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| Photo by the author. No zoom. |
Happy Thanksgiving!
(And remember to try the Coastal Challenge)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Awwwww...
Happy Thanksgiving!
(And remember to try the Coastal Challenge)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Colbert Park: Champaign County's Worst Best Place to go Birding
(Remember, the Coastal Challenge is still open for answers!)
Colbert Park in Savoy first came to my attention when one of my fellow birders brought in a picture of some ducks he had seen there while fishing. He was asking some of the more experienced members of the Audubon Society for help identifying them. Both of the ducks belonged to the genus Aythya, a group of diving ducks. One was a Redhead (Aythya americana) and the other was a Greater Scaup (Aythya marila). Neither was a species I would ever have expected to find in a Savoy subdivision.
It took me until earlier this fall to actually go out to this mystical duck pond to see what I could find; the results were rather disappointing. The only birds I found were a couple of Kildeer. I blamed the emptiness on the weather, since it was cloudy and nearly raining. I did notice, however, that from a birding perspective the park is really rather unimpressive. There is literally no habitat at Colbert Park--there's a few scrawny saplings, but otherwise the only vegetation is short grass. The weedy, undeveloped field to the west of the park looked like a much better place to look for birds. The only thing Colbert Park has going for it is the big, deep lake.
Two Saturdays ago, I headed out on my bike to go down to Curpros Pond and see what I could find. When I got there, I was dismayed to find that the field next to it was being plowed, and I figured the dust and noise would keep most birds away. I instead ventured into the nearby subdivision to check out another pond that had been recommended to me by fellow birder Rob Kanter. There, I found the usual mass of Canada Geese and Mallards, but there were three pleasant surprises: a Double-Crested Cormorant made a brief flyover, and mixed in with the Mallards were a couple of American Widgeons and an American Black Duck.
Once I felt I had seen everything there was to see, I proceeded to get myself lost in the subdivision. When I finally escaped, I found myself on Dunlap Avenue (which is apparently what they call Neil Street in Savoy) less than half a mile north of Colbert Park.
When I rode down to the water, I happily noticed that there were a lot more birds on the lake than there had been the previous time. True, they were all Canada Geese, but there were at least two hundred of them. I made my way slowly along the shore towards the fishing pier, every once in a while stopping to check the water for anything other than Branta canadensis. I found a small flotilla of diving ducks out in the middle of the water, but they were too backlit to be identified from where I was standing.
I finally made it to the fishing pier, from where I could survey the lake with the sun conveniently behind me. I got a much better look at my duck friends, which turned out to be a half-dozen or so Ring-Necked Ducks and a lone Bufflehead. I also found an American Coot and what I'm fairly certain was a Pied-Billed Grebe near the far shore. A flock of thirty or so Kildeer flew by. Less than twenty feet away from where I was standing were nine or ten Cackling Geese mixed in with the Canadas--easily the best look I've ever gotten at that species. And they're so CUTE!!! To top everything off, around four-and-twenty Brewer's Blackbirds came down to the far shore to drink before moving back into the weedy field.
At this point, I was sure that Colbert Park was a great place to go birding. After all, I had just seen three species (Ring-Necked Duck, Bufflehead, and Brewer's Blackbird) that I'd never found in Champaign County before, plus a close-up of a bunch of Cackling Geese. I was sure I had finally found the great waterfowl-watching wonderland I had always wanted to have somewhere nearby.
Unfortunately, Colbert Park is about as reliable as a Yugo. I've gone there two times since then, and in both instances I have seen no birds there. As in, NO BIRDS OF ANY SPECIES WHATSOEVER. Not even Rock Doves, House Sparrows, or European Starlings. It seems that no matter what the weather is, the utter lack of anything but water at Colbert Park means that nothing is going to hang around there for very long (not to mention the fact that it's a popular place for people to walk their dogs). Birding there is all about being in the right place at the right time; if you don't get lucky and show up when a migratory flock just happens to have stopped by, you won't see diddly-squat.
In any case I'll have to say that I don't recommend going to Colbert Park for birding unless you live nearby or bring your fishing equipment so you have something to do when it turns out there's nothing to see. It has the potential to be a great birding spot; you just have to win the lottery when it comes to when that potential is being used. If you want a good, solid waterfowl viewing area, it would seem that Mahomet's Riverbend Forest Preserve is the best option.
