BIRDS (and how to look at them)

[Xray the Enforcer]

30 minutes ago, The Mance said:

I might have caught a brief look at a Snowy owl today!  Was confuzzled at first by the large white raptor looking bird drifting lazily across the neighbors yard.  Definitely not a seagull, too big for a barn owl, too uniformly white for any sort of hawk, and during the day… in Boston? …dafuq?  Turns out Snowys are all of those things!  

I’m still not going to claim certainty, though, only because they are pretty rare this far south.  Also, I was never closer than 100ft, viewing through a smudgy window, a window screen, and a row of leafless trees, for all of 10 seconds.  I do have a pretty good eye for raptors, though, and it was definitely built, and flying, “like an owl”.

1) There was an irruption of Snowies this year, with them being regularly spotted as far south as Washington DC. This is really late for one, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Congrats on the spot!

2) In the spirit of the thread and accuracy -- no such thing as a "seagull." They're just "gulls." e.g. Herring Gull or Laughing Gull. Or, as some of my friends like to call them, "saltwater assholes."  

BTW, if you're ever out West and you see a white raptor, there's another possibility than Snowy Owl. White-tailed Kites can look all-white, especially when flying. But you can usually exclude one species or the other based on time of year and geography. 

[The Mance]

23 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

There was a sign up at Schodack Island state park telling people not to approach them if you saw any because they were likely starving, and that any extra take off and flight was burning calories they might not have.

Ya, apparently they only come this far south during “irruption” years that follow boom n’ bust lemming population cycles.  So any Snowys we get are likely not too happy about being here.

Still, magnificent birds.  I’ve had a feather for years that I suspect is of a Snowy owl.  Its a good size primary, definitely from an owl, and almost pure white. 

[Xray the Enforcer]

BTW people in the middle of the country: Birding is going to be LIT tomorrow and Tuesday as a huge river of migratory birds move through the Midwest. So call in late to work and go find some birbs. 

The river of birbs will shift to the east after that, and May 2, 3, and possibly 4, will be great for birding in Ohio and points east.

[The Mance]

3 minutes ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

"saltwater assholes."

Awww, now!  They get a bad rap, but I meant to speak up for them earlier when somebody mentioned gull watching.  They really are spectacular flyers.  Also, I personally performed a leg-ectomy on a "gull" that had had a tangle of fishing line constrict its lower leg to death.  Dunno if it helped, but he was spotted several times around the cannery over the next couple of weeks, so maybe..?   

[Larry of the Lawn]

20 minutes ago, The Mance said:

Awww, now!  They get a bad rap, but I meant to speak up for them earlier when somebody mentioned gull watching.  They really are spectacular flyers.  Also, I personally performed a leg-ectomy on a "gull" that had had a tangle of fishing line constrict its lower leg to death.  Dunno if it helped, but he was spotted several times around the cannery over the next couple of weeks, so maybe..?   

I'd sell it as a success and add "Gull Saw-Bones" to your resume and business card.

[Xray the Enforcer]

16 minutes ago, The Mance said:

Awww, now!  They get a bad rap, but I meant to speak up for them earlier when somebody mentioned gull watching.  They really are spectacular flyers.  Also, I personally performed a leg-ectomy on a "gull" that had had a tangle of fishing line constrict its lower leg to death.  Dunno if it helped, but he was spotted several times around the cannery over the next couple of weeks, so maybe..?   

I love gulls for their resilience -- and as my colleague Kenn says in his Field Guide to Advanced Birding, gull identification is the study of years; I look forward to the challenge! (BTW I urge everyone who has moved beyond "I don't know a bird from a hole in the ground" novice to invest in that book. It's more about process and mindset, and I've found it immensely helpful.)

[Lily Valley]

17 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

I love gulls for their resilience -- and as my colleague Kenn says in his Field Guide to Advanced Birding, gull identification is the study of years; I look forward to the challenge! (BTW I urge everyone who has moved beyond "I don't know a bird from a hole in the ground" novice to invest in that book. It's more about process and mindset, and I've found it immensely helpful.)

Pretty sure I'm still here, but I want this book anyway!

[Xray the Enforcer]

I'm taking my coworkers out birding tomorrow. First time I've led the crew, although after my baptism by fire where I had to lead a birdwalk with Kenn freakin' Kaufman, I'm not feeling quite as freaked out with the pressure.  Gon' get me a Scarlet Tanager, both Orioles, and maybe a Blackburnian Warbler! (BTW, those in Europe who might be confused as to why we get warbler-mad here: Unlike yours, which are somewhat drab but are specialized singers, ours are not so talented with song but they are beautifully hued.)

