This is something I expect a lot of birders experience, and certainly an aspect of my passion for birding that I enjoy. People around you - friends, family, co-workers, etc - begin to recognize that you are really into birds, and they start to tell you about something they saw or maybe want your help in identifying a bird. I like to think that there are quite a few people out there that are paying attention (or maybe more attention) to birds because of me.
My co-workers will tell me that"this morning I saw this huge bird - it must have been an eagle - swoop down across the highway and grab a rat or something" or "last night I saw a crane flying over - it looked like a dinosaur!" And I try to make sure that I keep the same excitement level when I tease a little more info out of them and explain that the Red-tailed Hawk is really a 'highway specialist' and a careful eye will often spot them almost daily perched in the trees on their commute, and that a crane although possible is really rare to see where, but that the Great Blue Herons have a rookery right in that area, and if they want to see them nesting I'd be happy to bring them near there with a spotting scope so they could get some really good looks at them.
Two people that I know are looking a little more closely at birds are my parents, and I love it! Over the years, I've received a few calls here and there while they are on vacation somewhere, with a description of something that they are looking at, and wondering what it is. From egrets to woodpecker to vultures, I've always been very confident in my id's. And last year, my dad, (who has always had an interest in photography also) picked up a digital SLR and they've sent me photos of stuff they've seen also when on vacation, that I've helped to id those too. Today they sent me a pic that I have to admit has me stumped. (And frankly, it's a tough pill to swallow.) At some level, I feel like I should know what I am looking at, but I just can't seem to piece it together. (Although I don't feel too bad that iBird on my iPhone wasn't able to get it either)
The photograph was taken along the California coast south of Big Sur this past July.
Please be patient as I've not re-sized this one to try to keep as much detail as possible (even though it's a bit blurry), so it takes a bit longer to load. If you click on it to open in a new page, you can stop it loading on this one, and you can enlarge it even further there.
Any help on this one would really be appreciated...
9 comments:
Passion is contagious....
That is a funky looking bird, but it seems funky because the wing seems to be obscuring the head. At least, that's what I think is going on in the front half of that bird.
My impression is that it's a Western Gull. I think I can make out pinkish legs, dark mantle, heavy yellow bill, and seemingly dark wingtips with a single window on the outermost primary.
That's my $.02; I'm anxious to hear what other, more larophilic birders conclude.
And congrats on getting your folks into your passion. My folks got me into birds, and I've returned the favor by pulling them to the next level. Makes for even better family trips these days!
-Mike
Based on the overall shape and colors, I would guess that this is something from the gull family. Unfortunately it doesn't look like any gull in my Sibley guide. So what I would propose is that the dark gray areas where the head should be could be a result of wing action or motion blur, especially if this was taken at a slow shutter speed. In that case Western Gull would be a prime possibility.
Alternately, we might be looking at a Northern Fulmar or shearwater, though it is harder to find a good color match in that group.
I see noflickster had the same idea.
This is Chris' Mom - I took this photo with my Nixon Cool Pix - no fancy settings, lens or anything - sorry. I was taking a picture of the ocean and only discovered the bird in the photo when arranging my photos for an album. He just flew by as I snapped the picture. Thanks everyone for helping.
However, I did take a great magpie photo in New Mexico that Chris identified for me. ;)
I agree on the Western Gull assessment.
In response to what you said about helping people ID stuff, I always am happy to help, but it drives me nuts when people don't believe me. For example, someone might say, "It was a hawk on the highway with a red tail." and I show them a picture and they say, "No it wasn't that, it was much bigger." And they only had a 2 second view of it. Argh. I'll need to do a post about the woman who emailed me about birds with "antennae" recently.
Hi Chris, Put your attention towards a Northern Fulmar. The bill and head look right, I understand that they come in a grayish morph.
OK, not that I've had some feedback (both here and on Facebook), I am going to have to agree with Western Gull. I had considered Fulmar before evn posting this, but there were a number of things that put me off from that.
First - location, location , location. According to range maps, Fulmar are not typically found along the California (esp SoCal) coast. True, birds are certainly prone to wandering outside their range, but Fulmar are pelagic birds, are are rarely seen from land except when breeding - which is done in the arctic.
Some field marks also to consider: the bill just doesn't seem right for a pelagic "tubenose", although that is hard to tell from the photo. Also, the trailing edge of the wing on this bird is white, whereas on a "lighter morph" fulmar the trailing edge is dark grey to black. (On light morph the overall wings are very light, and on a dark morph the bird looks overall an even "sooty" color, including the head)
Finally, and this is really hard to tell without any experience with seeing the birds, fulmar for as much as they can look like gulls, strike me as having different wing shape and flight pattern. Their wings aren't as long and are more rounded towards the ends. This means that they have a more "paddle" like up-and-down flapping. This bird has a distinct bend in the wing at the "wrist" that has the leading edge of the wing almost even with the front of the head... not something you'd see with a fulmar.
OH, and I should mention - I really thought that I was looking at a lateral view of this bird, and that it had a dark heard with a light stripe down the front - I didn't realize that the entire dark area was wing and that the forewing was obscuring most of the head. You all probably picked up on that right away, huh?
FINALLY, all these comments are my own - and I certainly do not have as much experience with these birds as some. If I am wrong in any of my conclusions above - I would love the feedback! I always am interested in learning!
"Red-tailed Hawk - Highway Specialist"
That's a good title for a post!
Post a Comment