(Note: Riverbend also has a matter of timing involved, but at least it's reliable on a daily basis. In winter, the best time to be there is in the 3:30-5:30PM range.)
(Unless the whole thing is frozen over, in which case don't bother.)
Happy Birding!
Colbert Park in Savoy first came to my attention when one of my fellow birders brought in a picture of some ducks he had seen there while fishing. He was asking some of the more experienced members of the Audubon Society for help identifying them. Both of the ducks belonged to the genus Aythya, a group of diving ducks. One was a Redhead (Aythya americana) and the other was a Greater Scaup (Aythya marila). Neither was a species I would ever have expected to find in a Savoy subdivision.
It took me until earlier this fall to actually go out to this mystical duck pond to see what I could find; the results were rather disappointing. The only birds I found were a couple of Kildeer. I blamed the emptiness on the weather, since it was cloudy and nearly raining. I did notice, however, that from a birding perspective the park is really rather unimpressive. There is literally no habitat at Colbert Park--there's a few scrawny saplings, but otherwise the only vegetation is short grass. The weedy, undeveloped field to the west of the park looked like a much better place to look for birds. The only thing Colbert Park has going for it is the big, deep lake.
Two Saturdays ago, I headed out on my bike to go down to Curpros Pond and see what I could find. When I got there, I was dismayed to find that the field next to it was being plowed, and I figured the dust and noise would keep most birds away. I instead ventured into the nearby subdivision to check out another pond that had been recommended to me by fellow birder Rob Kanter. There, I found the usual mass of Canada Geese and Mallards, but there were three pleasant surprises: a Double-Crested Cormorant made a brief flyover, and mixed in with the Mallards were a couple of American Widgeons and an American Black Duck.
 |
| Photo by the author. View full size so you can see labels. |
When I rode down to the water, I happily noticed that there were a lot more birds on the lake than there had been the previous time. True, they were all Canada Geese, but there were at least two hundred of them. I made my way slowly along the shore towards the fishing pier, every once in a while stopping to check the water for anything other than Branta canadensis. I found a small flotilla of diving ducks out in the middle of the water, but they were too backlit to be identified from where I was standing.
I finally made it to the fishing pier, from where I could survey the lake with the sun conveniently behind me. I got a much better look at my duck friends, which turned out to be a half-dozen or so Ring-Necked Ducks and a lone Bufflehead. I also found an American Coot and what I'm fairly certain was a Pied-Billed Grebe near the far shore. A flock of thirty or so Kildeer flew by. Less than twenty feet away from where I was standing were nine or ten Cackling Geese mixed in with the Canadas--easily the best look I've ever gotten at that species. And they're so CUTE!!! To top everything off, around four-and-twenty Brewer's Blackbirds came down to the far shore to drink before moving back into the weedy field.
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| Photo by the author. Notice how small the Cackling Geese are compared to their ubiquitous look-alikes. |
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| Photo by the author. Nine Cackling, five Canada. |
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| Photo by the author. Six Canada Geese and four Ring-Necked Ducks. Can you also find all eight Kildeer? (You'll have to zoom in a lot) |
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| Photo by the author. Canada Geese in the water and Brewer's Blackbirds on the shore. Also one Ring-Necked Duck and one Kildeer. |
At this point, I was sure that Colbert Park was a great place to go birding. After all, I had just seen three species (Ring-Necked Duck, Bufflehead, and Brewer's Blackbird) that I'd never found in Champaign County before, plus a close-up of a bunch of Cackling Geese. I was sure I had finally found the great waterfowl-watching wonderland I had always wanted to have somewhere nearby.
Unfortunately, Colbert Park is about as reliable as a Yugo. I've gone there two times since then, and in both instances I have seen no birds there. As in, NO BIRDS OF ANY SPECIES WHATSOEVER. Not even Rock Doves, House Sparrows, or European Starlings. It seems that no matter what the weather is, the utter lack of anything but water at Colbert Park means that nothing is going to hang around there for very long (not to mention the fact that it's a popular place for people to walk their dogs). Birding there is all about being in the right place at the right time; if you don't get lucky and show up when a migratory flock just happens to have stopped by, you won't see diddly-squat.
In any case I'll have to say that I don't recommend going to Colbert Park for birding unless you live nearby or bring your fishing equipment so you have something to do when it turns out there's nothing to see. It has the potential to be a great birding spot; you just have to win the lottery when it comes to when that potential is being used. If you want a good, solid waterfowl viewing area, it would seem that Mahomet's Riverbend Forest Preserve is the best option.
