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Oh wow, I didn't even know this thread existed. I guess I recognize a lot of the regulars in here from the bird photography thread over in Dorkroom. I did my first "go find specific birds" chase today, going after a snowy owl in at the marina in Edmonds, WA (didn't find it) and a american white pelican in Lake Sammamish right next to the State Park boat jetty (found it!). The pelican is quite rare up here west of the Cascades.
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Dec 1, 2014 06:05
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That's not good news, there was chatter on the list about possible fishing line hanging from the owl's mouth.
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Dec 1, 2014 07:04
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I need a bit of advice here, though it might be just as appropriate for the birding photography thread. I'm trying to find a (legal and ethical) way of getting close enough to Tufted Puffins (on land) to get good photos of them. So far my best idea is volunteering to help do some of the grunt work inherent in research in exchange for getting close to them during nesting season. There is a professor who works out of the University of Puget Sound who is one of the few people allowed to go to Protection Island and Tatoosh Island, two of the very few places near Seattle where the puffins nest. Alternative ideas? My next best idea is flying up to Sitka, AK, and hiring a local with a boat, but that seems like something that would need substantially more research to be anything more than a total crapshoot. Does anyone else have any experience with something like this? Obviously I could go on a peliagic tour and hope for the best but that isn't really what I'm going for here as I'd like to get non-flying, non-swimming pictures.
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Dec 1, 2014 23:26
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Linedance posted:Could use some help id'ing this guy: Sure looks like one. Doesn't have the grey band across its breast of a Western or Cassin's and the grey chin is too pale to be a Cassin's. Looks like it's rare but not unheard-of, my Sibley guide lists it as a rare visitor all the way up the Pacific coast to Vancouver Island
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Dec 3, 2014 07:55
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It's really not a popular position--and for good reason, killing animals should never be approached lightly--but feral cats need to be put down, not sterilized and released.
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Dec 4, 2014 18:33
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On a "holy poo poo this is amazing" note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrAGHGJIpE http://fox6now.com/2014/12/02/caught-on-camera-great-horned-owl-spotted-swimming-in-lake-michigan/ posted:CHICAGO — A Chicago-area photographer and birder captured a most unusual sighting — an owl swimming (yes, swimming) in Lake Michigan. Yes, the owl lived: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KtR_i121M8
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Dec 4, 2014 18:36
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Please help with an ID birding thread, I cannot find this in my Sibley guide but it's probably because I don't know where to look, and neither Merlin Bird ID nor Backyard Bird Finder helped. I took a picture of it this morning around 9:30am at Three Forks Natural Area in Snoqualmie, WA. It looked like around the size of a finch or large sparrow. This was the only shot I got of it before it flew off. 
Kenshin fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Dec 7, 2014 |
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Dec 7, 2014 23:21
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The colors just don't seem right for either of those--it has the eyes of the Rusty blackbird but sort of the coloration of a very light Brewer's. I suppose Lek could be correct and it's a hybrid? That was the only shot I got off before it took off, and it was 40-50 ft away.
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Dec 7, 2014 23:45
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Linedance posted:It's more the eye stripe that makes me think rusty, female brewers can sometimes have a pale eye. Ok, probably just an extra-light female brewer's blackbird then.
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Dec 8, 2014 00:24
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froward posted:do any of you ever harness your birds and go jogging/biking while the bird flies along, or rides on your shoulder? I take one of my parrots out to local parks, though, during the summer. Her wings are clipped.
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Dec 16, 2014 21:13
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Mapparu posted:hi, i have two love birds. they don't really have a name but they keep great company. i wish i could bond more with these little cute birds... any advice, doesn't have to be hands-on holding. just you know hanging out with these cute birds. Please go to Bird Crazies as that is where parrot owners post.
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Dec 17, 2014 00:42
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BetterLekNextTime posted:No worries- we are the weirdos here!
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Dec 17, 2014 00:59
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alnilam posted:should i go on a birding walk with the local audobon society or ? i should look into that. any birders here in western PA?
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Dec 17, 2014 01:17
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I ran across what I think is a female merlin here in Seattle in the Magnolia neighborhood, near Discovery Park. I'm sure about the merlin part, but it's really hard to tell if it is a female or male: Didn't post it in the photography thread because it's a heavily cropped image (she was in a 25+ meter tree). Was a little surprised to see her instead of one of the local (to that neighborhood) red-tailed hawks, but I guess they do winter down here. Kenshin fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Dec 31, 2014 22:14
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The weather in the NW is all gray, if I were to fly somewhere from Seattle for the weekend (sometime in the next month or two) that is warm and sunny specifically to go birding (particularly photography) where should I go? There are cheap flights to San Diego, Phoenix, LA... anywhere else I should look at? I can camp or find a couch surfing host or whatever, I just want sunshine and some warmth and places I can easily get to lots of pretty birds. I was looking at Albuquerque but there are no direct flights there from Seattle and it's kinda silly to have a layover from SEA to ABQ and back.
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Jan 12, 2015 23:53
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BetterLekNextTime posted:San Diego would be great- anywhere along the coast (e.g. Monterey, SF/Oakland) too, although rain/clouds gets more likely the farther north you go. Hard to beat the zoo there if you are interested in animal photos.  Looks like it'll probably be San Diego, I do have a photographer friend down there even if she doesn't have a place for me to crash at.
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Jan 13, 2015 00:48
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BeastOfExmoor posted:San Diego would be my choice as well. Large numbers of wintering species in SD itself and you're a couple hours from the Salton Sea and a whole different assortment of birds there. They also get (and more importantly people actually find) a large number of rarities in SoCal. The only downside might be that there's just too much to cover for a weekend, even a three day one.  Sounds good. I think I'll do this, I haven't had good lighting for bird photography here in Seattle for a few weeks.
