Bird Field Shots of Notable Birds - 2014

Eared Grebe at Belle Haven Marina on January 21st, 2014, originally reported by Ed Eder I believe. This bird was coming right up to the shore and many people got great photos. My particular opportunity came in a blowing snow storm, about 25F, with whitecaps breaking over the grebe. Nonetheless, it managed to catch and eat a 3" long fish while I was watching it. How wild is that eye ... I was thinking that we DC-area people really like our black and white animals. Then I thought, man, what if Pandas had red eyes like that. Way less cute.

Four Greater White-fronted Geese found in with about 700 Canada Geese in the stream feeding the inner harbor in Cold Spring Harbor (January 25th). One had a pied belly typical of an ASY bird, the other 3 did not and I assume are SY birds. These were found during the NYSOA January Waterfowl Count and are a new species for me on that activity.

A few images of Rusty Blackbirds. There seem to have been quite a number around during the 2013-2014 winter season. The left bird was seen in Virginia on the Fort Belvoir CBC. Looks pretty typical for an ASY male at this time of year (January 5th). The second bird I saw in NY on January 26th, with other Rusties. The head shape and bill weight seemed odd for a RUBL but the tail, primary projection etc matched the accompanying RUBL around it. Examining additional photos (I think it is the same bird with a female in the third shot), I can see remnants of brown in the chest and some of the coverts in better light. There are pictures of RUBL in various plumages at rustyblackbirds.org (of course) which show similar-looking males. That, coupled with subsequent observation, has shown this is pretty typical male. That female, btw, was queen of the food dish: when she was in it, the Blue Jays, other Rusties, everything just sat and watched. One Jay challenged her and she chased it off.

An American Pipit feeding in the grass stubble at the west end of Jones Beach in front of the Coast Guard Station on January 26th. Conditions were of course brutal  (about 22F, overcast, snow about to start and a 15 knot wind blowing), though a picnic compared to the single digit temps of the previous week. I thought the Pipit looked kind of sad and tired and was probably not particularly cheered up by the Northern Harrier that swooped through 2 minutes after this shot.

A Cackling Goose in with about 550 Canada Geese at Bull Run Regional Park on February 2nd. There were also about 6 or 7 small, short-billed Canada Geese in this flock which I assume could have been B. c. parvipes. Would have been great to get all 3 types of birds in the same photo; the Lesser were clearly smaller than the average Canada, but much larger than the Cackling Goose.

With unusual levels of ice cover on the Great Lakes and elsewhere, Virginia has seen an impressive influx of unusual winter waterfowl species. Red-necked Grebes are one of the most notable examples. Above are two of the nine birds at Pohick Bay Regional Park, present on March 9th. The first bird is still mostly in basic plumage, while the second is almost fully into alternate. 

With Virginia participating in a Rusty Blackbird Blitz, to try and gather data about RUBL presence in the state, on 3/22/2014 I followed Dave Young's advice and walked the Cross County Trail segment through Difficult Run Stream Valley Park. This is between Brown's Mill Road and Route 7. Sure enough there was a flock of 8 Rusty Blackbirds moving around and actively feeding. The first picture shows them "at it", the second and third show a male and female, respectively. 

An adult male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, seen June 14th in King William County VA, driving back from the VSO Foray. Phil Kenny spotted the bird and took the amazing photo on the left. You can see it is an adult male, from the elongated spike tip on the 10th primary. I took the two pictures on the right.

A Wood Stork in literally a puddle in far west Clarke County, about 5 miles or so from the Summit Point Speedway in WV, seen on August 31st, 2014. The bird seemed shy about people being around and did a flyover but did not land with birders there. It returned later, and I was able to photograph it using the car as a blind. Feeding behavior was very interesting; it would poke and dab with a foot alongside its bill, say 6" away. Perhaps trying to chase food towards that impressive beak. The second picture is an extreme enlargement of the outer underwing primary coverts (with some image processing to try and make the details visible). Per Pyle, the amount of black on these feathers (along with other features) factors into aging the bird. I guess it has to be a hatch year bird, though not all of the features are consistent with that and a second year bird about to start a third year molt (October) is not impossible. The three outer underwing primary coverts being black or mostly black per Pyle is HY/SY. However the longest scapulars are dusky or dusky-tipped for HY/SY, and white for SY/TY; this birds certainly look white. I can't call the primary shape, but I also don't see a molt limit. And so on with the various aging features, so I don't know. Hatch year or second year.