(Note: Riverbend also has a matter of timing involved, but at least it's reliable on a daily basis. In winter, the best time to be there is in the 3:30-5:30PM range.)
(Unless the whole thing is frozen over, in which case don't bother.)
Happy Birding!
Monday, November 12, 2012
The Coastal Challenge! (aka What Is It? Round 7)
For those of you who tried last week's What Is It? challenge, go to the Lazuli Bunting page on Cornell University's All About Birds site and scroll down to the bottom so you can see the "similar species."
Yup. That was a Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea). Congrats to Julia for her correct ID.
No one got the bird in the dark correct (it is not a verdin, great kiskadee, or black-capped chickadee), so I've decided to give everyone a second week to answer that one. Here are a few hints regarding that particular bird:
1. It is comparable to a northern cardinal in size
2. The area it is in has a few trees, but most of the habitat is scrub
Answers for the bird in the dark are due on November 19th.
Now get out those field guides and raincoats, because we're heading out to dreary shores of Garibaldi, Oregon for a waterbird extravaganza! It's time for...
But first, some general info on birding by the sea.
Coastal areas are perhaps the best places for birding, especially in lagoons, tidal marshes, bays, and jetties. You can find hundreds of species in the same place: ducks, geese, grebes, loons, herons, sandpipers, plover, cormorants, pelicans, rails, falcons, eagles, gulls, terns, skuas, murres, auks, puffins, pipits, sparrows, blackbirds--the list goes on and on. Best of all, they tend to be out in the open and fairly easy to see (there's not much to hide them on the open water or along the shore).
One of the best things for beginners about birds along the coast is that their daily schedule is not governed by the sun. For warblers and other migratory forest birds, you pretty much have to go birding really early in the morning to see them. Seabirds and shorebirds, however, go by the tides. You can go to a tidal marsh or jetty at high tide and it will be filled with diving ducks and grebes; if you visit the same location at low tide, the ducks will be gone and replaced with sandpipers and plover. If you are on vacation to the coast, consider visiting a beach near a wildlife refuge. Pay attention to the birds that fly by--not everything is a gull! In southern California you can find lots of terns, cormorants, pelicans, and sometimes even skimmers at popular state beaches.
There are two problems with birding near the ocean:
1. We don't have any around here.
2. Waterbirds can be tough because of how far away they are from shore.
On that note, you'll have to use all of your birding ability to get these ID's. When you post your answers, identify which picture they go with. Remember, in order to get full points you must identify the species, not just family or genus. Ready? Have fun!
#1: Perched on a shipwreck near a clam processing plant...
#2: A trio out on the bay...
#3: The leftmost bird in the previous photo is tough... here's another view of it.
#4: More swimmers!
#5: This one was so far away it could only be photographed through a spotting scope...
Answers for the Coastal Challenge are due by Monday, December 10th.
(Yeah, I extended it again. Again.)
Happy identification!
Yup. That was a Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea). Congrats to Julia for her correct ID.
No one got the bird in the dark correct (it is not a verdin, great kiskadee, or black-capped chickadee), so I've decided to give everyone a second week to answer that one. Here are a few hints regarding that particular bird:
1. It is comparable to a northern cardinal in size
2. The area it is in has a few trees, but most of the habitat is scrub
Answers for the bird in the dark are due on November 19th.
Now get out those field guides and raincoats, because we're heading out to dreary shores of Garibaldi, Oregon for a waterbird extravaganza! It's time for...
The Coastal Challenge
That's right... 5 photos, 7 species, and only 3 weeks to identify them all!But first, some general info on birding by the sea.
Coastal areas are perhaps the best places for birding, especially in lagoons, tidal marshes, bays, and jetties. You can find hundreds of species in the same place: ducks, geese, grebes, loons, herons, sandpipers, plover, cormorants, pelicans, rails, falcons, eagles, gulls, terns, skuas, murres, auks, puffins, pipits, sparrows, blackbirds--the list goes on and on. Best of all, they tend to be out in the open and fairly easy to see (there's not much to hide them on the open water or along the shore).
