Got any bird pics?

[Canuck from Kansas]

Believing we have a Red Shouldered Hawk here. He's been hanging around the pond lately, was even perched on the artesian well pipe, but left before I could get the camera. Also was sitting creekside one morning:



Speaking of the pond, Mr and Mrs are now very frequent visitors, spring is on the way:












Cheers

 

[Jim F.]

Many thousands of snow geese in air at Columbia National Wildlife Refuge this morning. These pictures don’t begin to capture the sheer numbers ( and the volume of their sounds)

Nice. Rich! Wanted to go there this morning, but only had a couple hours to get out, so stayed close.

 

[Jim F.]

Slipped out before Grand Daughter's gymnastic event.

Night Heron rookery




and a lone Pelican

 

[Greg Armstrong]

I’m envious of some of your guys cameras and the quality of photos you take with them.

Here’s a crummy cell phone pic I took on a walk this week of a Red Breasted Sapsucker. I noticed the telltale horizontal rows on this tree as I walked by and out popped the bird from the back of it.

 

[Jim F.]

Lucked out & got ahead of the Snow Geese as they transitioned from field to refuge.

 

[Jim F.]

Lots of eagles & hawks about, most of them quite spooky. Saw Kestrels, Harriers & a Red Tail, but got no shots. The big birds gave me some long range opportunities. Glad I took the big lens, even if it is a chore to swing.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

A pair of Pileated, slightly better than my perched eagle pic.

 

[Wadin' Boot]

 

[Brute]

 

[SKYKO]

 

[SilverFly]

Bird activity has picked up sharply here in SWW lately. I was going through previous Merlin records after adding a couple new.

The count is growing but really wondering now about some of the "unlikely" ID's. Especially the repeating ones like the Yellow Rumped Warbler. Other red dot include Fox Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, Hermit Thrush, American Pipit, White Throated Sparrow, and Townsend's Warbler.

Has anyone seen or had a solid Merlin ID for these birds in SWW?

 

[rotato]

That’s a lot of cool little birds
We’re the kinglets in a gang?
What does the red dot mean?

 

[Cabezon]

The red dot in Merlin indicates that the identified species is rare in the region of the recording. Therefore, you would have less confidence that the identification, based on song or call, is correct.
The only species on your list that I might have some reservations about would be the American pipit because of the habitat around your place (but it could have been caught on migration). Others, like Townsend's warbler, Hutton's vireo, or Fox sparrow would not surprise me. All three are present at low densities and are often cryptic / shyer. The white-throated sparrow is a Canadian prairies / Eastern Canada / New York / New England member of the white-crowned / golden-crowned group (genus Zonotrichia). But there are often a few birds observed reliably in the PNW and there are birds that overwinter in coastal Oregon and California according to the distribution map in All About Birds.
Steve

 

[SilverFly]

That’s a lot of cool little birds
We’re the kinglets in a gang?
What does the red dot mean?

Only ran into a gang one time on the river bank. Couple dozen flitting through a patch of knotweed. Other than that, I rarely see them even though Merlin picks them up more times than not.

 

[SilverFly]

The red dot in Merlin indicates that the identified species is rare in the region of the recording. Therefore, you would have less confidence that the identification, based on song or call, is correct.
The only species on your list that I might have some reservations about would be the American pipit because of the habitat around your place (but it could have been caught on migration). Others, like Townsend's warbler, Hutton's vireo, or Fox sparrow would not surprise me. All three are present at low densities and are often cryptic / shyer. The white-throated sparrow is a Canadian prairies / Eastern Canada / New York / New England member of the white-crowned / golden-crowned group (genus Zonotrichia). But there are often a few birds observed reliably in the PNW and there are birds that overwinter in coastal Oregon and California according to the distribution map in All About Birds.
Steve

Thanks Steve. Minus the pipit, I think that would put us somewhere around 43 species, but really need to do a better job of keeping track.

Edit: Holy crap! Just updated my old, pre-Merlin list and looks like we broke the 50 mark (good luck reading my chicken scratch).

 

[SilverFly]

 

[SilverFly]

Finally got a couple Kingfisher pics. Crappy long distance cell shots, but at least not the usual blurry blue flash.

Some good high water fishing technique here working a slow, shallow inside bend.

 

[ThomasM]

View attachment 179352

Anhinga?
Always loved seeing the 'water turkey' when I lived in the south.

 

[riseform]

Purple Martins arrived overnight at their fabricated houses on the Gulf Coast (Rockport, TX) while I was there in early March. They'll have to evict a couple House Sparrows that had taken up residence while they were away. Looking forward to their arrival in WA this summer. This is the first time I was able to photograph one in flight.



Other birds hanging out in the warmer climate for winter that we'll see this summer were American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts and Long-billed Curlew. It was still too early for warblers, flycatchers and songbird migrants, but the main target this time was endangered Whooping Cranes.

Long-billed Curlew


Whooping Crane

 

[Wanative]

Lot's of waterfowl digging the rain that seems to go on forever.