AZ - Sprague's Pipits - 01/14

Sprague's Pipit - San Rafael Valley, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. January 14th, 2011. Not the best of shots but these birds were hard enough to see let alone digi-scope. The two birds that I found were very skittish and wouldn't allow any sort of close approach. This bird was feeding in a gully as I scoped it from the other side of a shallow wash. Images taken using Canon Powershot A495 handheld with Swarovski HD telescope.

San Rafael Valley, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. Prime winter habitat for Sprague's Pipits and Baird's Sparrows.

AZ - Rufous-backed Robin - 01/18

Rufous-backed Robin - Santa Cruz Flats, Pinal Co., AZ. January 18th, 2011. Images taken using Canon Powershot A495 handheld with Swarovski HD telescope.

Super find by Richard Fray and Laura Stewart on January 16th - it was busy guzzling down berries in Privet bushes in a private yard but could be viewed quite easily from the road (Wheeler Road). A very handsome bird and another highlight from a terrific week in Arizona.

AZ - Baird's Sparrow - 01/14

Baird's Sparrow - the second of three seen (Grasshopper Sparrow at the rear) on January 14th, 2011. San Rafael Valley, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. January 14th, 2011.

Baird's Sparrow - the third of three seen, with Savannah Sparrow upper right, January 14th, 2011. San Rafael Valley, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. January 14th, 2011.




Baird's Sparrow - the third of three seen on January 14th, 2011. San Rafael Valley, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. January 14th, 2011. All images taken using Canon Powershot A495 hand held with Swarovski HD telescope.

Another highlight from a recent spell in Arizona. Something of a nemesis for me, I expected to Baird's Sparrow to be very difficult and mentally resigned to accepting only the most fleeting of glimpses. However, three glorious hours spent in the San Rafael Valley searching for grassland birds produced no less than 3 Baird's Sparrows, two of which perched up with Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows for extended periods - way beyond anything I could have hoped for.


Overall, the grasslands seemed quiet with very few birds but the ambiance was fantastically peaceful. I did come across two Sprague's Pipits, photos of which I'll post in the near future.

JPS.

AZ - YELLOW-BILLED LOON - 01/19

Yellow-billed Loon - first-winter, Colorado River near Parker, La Paz Co., AZ. January 19th, 2011. Images taken using Canon Powershot A495 handheld through Swarovski HD telescope.

This bird was frequenting both sides of the AZ/CA state line on the Colorado River just north of Parker and was originally found by David Vander Plyum et al on January 15th. Susannah and I failed to find it on January 16th en route to the Salton Sea, but I tried again on January 19th and eventually found the bird off Riverside Drive about 3 miles north of the Blue Water Casino.

For my money, the most exciting of the loons with a unique jizz and well worth the drive (about 3 hours from Phoenix). Remarkably, this was my third Yellow-billed Loon in Arizona, the other two also coming from the Colorado River - one at Havasu City in Feb 2001 and one on Lake Havasu in Feb 2008.

JPS

MA - Gill Bohemian Waxwings - 01/10

Bohemian Waxwing, near entrance to Northfield Mount Hermon School, Main Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 10th, 2011.

After dropping Matan at nursery school I decided to follow up a Greg Watkevich's report of a Bohemian Waxwing just up the road at the entrance to Northfield Mount Hermon School. My first drive by was unsuccessful but after turning around I noticed a few birds feeding on fruiting bushes by the road. The birds turned out to be starlings, but then I heard some waxwings, and before long I was listening to the bright ringing calls of Bohemian Waxwings, actually three or four birds mixed in with about 45 Cedar Waxwings. Both species moved back and forth across the road (Main Road, Gill) before moving deeper into the school campus, the Bohemians sometimes perching for prolonged spells right by the road.

Yet another avian treat in Gill and only a couple of miles up the road from our house. Closer to home, a Barred Owl was hunting from the fence posts by the sedge meadow at 05:45 in the morning.

Thanks very much to Greg for his report.


Bohemian Waxwing (lower right just above landing Cedar Waxwing) with Cedar Waxwings, near entrance to Northfield Mount Hermon School, Main Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 10th, 2011.

MA - Gill Owls - 01/05/11

Barred Owl - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 5th, 2011. Images taken at dusk at a range of about 100 meters using Panasonic Lumix DMC - FZ40.

The New Year has seen quite a bit of owl activity around our home in Gill. Great Horned Owls have been calling on most mornings before dawn, and on the morning of January 4th I heard a new pair calling due East of Gill town center.

I must say, Matan (our three year old) brings his own special kind of luck when it comes to owls. Two evenings ago after sledding I took him to a spot to try for saw-whets. Quite literally, just as I was about to start whistling, a Great Horned Owl called without any prompting no more than 30 meters away to be quickly followed by calling Barred Owl! Needless to say we didn't hear any saw-whets in that spot after that but it was fantastic way to introduce a three year old to owling.

To follow up on what he'd heard, what could have been better for Matan then to have a Barred Owl in his own backyard! Well that's what happened this afternoon. Once again, we were off sledding and this time a handsome Barred Owl appeared on our neighbors property across the street. It was shy but stayed long enough for Matan to get very excited about his first ever sighting of a Barred Owl - very cool indeed.

And this morning in perfect conditions on Mountain Road in Gill, I heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl giving 'chitter' type calls just before dawn. I feel really blessed to have these wonderful birds so close to home.

JPS

MA - bright green morph Pine Siskin - 01/05

Pine Siskin - 'green morph', Gill, Franklin Co., MA. Three shots taken on January 5th, 2011. Images taken using Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 through living room window. The shots below were taken on January 4th.









Pine Siskin - 'green morph', Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 4th, 2011. Images taken using Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 through living room window.

The variation in Pine Siskins visiting the yard over the last month has just been incredible. Aside from ranging from dark, brownish and heavily streaked birds to paler, grayer more lightly streaked types with many intermediates, quite a few green morphs continue to show up at the feeders. Over the last few days I took some better images of this bird which shows at least some resemblance to a female Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus). It's a really bright, interesting bird, but even so I'm sure the undertail coverts (yellow in green morph Pine and white in female Eurasian) point to this bird being a Pine Siskin over Eurasian. In addition, I believe female Eurasian Siskin would show a lot more yellow on the rump. For comparison, I found a nice of Eurasian Siskin images by Nicole Bouglouan here;

Despite the huge variation in the birds visiting our feeder, my assumption (perhaps incorrect) is that all of the these birds are of the nominate form (C. p. pinus) breeding primarily from Saskatchewan east to Newfoundland.



JPS

VT - Bohemian Waxwings - 01/02/11

Bohemian Waxwings - part of a flock of 45 next to I-89 at mile post 35.4, SE of Montpelier, Washington Co., VT.

A nice flock of Bohemian Waxwings landed right by the Interstate (89) on our way North to Montpelier to try for a Northern Hawk Owl reported in Berlin over the New Year. Sadly we dipped on the owl, which apparently wasn't seen at all on January 2nd but the waxwings provided some nice compensation.

JPS

MA - Hoary Redpoll, a few more pics - 12/30

Hoary Redpoll (right) with Common Redpoll (left) - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2010. Image taken using Panasonic Lumix DMC - FZ40.

Here's a handful of additional of images of the Hoary Redpoll from December 30th. With no further sightings to date (Jan 3rd, 2011), it's looking more and more like a one day wonder. Even visits from Common Redpolls continue to be few and far between. Pine Siskins on the other hand, have increased again with about 120 birds present at the moment. They're consuming about 15 pounds of nyger seed a week! All images were taken using a Panasonic Lumix DMC - FZ40.


JPS.