One of the best things for beginners about birds along the coast is that their daily schedule is not governed by the sun. For warblers and other migratory forest birds, you pretty much have to go birding really early in the morning to see them. Seabirds and shorebirds, however, go by the tides. You can go to a tidal marsh or jetty at high tide and it will be filled with diving ducks and grebes; if you visit the same location at low tide, the ducks will be gone and replaced with sandpipers and plover. If you are on vacation to the coast, consider visiting a beach near a wildlife refuge. Pay attention to the birds that fly by--not everything is a gull! In southern California you can find lots of terns, cormorants, pelicans, and sometimes even skimmers at popular state beaches.
There are two problems with birding near the ocean:
1. We don't have any around here.
2. Waterbirds can be tough because of how far away they are from shore.
On that note, you'll have to use all of your birding ability to get these ID's. When you post your answers, identify which picture they go with. Remember, in order to get full points you must identify the species, not just family or genus. Ready? Have fun!
#1: Perched on a shipwreck near a clam processing plant...
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| Photo by the author. |
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| Photo by the author. |
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| Photo by the author. |
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| Photo by the author. |
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| Photo by the author. |
Answers for the Coastal Challenge are due by Monday, December 10th.
(Yeah, I extended it again. Again.)
Happy identification!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Owls and You (and discussion of poo!)
(For those of you who are hypercompetitive, What Is It? (Round 6) is below this post)
The results of the poll that I had up on the side of the blog last month indicate that readers like owls. So I'll write a post about watching owls.
To tell the truth, your best chance of finding owls is to go to the Anita Purves Nature Center and go see the Eastern Screech Owls they have inside. As for wild owls, things are a bit trickier.
The main problem with watching owls, of course, is that they are primarily nocturnal. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to see them when they're most active (I've actually seen two owls in the middle of the night: one flew under a streetlight and the other I identified based on its reflection on a moonlit pond as it flew overhead).
Don't despair, though! It is possible to see owls during the day.
But it's really hard.
HOW TO LOOK FOR OWLS:
One option is to try to find owls that are sleeping. Here are tricks for that:
1. Look in holes. Owls like to sleep in tree cavities or large birdhouses. Unfortunately, if the hole is big enough (like they prefer) they will not be visible from outside.
2. Check for "whitewash". Small owls often perch in the same tree many times. And while sitting there, they have to... well... do their business.
Time to learn about poop!
Unlike mammals, birds do not have separate liquid and solid waste. Instead, it all gets mixed up in the last stage of the bird's digestive tract. Solid waste is the little black or grey lumps. The white stuff that makes the wonderful little splats on the windshield of your car is the urine. Human urine packages the waste into the chemical urea, which is easy to synthesize but requires a lot of water to flush out of the excretory system. That's why human urine is clear. Birds, on the other hand, use the more complex chemical uric acid. Uric acid requires very little water to carry it out of the bird, so their urine is opaque and viscous.
Anyway, owls get rid of much of their solid waste by coughing up pellets--which means that only the white stuff comes out their rear end.
This brings us back to "whitewash", as we birders call it. You can check around the bottoms of small conifer trees for large deposits of deposits. If it's pure white or cream colored, check the area above you for owls. If there are dark bits, you may have found the favorite perch of some other bird of prey. If the poop is purple or red, that probably means that a flock of robins or waxwings was perched overhead at some time.
Whenever you're looking for owls, one piece of advice holds true: FOLLOW THE CROWS.
Crows don't like owls. But they do like other crows. So when one of them finds an owl sitting in a tree, it'll start making lots of noise to get its friends to join in pestering the poor little owl. Eventually you end up with a flock of hundreds of crows circling one tree and constantly cawing. Whenever you see and hear this, go check out what they're so worked up over. It's not always an owl, but it will definitely be something big.
WHEN TO LOOK FOR OWLS:
The way to find owls activeduring the day is to go very early in the morning or very late in the evening. Especially in winter. Owls are forced to become crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) or even diurnal at that time of year because none of the yummy little rodents come out at night if it's freezing outside. For late evening owls, I suggest coming to the Woodcock Walk at Meadowbrook Park in March--even though we're mostly looking for Scolopax americana, we usually see an owl or two as well.
WHERE TO LOOK FOR OWLS:
In general, owls prefer dense forest. Especially with conifers. In winter, however, many of them move to open areas like frozen-over marshes. If you can find the two habitats combined (such as in Sax Zim Bog in Minnesota or Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Indiana) then you have a good shot at finding owls.
Here are some of the best spots around here for owls:
Busey Woods: There's usually at least one Barred Owl in here at some time of the year. Northern Saw-Whet and Eastern Screech Owls are also possible.