Check this fabulous motherfucker out

[Mr. X]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:20 PM, Lily Valley said:

Pretty sure I'm still here, but I want this book anyway!

You can ID a Purple Martin by name. You're not still there. (And I haven't read the whole thing, but what I have read of Kenn's book is great.)

[Xray the Enforcer]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:20 PM, Lily Valley said:

Pretty sure I'm still here, but I want this book anyway!

hell naw. you are IDing birds all by yourself now!

[Xray the Enforcer]

On 4/28/2018 at 5:38 PM, Lany Freelove Cassandra said:

I saw a pair of woodpeckers and a pair of gray catbirds this morning, along with 2 nesting mourning doves. Managed to photograph them too.

Also saw a cardinal and a bluejay and robin fighting, but missed getting pictures.  These are the 6 types of birds always in our back yard.

Pics

BTW @Lany Freelove Cassandra those woodpeckers are Downy Woodpeckers. You can tell in those photos by the tail feathers. Look at the white tail feathers. Notice those tiny black marks on them? That's your tell. If those tail feathers were all-white, it'd be a Hairy Woodpecker. Really nice photos!

[Elder Sister]

Trying to identify a solid yellow bird in my area.  It's not a warbler, it's not a goldfinch..am thinking it's some sort of canary that is traveling through here?  

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

13 hours ago, Xray the Enforcer said:

BTW @Lany Freelove Cassandra those woodpeckers are Downy Woodpeckers. You can tell in those photos by the tail feathers. Look at the white tail feathers. Notice those tiny black marks on them? That's your tell. If those tail feathers were all-white, it'd be a Hairy Woodpecker. Really nice photos!

Thanks!  I was about 90% sure they were Downy (I looked them up and the Hairy Woodpeckers also are larger). It was interesting that they were both females...at first we thought they were doing some sort of mating thing (a game of chase and tag)

I've downloaded an app from the Audubon to start tracking, and plan to go out early on weekends.  I see a lot more types as I drive around, but during the week, don't have time to stop (and I looked it up and there are over 400 species in my state and Heron's have been seen down by the pond near my house.  I'm excited.  (I need things to excite me, to drag me out of my head space, make me interact with others  )

[Lily Valley]

15 hours ago, Mr. X said:

You can ID a Purple Martin by name. You're not still there. (And I haven't read the whole thing, but what I have read of Kenn's book is great.)

LOL, @Xray the Enforcer did that one for me.  I am at LEAST able to distinguish a gull from a hawk and a hawk from a pigeon at this time.  Very pleased with my progress.

[Sophelia]

Wow - you people have such amazing birds!  I don;t know much about birds myself and am impressed with your dedication, identification skills and sharp eyes.  I'm in the UK and have gradually become more interested in birds though my friend who I do photography with, who has infected me with her enthusiasm for birds - she has a bird feeder in her garden in quite a suburban area so she gets a huge variety and many of them next nearby, and she knows what they all are - whereas I'm more at the stage of if it isn't a sparrow, robin, blackbird, pigeon or gull (I love Xray's wording of 'saltwater assholes'!) it seems exotic to me!  But because my eyesight is not great and they move so fast, I'm not very good at bird-spotting.  Recently however we have been visiting the local Wetlands centre and also visiting parks with bird hides, so I am very gradually getting more bird exposure and growing enthusiasm. 

Here is a photo I took recently of a greater spotted woodpecker:

I'm very envious of the bird-spotters who have massive long zoom camera lenses (well out of my price range) but I am considering getting a superzoom bridge camera so I can take better pictures of birds which are some way away from me.  I wondered if anyone here combines the bird-spotting hobby with photography and if so what kind of camera kit you use.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

1 hour ago, Sophelia said:

Wow - you people have such amazing birds!  I don;t know much about birds myself and am impressed with your dedication, identification skills and sharp eyes.  I'm in the UK and have gradually become more interested in birds though my friend who I do photography with, who has infected me with her enthusiasm for birds - she has a bird feeder in her garden in quite a suburban area so she gets a huge variety and many of them next nearby, and she knows what they all are - whereas I'm more at the stage of if it isn't a sparrow, robin, blackbird, pigeon or gull (I love Xray's wording of 'saltwater assholes'!) it seems exotic to me!  But because my eyesight is not great and they move so fast, I'm not very good at bird-spotting.  Recently however we have been visiting the local Wetlands centre and also visiting parks with bird hides, so I am very gradually getting more bird exposure and growing enthusiasm. 

Here is a photo I took recently of a greater spotted woodpecker:

I'm very envious of the bird-spotters who have massive long zoom camera lenses (well out of my price range) but I am considering getting a superzoom bridge camera so I can take better pictures of birds which are some way away from me.  I wondered if anyone here combines the bird-spotting hobby with photography and if so what kind of camera kit you use.

