Birds – Mountain Plover

Fact-checking

As I’ve been recovering from back surgery—a recovery that is taking a bit longer than I was led to expect—I’ve had plenty of time to check my phone, and more specifically, my news feed. I had to laugh when this item popped up. Seems that USA Today needs to check with an actual birder before choosing photos to accompany their articles!

Note that this is not a yellow bird, rare or otherwise. Even more significantly, this lovely photo is of a House Finch, not a Northern Cardinal.

That would be bad enough, but there’s more:

Here we finally get to see the yellow cardinal (which happens to be male). However, this is a male House Sparrow, definitely not a younger cardinal—or its mate!

These are rather significant mistakes in an article on I topic I know a bit about. It makes me wonder how many mistakes (intentional or otherwise) appear in their articles on other topics!

Start with Ducks

Congratulations, you’ve decided to take up birdwatching. You’ve got the binoculars, the latest field guide or phone app, and the dorky hat. The extras can come later—the spotting scope, the camera with a long telephoto lens, the airplane tickets for that exotic birding destination. For now, you’re excited to begin, so you head to the nearest nature center or other birding hotspot.

February’s Bird Quiz

As I mentioned last month, the birds we see in the field are rarely posed like the illustrations in our field guides. Rather, we see them from underneath, or with parts hidden by leaves, or, as is so often the case, flying away. When it comes to dabbling ducks (and some other waterfowl), we may find that the most helpful field marks are underwater, and all we’re treated to is a view of the tail. If only we had a field guide that portrays these birds bottoms-up!

Eleven Mile Canyon Again

While I love birding someplace new, there’s also something special about having a tradition of revisiting the same spot at the same time, year after year. My friend Debbie’s birthday is December 29, and we do our best to reserve the date for our traditional trip to Eleven Mile Canyon.

An Answer, and Another Quiz

I left you hanging last month. I injured my back, and wasn’t able to sit in a chair long enough to write much of anything. My blog took a back seat to simply getting essential tasks done. No fun. Now I’m scheduled for back surgery, so my posts will have to be sporadic until I fully recover. Still, if one has to be sidelined, I’m glad it’s happening now, while the pandemic keeps us mostly home in any case.

December Bird Quiz

12 Katoomba-NSW-Australia_LAH_5599

Now that you’ve made it to the end of the year, it’s time for a challenge. By now you should realize that all the quiz birds this year were females. Most females lack bright colors, but I couldn’t resist the Christmas colors on this gorgeous lady.

She was was photographed in Australia in October. What species is she? (It’s a bit of a sexist name, actually.)

The answer will appear at the end of next Monday’s post.

A Vagabond Varied Thrush

After last week’s post about “Lost Birds,” I shouldn’t be surprised this week when a bird typically found in the old growth forests along the coast from northern California to Alaska was spotted in a playground at a county park out on the eastern plains of Colorado. Talk about lost!

November Bird Quiz

This bird was photographed in California in February. Can you name it? The answer will appear at the end of next Monday’s post.

09 SacramentoNWR-CA_LAH_1794f

Doing the Virginia Rail Dash

Sometimes it’s a matter of being at the right place at the right time.

My friend and I were circling the ponds at our county nature center. She had a new camera and wanted to practice its unfamiliar settings, and I was along because I like birds and I like her.

They Leave…

Violet-green Swallow, a summer visitor to my yard.

“To all of you who, like me, have become bird watchers during these months of sheltering in place, I’ve got some bad news: They leave.”

The article in the Democrat & Chronicle, a Rochester NY newspaper, continued with author and new birder Jim Memmott complaining that he has “fed them, adored them, and photographed them endlessly” only to have his backyard birds migrate. As he explains, he’s dealing with abandonment issues.

I highly recommend the article—it made me smile as I identified with his disappointment over the disappearance of so many birds, at least for the winter.