Weird Vulture... and more

Okay, so yesterday, August 29, I was hiking Cape Lookout with a friend and we saw a Turkey Vulture fly by us, quite close, several times. I did not get a photo. It had a white ruff around its head. At least, that's what it looked like. The head was partly red (a small part), partly just bald, and partly white... very obvious, visible white. Today, at Baskett Slough, on a side trip from my feed run to Dallas, I (and a different friend) saw another one. This time it was on the ground and I got a photo. What's going on here? This guy has white on more than his head. You can see his companion on the left is a normal looking Turkey Vulture.



A group of Dowitchers at Baskett Slough were closer and easier to photograph. Three in the group of thirty plus were brown instead of gray. I assumed they were juveniles. But now, looking at this guy among the gray, presumably non-breeding plumaged adults, I'm not so sure. Is this an adult in worn breeding plumage? And, if so, why is she (a female, right? because of long bill) dressed this way when everyone else is in gray?



Any tips, replies, helpful comments welcome.

From Baskett Slough we went north to McKee Rd. just off Hwy 99 and saw the 5 Pectoral Sandpipers found by Carol Karlen and Paul Sullivan the day before. That's a great shorebird pond with lots of Least and Westerns and one Yellowlegs although they were too far for my camera to get a picture. One book said Pectorals graze the grassy banks of muddy waterholes, which is exactly what these were doing. A Killdeer wandered around near them providing a welcome size comparison: the Pectorals were about midway in size between the Killdeer and the Western. I love shorebirds that are not the same size as Western Sandpipers. That gives me a fighting chance of identifying them.

April Birds

Suddenly our temperatures have gone from 60's to 80's and the migrants have arrived in force. This is a fun time of birding year when the winter residents are still here, the summer residents are arriving, and migrants are passing through.

Today, White-fronted Geese flew high overhead in messy V's, while Tree and Violet-green Swallows squabbled over their nest gourds. A Red-tailed Hawk dive-bombed an Osprey that got too close to the hawk's nest. Moving through our hedge row were various warblers, Empidonax flycatchers, a Chipping Sparrow that flew out after insects for hours, a very vocal Bewick's Wren, chickadees, White- and Golden- crowned Sparows and more. Meanwhile on the lawn a hold-over Varied Thrush foraged along with the resident California Quail. A pair of Canada Geese that live in the neighborhood (wild but not very) hung out on our pond all day. The Red-breasted Sapsuckers that live here haunted the big poplars while a Downy Woodpecker drummed, as it does daily, on a dead limb. And, of course, the Rufous Hummingbirds flitted about with a male giving his display dive over and over.

Here are a few photos I took today in breaks from spring chores...


































































Flying insects everywhere turned all the birds into flycatchers today, including this handsome Starling, feeding young already, naturally.



A female hummingbird haunted our wood pile. I couldn't tell if she was finding insects or tasting the oozing sap.


And now for the questions. Is this blurry duo a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers? Or two different species? What are they or is it possible to tell from this lousy photo?



And lastly, but most importantly (to me): Is this blurry small flycatcher a Hammond's? That's my guess and I hope I'm right because I've never been sure enough before to mark one down as having been on our farm. If the experts say this is a Hammond's, it will make species #145 for my farm list.


Whether I get to add a new species to my farm list or not, it was a great day for birds on the Fink Family Farm.

Update! ... It's a Hammond's! I had to send Dave Irons six more blurry photos (I love digital cameras) before he could tell but here's what he says:

I think that it is pretty safe to assume that this is a Hammond's for the following reasons.

1. Hammond's is a common breeder and the expected migrant (of the Hammond's/Dusky species pair) in Yamhill County.

2. The bird appears to be up in a tree at least 20' off the ground and seems to select perches within the canopy. Duskies tend to perch lower (usually within 12-15' of the ground (often lower) and they usually select perches on the exterior part of a bush or small tree.

3. Even though the images are blurry, the general shape and proportions of the bird are evident. It looks to have proportionally larger head with a squared off hindcrown and the tail doesn't look very long. Duskies are proportionally smaller headed, more round headed, and they have a proportionally longer tail.

Dave

Least Sandpipers

Okay, I actually did get a better photo of the Least Sandpipers, where you can see their greenish yellow legs... or some of them. They still look a lot like rocks to me.

Invisible Shorebirds

Today I learned that not only am I hopeless at identifying shorebirds, I can't see them either. Unless they move. In these rocks at Fort Stevens State Park, near the South Jetty of the Columbia River, were about 30 peeps (small sandpipers). The biologist I was with said they were Least Sandpipers. I'll take her word for it. They looked like rocks to me most of the time. Here is a picture I took. Honest, there are many small birds in this photo.


Give up? I'll enlarge a small portion of the photo. You may see peeps magically appear.



We were actually looking for Snowy Plovers. Those are sand-colored birds about the size of the Least Sandpipers above. See if you can find any on the beach where we were looking.


No? Neither did we. But the others spotted a Sanderling, which is a sand-colored bird slightly larger than a Least Sandpiper with a slightly longer bill. I didn't get a photo. It was too far away and I was supposed to be looking for Snowy Plovers.

I think I should stick with Black Oystercatchers. Although they hang out on black rocks, at least they have long, bright red bills and they're between two and three times as big as these little sand birds.

I fear the only way I'll find a Snowy Plover is if it runs across my foot.

Gyrfalcon!

This extremely lousy photo was taken on St. Pat's Day, 2012, near Finley NWR. My excuse is the bird was a long way away. However, Thomas Meinzen took some very good photos right after I was there with my friends John and Barbara. Here is the link to his pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116543486500187950130/Gyrfalcon?authuser=0&feat=directlink 

The experts say this is a female gray phase Gyrfalcon. At that distance (4 telephone poles), I was doing well to identify it as a raptor. It had, apparently, just feasted on a water bird and was digesting its meal. I did better at photographing the mob of birders that had come from as far away as England (well, someone from England was in Portland at the time so came down to see the Gyr).

Short-eared Owls

A tip from birders Carol Karlen and Paul Sullivan led Johnny and me to Farmer Rd. near Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon to look for the Short-eared Owls they found a few days ago. We arrived about 4:20 and one owl was already out hunting. We saw three during the next hour. My photos are from far away and are blurry but I was thrilled to get any. I'll post a video of an owl in its moth-like flight when I get it loaded to youtube. Although the photo below is very blurry, I like it because you can see the owl's yellow eyes. Same owl from the back (and not quite as blurry) is in the second photo.

Baskett Slough Birds

On my usual feed store run with a side trip through Baskett Slough, I took a few photos. Male Northern Pintails are easy to recognize... from the side... but I had never seen one from the back before... Of course, with the long tail visible it's obvious. But how about those two white stripes on gray lumps in the water in front of the pintail side view? Would I have known they were pintails if I had not seen them before they went under?











And what about female pintails if they have their long necks scrunched down and their gray legs under water? Or are keeping company with Mallards?











I generally identify females by the males they're hanging out with. Would I know this was a female Green-winged Teal if I saw her alone?


There were about 55 swans on the south side of "The Narrows" on Coville road. I'm assuming they are Tundras. Some day, when I have lots of time, I'll get out all my swan id material and review the Tundra vs. Trumpeter distinctions. I do believe the ones with gray necks are young birds.
Obviously, I have a long way to go in identifying waterfowl since even the common ones give me pause. But that's why I love birdwatching. All worries and cares evaporate as I concentrate on the birds in front of me. I leave both relaxed and stimulated... and with a smile on my face.