I would like to do this, but I still don't have a decent camera (Still, I want a picture of all my sightings). Right now I'm just using a Coolpix zoom. Love the zoom on it, but hate that it doesn't have a view finder, just the screen on the back.  One thing I have learned is you need a tripod or something to stabilize the camera when zoomed out really far...just the slightest movement and the pic is either very blurry, or in a different spot

[Xray the Enforcer]

9 hours ago, Elder Sister said:

Trying to identify a solid yellow bird in my area.  It's not a warbler, it's not a goldfinch..am thinking it's some sort of canary that is traveling through here?  

Yellow-breasted Chat? Those are emphatically yellow.

actually, going through the new Audubon app -- set to your home state and doing the guided ID -- I'm wondering if you have a FEMALE Scarlet or Summer Tanager. Both are larger birds that are all-yellow -- the Scarlet Tanager especially so. 

[Xray the Enforcer]

6 hours ago, Sophelia said:

Wow - you people have such amazing birds!  I don;t know much about birds myself and am impressed with your dedication, identification skills and sharp eyes.  I'm in the UK and have gradually become more interested in birds though my friend who I do photography with, who has infected me with her enthusiasm for birds - she has a bird feeder in her garden in quite a suburban area so she gets a huge variety and many of them next nearby, and she knows what they all are - whereas I'm more at the stage of if it isn't a sparrow, robin, blackbird, pigeon or gull (I love Xray's wording of 'saltwater assholes'!) it seems exotic to me!  But because my eyesight is not great and they move so fast, I'm not very good at bird-spotting.  Recently however we have been visiting the local Wetlands centre and also visiting parks with bird hides, so I am very gradually getting more bird exposure and growing enthusiasm. 

Here is a photo I took recently of a greater spotted woodpecker:

I'm very envious of the bird-spotters who have massive long zoom camera lenses (well out of my price range) but I am considering getting a superzoom bridge camera so I can take better pictures of birds which are some way away from me.  I wondered if anyone here combines the bird-spotting hobby with photography and if so what kind of camera kit you use.

Nice photo of the woodpecker!

I have some friends who do this -- mostly taking photos of the birds they find. I can ask them what setup they use. IIRC, it's usually a DSLR + a 70-200mm lens. But I've also seen people take decent bird pics (usually just to prove that they saw them) with their phones, so....

So far I've gotten two answers. Both have DSLRs, but one uses a fixed 400mm zoom lens, while the other uses a 100-400mm variable zoom. I can get you model numbers on both, should you want.  Will update as others answer. 

Two more votes in. Two more DSLRs, one with 70-300mm variable zoom lens, another with 100-400mm variable zoom lens.

One thing to be mindful of -- when you're doing bird photography, it will frequently be in non-optimal light (e.g. dense foliage, etc), so make sure whatever you get can handle low light-high zoom conditions. 

[Sophelia]

Thanks Lany and Xray - those are both really useful replies. 

I looked at the Nikon Coolpix P300 bridge camera in a shop because it has an astonishing x83 zoom, and also the B700 with the 60x zoom, but I think Lany is spot-on - with those really long zooms it's going to be very hard to keep the lens pointing steadily at anything - I found the P900 very difficult to control.  Also picture quality not so good with those massive zooms - the ones which are supposed to be better for pics have more modest zoom ranges.

It's interesting to hear the range that Xray's friends use*.  I have an entry-level Canon DSLR with an old 75-300mm zoom (no image stabilisation and doesn't do wide aperture) which is pretty good considering it's about 25 years old (used to use it on my film camera so I think that means it actually goes effectively beyond 300mm though I don't totally understand that - however the picture quality is not that good at the extreme end of the zoom - or could be me wobbling maybe!).  The 400mm lenses for Canon cameras are a bit out of my price range (especially those which allow wide aperture for low light photography) but I could look to save up for a second-hand one in the long-term.  In the meantime it sounds like if I could find a good cheap bridge camera with zoom equivalent to around 400mm, I could practice with bigger zoom to see how I manage - I prefer not to carry a tripod though Lany's advice makes me think a monopod might be useful.  The 400mm suggestion does correspond to the length I have found good bird pics on flickr - I'm not sure I have seen many good ones taken at a greater length.  Interesting - and useful!  

Sophie

* I was going to ask if you they're using full-frame DSLRs or crop-sensor but actually the web suggests crop-sensor types are better for zoom/wildlife/birding stuff - yay!  So yeah - scrap that question - no worries.

[Hereward]

15 hours ago, Sophelia said:

(I love Xray's wording of 'saltwater assholes'!)

I believe the British designation is Shitehawk.