Meadowbrook Park: Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls can be found on occasion. This is also the location of the Woodcock Walk in March.
Kickapoo State Park: The top location for Barred Owls in the area.
Clinton Lake: A good place to look for Northern Saw-Whet Owls, but you pretty much have to have an experienced birder with you who knows exactly where to look. Barred Owls are also found here.
If there's a really bad winter, Snowy Owls can be found in completely random places. If they're in the area, I'll let you know. But don't count on them showing up.
AND IF YOU CAN'T LOOK:
Owls are hard to see, but they aren't all that hard to hear. I've even heard a Barred Owl calling in my neighborhood. If you're going camping, wake up really early in the morning (4:00-5:00 or so) and listen for Barred Owls. They have a rather distinctive call.
To put in perspective how hard it is to find owls, here's my life total of owl sightings:
Barred Owl: 12+
Northern Saw-Whet Owl: 2
Eastern Screech Owl: 1
Unidentified: 2 (1 Great Horned or Long-Eared, 1 Barn or Short-Eared)
And here is my only photo of a wild owl:
This Barred Owl was at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana. I actually saw him several times, the first of which was using the FOLLOW THE CROWS method. The second time was pure luck, where he flew across the road as we were walking around looking for swans. The third time, when I got this picture, I was lucky to even notice him since he was just sitting there and not moving.
So chances of finding an owl by actively seeking them out are fairly low. They're more of something that shows up while you're looking for other birds. One of the other birders at the local Audubon Society says that for every 500 tree cavities he checks, only one has an owl in it.
Sorry if I just crushed anyone's dreams.
On the upside, there are plenty of other birds that you can see if you go birdwatching (hint, hint)
The results of the poll that I had up on the side of the blog last month indicate that readers like owls. So I'll write a post about watching owls.
To tell the truth, your best chance of finding owls is to go to the Anita Purves Nature Center and go see the Eastern Screech Owls they have inside. As for wild owls, things are a bit trickier.
The main problem with watching owls, of course, is that they are primarily nocturnal. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to see them when they're most active (I've actually seen two owls in the middle of the night: one flew under a streetlight and the other I identified based on its reflection on a moonlit pond as it flew overhead).
Don't despair, though! It is possible to see owls during the day.
But it's really hard.
HOW TO LOOK FOR OWLS:
One option is to try to find owls that are sleeping. Here are tricks for that:
1. Look in holes. Owls like to sleep in tree cavities or large birdhouses. Unfortunately, if the hole is big enough (like they prefer) they will not be visible from outside.
2. Check for "whitewash". Small owls often perch in the same tree many times. And while sitting there, they have to... well... do their business.
Time to learn about poop!
Unlike mammals, birds do not have separate liquid and solid waste. Instead, it all gets mixed up in the last stage of the bird's digestive tract. Solid waste is the little black or grey lumps. The white stuff that makes the wonderful little splats on the windshield of your car is the urine. Human urine packages the waste into the chemical urea, which is easy to synthesize but requires a lot of water to flush out of the excretory system. That's why human urine is clear. Birds, on the other hand, use the more complex chemical uric acid. Uric acid requires very little water to carry it out of the bird, so their urine is opaque and viscous.
Anyway, owls get rid of much of their solid waste by coughing up pellets--which means that only the white stuff comes out their rear end.
This brings us back to "whitewash", as we birders call it. You can check around the bottoms of small conifer trees for large deposits of deposits. If it's pure white or cream colored, check the area above you for owls. If there are dark bits, you may have found the favorite perch of some other bird of prey. If the poop is purple or red, that probably means that a flock of robins or waxwings was perched overhead at some time.
Whenever you're looking for owls, one piece of advice holds true: FOLLOW THE CROWS.
Crows don't like owls. But they do like other crows. So when one of them finds an owl sitting in a tree, it'll start making lots of noise to get its friends to join in pestering the poor little owl. Eventually you end up with a flock of hundreds of crows circling one tree and constantly cawing. Whenever you see and hear this, go check out what they're so worked up over. It's not always an owl, but it will definitely be something big.
WHEN TO LOOK FOR OWLS:
The way to find owls activeduring the day is to go very early in the morning or very late in the evening. Especially in winter. Owls are forced to become crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) or even diurnal at that time of year because none of the yummy little rodents come out at night if it's freezing outside. For late evening owls, I suggest coming to the Woodcock Walk at Meadowbrook Park in March--even though we're mostly looking for Scolopax americana, we usually see an owl or two as well.
