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| Mountain Plover top, Snowy Plover bottom in both these photos |
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| Mtn. Plover center, Snowies right and left |
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| Snowy Plover |
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| Snowy Plover |
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| Sanderling left, 3 Snowies right |
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| Mountain Plover |
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| Mountain Plover |
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| Mtn. Plover |
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| Mtn. Plover |
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| Mtn. Plover |
Fink Family Farm Bird List
Fink Family Farm Bird List
The only list I faithfully keep is a list of all the birds seen on our farm since we moved here in 1977. I thought it would be fun to add p...
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Mountain and Snowy Plovers
Today Dawn V and I drove to South Beach State Park, just south of Newport, to look for the Mountain Plover that has been hanging around there for weeks with a flock of Snowy Plovers. We trained our binoculars up and down the beach and quickly saw a bevy of little shorebirds north of the trail from the parking area. We walked closer and there was our Mountain Plover, keeping company with a little flock of Snowy Plovers. Farther out toward the ocean were a few Sanderlings running up and down as they like to do, with a few Snowy Plovers trying to keep up with them. The Mountain Plover was much bigger than his Snowy friends. My photos were taken at a distance in light rain (so they're lousy... but numerous.)
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Raptor Route Mystery Hawks
Update:
Lessons I have learned:
from OBOL birders...
1) If it has a red tail, it is a Red-tailed Hawk, unless it's a Kestrel which this first bird clearly is not, having no face mask. Even though it looked small to me, the red tail means it's a Red-tail. Maybe it was a little male.
2) If it is obviously a big hawk (like the 2nd bird) on top of a tree, it is a Red-tailed Hawk until proven otherwise. They can be very light in front (like the 2nd bird).
Other lessons I have learned:
1) Size and distance can be very difficult to judge.
2) Do not assume the raptor that flew out of sight is the same one you see a little later from a different angle.
3) On a raptor route, if you don't know what it is, try to take a quick snapshot and then continue. Do not agonize over birds that are too far away or too hidden in shrubbery to be easily identified. It will make you rush through the rest of your route and possibly miss raptors.
4) After running this route every winter since January of 2005, I am still learning new stuff.
Now here is my original plea:
Help, please! Usually, I can identify the raptors we see on my Grand Ronde raptor route. Today, however, we saw a small hawk near the top of a deciduous tree along the South Yamhill River that I could never get a clear look at it because twigs were in the way. I had forgotten to bring my camera with the super zoom. Drat! Here is the hawk from the back, shooting into the sun. The tail (I think that's a tail) did appear reddish brown as in the photo... or at least something did.
I walked up the road to take a photo with the sun at my back but could not get to where I could see the front of the bird. My first thought when I saw it from the back was Merlin. But the brown tail threw me. And the front has barring on the side, apparently, and is light. I've only seen dark Merlins here. Help!
The bird flew while I was trying to get the scope on it. We drove on to Shenk Wetlands, across the South Yamhill River from the bird. We saw a bird in the top of a very distant fir that I thought might be the same bird. But now, looking at the photos, I don't think so. This bird appears much bigger than the first bird. Johnny took a photo of the bird's back through the scope. (He has a very dirty camera lens on his little camera.)
We then drove quickly back to the road, found the tree which was still a very long way from the road, and Johnny took more photos through the scope. Now it looks like a Red-tailed Hawk, sort of. But what's with the pale horizontal barring (hard to see in our photos but obvious in person).
Here are the photos I took with my camera.
Front view, unlightened...
Please click on the photos to bring them up big. Sorry they are so terrible. I am feeling really dumb about these ids. I have pored through my Wheeler book, Raptors of Western North America, but cannot figure out the small raptor. As for the other hawk (at least I think it is a different bird), I guess Red-tails can come in a multitude of designs so unless someone has a better idea...
Just to show I can tell what a bird is when it's obvious, here is one of the 3 Red-shouldered Hawks we saw on the route today... very far away.
And a Bald Eagle, even farther away.
I love adult Red-shouldered Hawks and Bald Eagles. I can tell what they are at any distance.
Lessons I have learned:
from OBOL birders...
1) If it has a red tail, it is a Red-tailed Hawk, unless it's a Kestrel which this first bird clearly is not, having no face mask. Even though it looked small to me, the red tail means it's a Red-tail. Maybe it was a little male.
2) If it is obviously a big hawk (like the 2nd bird) on top of a tree, it is a Red-tailed Hawk until proven otherwise. They can be very light in front (like the 2nd bird).
Other lessons I have learned:
1) Size and distance can be very difficult to judge.
2) Do not assume the raptor that flew out of sight is the same one you see a little later from a different angle.
3) On a raptor route, if you don't know what it is, try to take a quick snapshot and then continue. Do not agonize over birds that are too far away or too hidden in shrubbery to be easily identified. It will make you rush through the rest of your route and possibly miss raptors.
4) After running this route every winter since January of 2005, I am still learning new stuff.
Now here is my original plea:
Help, please! Usually, I can identify the raptors we see on my Grand Ronde raptor route. Today, however, we saw a small hawk near the top of a deciduous tree along the South Yamhill River that I could never get a clear look at it because twigs were in the way. I had forgotten to bring my camera with the super zoom. Drat! Here is the hawk from the back, shooting into the sun. The tail (I think that's a tail) did appear reddish brown as in the photo... or at least something did.
I walked up the road to take a photo with the sun at my back but could not get to where I could see the front of the bird. My first thought when I saw it from the back was Merlin. But the brown tail threw me. And the front has barring on the side, apparently, and is light. I've only seen dark Merlins here. Help!
The bird flew while I was trying to get the scope on it. We drove on to Shenk Wetlands, across the South Yamhill River from the bird. We saw a bird in the top of a very distant fir that I thought might be the same bird. But now, looking at the photos, I don't think so. This bird appears much bigger than the first bird. Johnny took a photo of the bird's back through the scope. (He has a very dirty camera lens on his little camera.)
We then drove quickly back to the road, found the tree which was still a very long way from the road, and Johnny took more photos through the scope. Now it looks like a Red-tailed Hawk, sort of. But what's with the pale horizontal barring (hard to see in our photos but obvious in person).
Here are the photos I took with my camera.
Just to show I can tell what a bird is when it's obvious, here is one of the 3 Red-shouldered Hawks we saw on the route today... very far away.
And a Bald Eagle, even farther away.
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