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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Dee ee - thanks, how about that. Interesting approach. They're colonial nesters and need a critical mass (i.e. enough breeding pairs) to form a successful colony. Wonder if it helps.
from the Iona Beach sewage farm, Vancover B.C.:
Merlin (the dark subspecies from the Pacific NW. Compare to Cyndie's photos on previous page of the Taiga subspecies, and Bob has posted nice photos in the past of the pale Prairie subspecies)
Red-necked Phalarope
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Saw a pair of White-winged Snowfinches and a Lammergeier yesterday!
Sorry, no pics as both sightings were brief.
Oh, and a Ring Ouzel was on the fence when we walked out of our chalet!
Doesn't get much betta!
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Reilly - so that Chough was a live feed. I thought you were going back into the archives for that one. Bring it on!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Don't get jonesing for no Bob d' or BN quality pics -
I didn't bring the heavy metal, just a P&S and iPhone.
Oh, also saw a Common Redpoll at the Hornli Hut!
I thought that was pretty cool. Also got a Black Redstart.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Rock Wren along the Rio Chama near Abiquiu, NM.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Aug 10, 2016 - 08:27am PT
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Evening Grosbeak this morning in Taos, NM.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 10, 2016 - 12:52pm PT
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White Wagtail at Montenvers! Woot!
Also got within 50' of mama Chamois et bebé on Le Brévent! Double woot!
Shoulda seen le bebé scamper up 5th class! Incroyable!
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little Z
Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
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Aug 11, 2016 - 08:58am PT
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Wow Cyndie, looks like you were dangerously close to that crane.
Pigeon Guillemot - in the drink. Sequim Bay
Pigeon Guillemot - in its chossy little nest cave. Port Williams county park
Heermann's Gulls, Port Angeles. I know they're common, but have you forgotten how seriously gorgeous they are?
California Gull standing guard over the timber, and the blubber. Port Angeles
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cyndiebransford
climber
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Aug 11, 2016 - 11:10am PT
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Little Z, I was in my car. Drove up close and they didn't move.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Aug 11, 2016 - 11:34am PT
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Aug 11, 2016 - 02:43pm PT
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I ID'ed this as a Gila Woodpecker awhile back but now I'm wondering if it could be a Gila/Golden-fronted hybrid. Note the yellow on the nape. What do you all think?
This was at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens.
EDIT: I see e-bird lists no GIWO/GFWO hybrids and no sightings of GFWO any where near Phoenix....so...NEVERMIND.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Aug 12, 2016 - 06:13pm PT
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Great stuff above, Acorn Woodpecker Los Alamos, NM today. Seem very far north for them, there were six.
Pretty birds.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Aug 12, 2016 - 09:51pm PT
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Dee ee, your photo is intriguing. Maybe you shouldn’t give up so easily. The GFWO has been expanding north and west. Was this in or near an aviary at the museum? At the Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson, they have hybrids of Evening x Black-headed Grosbeak, and Northen Cardinal x Pyrrhuloxia (“Cardhuloxia”). Also some hummingbird hybrids. Maybe inquire on an Arizona birding site?
During a SoCal visit in June I visited Bolsa Chica Eco. Reserve at the height of the tern breeding season. Pretty spectacular. There were at least 5 species plus Black Skimmers. There were impressiver numbers of Elegant Terns frequently wheeling over their colony. As Reilly mentioned a few pages back, this could be due to moving north from failed breeding grounds in Mexico, unlike Heermann’s Gulls, which don’t seem to have that flexible strategy.
An adult Caspian Tern was foraging and being followed around by a begging juvenile
A Least Tern was diving right in front of me at the bridge. Most of my shots were out of focus or cropped because it was too close.
Dave’s LETE decoy story was a crack-up.
Lots of Forster’s, too.
There were also a few Royal Terns, and I think they occasionally have had Common and Black Terns there in the past.
It was cool to watch the Black Skimmers foraging at close range. I guess their reaction is quick enough to avoid smashing their bills on submerge objects
This may have been about the only time I haven't seen Reddish Egrets there, but some of the Great Egrets were in the brief period of high breeding plumage.
There was a likely Willow Flycatcher in the marsh, but it didn’t vocalize.
I also went to the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine with dee ee. No unusual species, but a visit there is always worthwhile. There were many nest boxes being used by Tree Swallows
The best sighting was a Western Grebe pair building their floating nest. I didn’t have a camera, so here is a frame grab from digi-scoped video. There was also a Coot pair building a nest.
By the way Reilly, How about Wallcreepers? They are high on my wishlist.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 13, 2016 - 12:21am PT
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Tony, I had my peepers peeled for Wallcreepers but to no avail.
I did see one at close range in the Pamirs - one of my fondest sightings,
along with the Lammergeier that flew about 50' over my head!
The White-winged Snowfinches are probably the stars of this trip.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Aug 13, 2016 - 02:29am PT
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The WW-Snowfinches are definitely a good find. They weren't even on my radar, but are now.
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Tony
Trad climber
Pt. Richmond, CA
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Aug 13, 2016 - 02:35am PT
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And back to Slabbo's post. Since you said small, ~24" WS, how about Sharp-shinned Hawk? Tend to be more gray looking than Coops.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Aug 15, 2016 - 05:01pm PT
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Black-chinned Hummingbird bump.
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