WHERE TO LOOK FOR OWLS:
In general, owls prefer dense forest. Especially with conifers. In winter, however, many of them move to open areas like frozen-over marshes. If you can find the two habitats combined (such as in Sax Zim Bog in Minnesota or Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Indiana) then you have a good shot at finding owls.
Here are some of the best spots around here for owls:
Busey Woods: There's usually at least one Barred Owl in here at some time of the year. Northern Saw-Whet and Eastern Screech Owls are also possible.
Meadowbrook Park: Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls can be found on occasion. This is also the location of the Woodcock Walk in March.
Kickapoo State Park: The top location for Barred Owls in the area.
Clinton Lake: A good place to look for Northern Saw-Whet Owls, but you pretty much have to have an experienced birder with you who knows exactly where to look. Barred Owls are also found here.
If there's a really bad winter, Snowy Owls can be found in completely random places. If they're in the area, I'll let you know. But don't count on them showing up.
AND IF YOU CAN'T LOOK:
Owls are hard to see, but they aren't all that hard to hear. I've even heard a Barred Owl calling in my neighborhood. If you're going camping, wake up really early in the morning (4:00-5:00 or so) and listen for Barred Owls. They have a rather distinctive call.
To put in perspective how hard it is to find owls, here's my life total of owl sightings:
Barred Owl: 12+
Northern Saw-Whet Owl: 2
Eastern Screech Owl: 1
Unidentified: 2 (1 Great Horned or Long-Eared, 1 Barn or Short-Eared)
And here is my only photo of a wild owl:
 |
| Photo by the author |
So chances of finding an owl by actively seeking them out are fairly low. They're more of something that shows up while you're looking for other birds. One of the other birders at the local Audubon Society says that for every 500 tree cavities he checks, only one has an owl in it.
Sorry if I just crushed anyone's dreams.
On the upside, there are plenty of other birds that you can see if you go birdwatching (hint, hint)
What Is It? (Round 6)
We had great turnout for last week's ID challenge!
Last week's birds were Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) and Sora Rail (Porzana caronlina)
David mentioned that the Sora's body looked a bit strange... and he's right! For one thing, they have huge feet that spread their weight out over soft mud so they don't sink in. If that's not weird enough, they have muscles that let them flatten their own ribcages so they are less than an inch and a half wide. This lets them dart quickly through dense reeds (trust me, they are really fast).
So now it's time for Round 6!
These two are fairly easy. I figured I'd give you a week to relax before... THE COASTAL CHALLENGE!
Yeah, next week will be a big one. So start studying your seabirds.
Okay, back to Round 6.
Since you guys have been so great at identifying things quickly, I've decided to do at least two species per week.
Our first species here was out in a scrubby area near Lake Hodges in Escondido, California. Is he gorgeous, or what! (too bad the picture isn't all that great)
Since I was discussing owls and looking at birds in the dark, I figured I'd let you guys try some of that too (the dark part, not the owl part). You can't see much detail on this guy from San Antonio, Texas, but you can still identify him! Both pictures were taken at around 9:00pm outside the hotel I was staying in.
As usual, use the "view image" option to see these full size. Comments with answers are due by Thursday, November 8th. THE COASTAL CHALLENGE will open on November 9th (which just so happens to be my birthday).
Happy IDing!
Last week's birds were Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) and Sora Rail (Porzana caronlina)
David mentioned that the Sora's body looked a bit strange... and he's right! For one thing, they have huge feet that spread their weight out over soft mud so they don't sink in. If that's not weird enough, they have muscles that let them flatten their own ribcages so they are less than an inch and a half wide. This lets them dart quickly through dense reeds (trust me, they are really fast).
So now it's time for Round 6!
These two are fairly easy. I figured I'd give you a week to relax before... THE COASTAL CHALLENGE!
Yeah, next week will be a big one. So start studying your seabirds.
Okay, back to Round 6.
Since you guys have been so great at identifying things quickly, I've decided to do at least two species per week.
Our first species here was out in a scrubby area near Lake Hodges in Escondido, California. Is he gorgeous, or what! (too bad the picture isn't all that great)
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| Photo by the author. |
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| Photo by the author. |
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| Photo by the author. |
Happy IDing!
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