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Jan 13, 2015 06:30
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Mom is roosting, and one of the eggs has had some pips. Expect great horned owl chicks to start hatching very soon: http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/46/Great_Horned_Owls/ HD video feed with audio of GHO nest.
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Feb 3, 2015 22:02
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Slo-Tek posted:Just saw a very small hawk on a tree in my front yard in Southern Illinois. I would venture to guess it was no bigger than a bluejay. Guessing it must have been a Kestrel, but the GIS images for kestrels seem to have them being a lot redder and more contrasty than what I saw, this guy was brown and white. Seasonal coloration? sex? not a kestrel? Probably a sharp-shinned hawk or a merlin. Kenshin fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 16:49
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If portability isn't as much of a concern you might look into spotting scopes as well.
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Jul 8, 2015 23:50
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Maybe a White-throated Swift?
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Jul 17, 2015 03:56
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How big are they?
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Jul 17, 2015 04:28
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Tendai posted:About 5-6 inches? Kind of guessing, they REALLY don't ever just land that I've ever seen, they fly around and then somehow manage to fly into those entry holes without splatting into the side of the house. I don't think cliff swallows make nests like that, do they? Huh. I used Merlin earlier and couldn't come up with anything either.
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Jul 17, 2015 05:13
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Could a Vaux's Swift be using a cliff swallow nest? Because the color description and wing drawing kinda matches a Vaux's Swift, but the nest is nothing like they use, and they'd be quite the vagrant in northern NM... Yeah, this probably isn't going to be solved unless you can get pictures of the birds.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:45
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I'll be in McAllen, TX in mid September for a few days to visit Santa Ana NWR and some of the other surrounding parks and wildlife refuges along the Rio Grande, so look for my pictures in the bird photography thread for what to look forward to. It'll also be peak butterfly season!
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Sep 2, 2015 22:50
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Can anybody help me with an ID assist on this? Taken in McAllen, TX on September 19th. I'm not used to the birds down there and while I know it's a somewhat common one I just can't figure out what it is.
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Sep 23, 2015 15:00
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YggiDee posted:I think it might be a Great Kiskadee? aha, that sounds right! Thanks
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Sep 23, 2015 15:53
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BetterLekNextTime posted:A lot of people are a few % neanderthal, with maybe some Denisovan thrown in there. I'm not totally up on the human evolution lit but there was definitely a lot of genetic exchange between modern humans and the other related lineages. Some evidence that Male Neanderthal x Female Human didn't work as well though. Maybe not quite the same as the bird example...
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May 31, 2016 20:57
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Lutha Mahtin posted:If you have a window nearby the feeders, a fun way to mess with the squirrels is sneak up to the open window and hiss like a cat at them. You can't do it too often or they'll figure out that there isn't really a cat, but otherwise it's an effective (and fun!) way to get the pesky rats to gently caress off for a while. My little brother discovered this technique by accident, and boy let me tell ya, growing up in rural Minnesota this sort of thing was the absolute height of entertainment. On the upside for those of us living in areas with urban raptors, putting the feeder in the middle of a big open grassy area can really help the hawks get easy squirrel pickings. 
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Jul 27, 2016 20:11
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Can't you just mix in a bunch of cayenne powder or red chili flakes? Birds aren't bothered by capsaicin, squirrels and deer most certainly are.
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Jan 16, 2017 17:40
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Aquila posted:That's me. These binoculars are amazing. I bought them as a gift to myself after using a decent pair of east german binoculars for 15 years. You don't have to spend nearly that much either, https://www.amazon.com/Canon-10x30-Ultra-Compact-Binoculars-Black/dp/B00004THDC will get you 99% of the benefits, cost a third as much, and weight half as much (I kinda wish I got these instead). Imaged stabilized binoculars are the best thing you can get for bird watching, any difference in optics quality from spending more is completely overwhelmed by the human inability to hold something steady. IS binoculars also work handheld for astronomy. Those are listed as out of stock, but these appear to be the new model: https://www.amazon.com/Canon-10x30-Image-Stabilization-Binoculars/dp/B00XOGP13S/
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Jun 16, 2018 01:20
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I live in one of the residential neighborhoods of Seattle and I regularly see hawks and eagles out my window because the crows are mobbing them (and that gets my parrot all excited too) Crow friends best friends
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Jul 11, 2018 17:38
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torgeaux posted:Is this a good thread for some bird identification? I have some hummingbirds I can't get a grip on, despite having a Sibley's. If so, I'd like to post some pictures. 25 miles west of Denver, altitude about 8900 feet. Yes
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Jul 27, 2018 01:10
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Probably just soulless bird-haters
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Nov 23, 2019 03:03
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Fabulousity posted:Spent yesterday skulking around the Hood Canal area of Puget Sound and came away surprised at how lousy the whole place is with Bald Eagles. If you can't see them you can hear them. That said I didn't get a lot of usable photos because my camera/lens was throwing focus like a drunken MLB pitcher if I aimed at anything avian that didn't have pure sky behind it.
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Jun 12, 2020 00:26
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Get a lightweight tripod, not a monopod, that way once it's set her coordination doesn't even matter.
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Feb 17, 2021 03:23
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I got my partner some Nikon Prostaff 7S 10x42 for her birthday this year and they are excellent, and in your budget. Highly recommended.
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Aug 26, 2021 03:58
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