
The walks are very tempting...looking at my calendar...
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cyndiebransford
climber
31 years in Joshua Tree, now Alaska
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May 10, 2011 - 02:18am PT
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I went to the Shorebird Festival in Homer, Alaska for four days. Here are a few of the birds I saw.
[photoid=201467]
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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May 10, 2011 - 11:59am PT
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still a great thread!
Cheers,
DD
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