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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. R

    California, 2024

    1 January 2024 I have set a birding goal for 2024: I shall try to see 400 species of birds in California during the year. I think it is quite possible. Possibly some people do it every year. Without particularly trying, I came close to that mark with in 2022 with 380 species. That year I did...
  2. R

    Painting of dead birds

    I came across this painting by seventeenth century Dutch artist Cornelis Biltius titled Trompe l'Oeil Still-Life with Two Grouse Hanging from a Nail. The birds are clearly not grouse. At least the upper one appears to be a thrush, but I am having trouble deciding which one. It looks rather like...
  3. R

    Wrong Wren

    For anyone, like me, who has the Audubon page-a-day bird calendar, I think we can safely say that today's bird has been misidentified. Unless it is some form from south of the US-Mexico border with which I am unfamilier, this is a House Wren, Troglodytes aedon.
  4. R

    Binoculars confiscated by Egyptian authorities at airport

    I ran into a friend today who was just back from a birding trip to the Middle East. She was most upset that upon her arrival in Egypt authorities at the airport confiscated her binoculars claiming they had military applications. They then suggested she could buy new ones in town. Apparently a...
  5. R

    One more from California

    Photo taken in early October.
  6. R

    What and Why

    Photo taken in February in California. I was unsure what these birds were myself until they came around and I saw them from the side, so if you can tell what they are from this view I would be grateful for an explanation.
  7. R

    Should be easy

    Identify all the birds. Photo taken in California, August 2022.
  8. R

    Orchard Oriole? Monterey, California, USA

    I saw this bird today at Laguna Grande Park in Monterey, California. I am fairly sure it is an Orchard Oriole, but am curious if anyone sees anything different in it. The bird was larger than nearby Yellow-rumped Warblers, but its size was hard to judge because its tail was reduced to a very...
  9. R

    Bank or Tree Swallow - Marin County, California, USA

    I saw this swallow (or maybe more than one) at Las Gallinas in Marin County, California, 4 June 2022. At the time I thought it was a Bank Swallow (known to some as a Sand Martin), but now I am wondering if it may have been a juvenile Tree Swallow. Bank Swallow would be unexpected at this...
  10. R

    Melansitic American Kestrel?

    I am curious what people think of the bird in this report from Nebraska, USA: https://ebird.org/checklist/S106989403. I did not see the bird. It brings to my mind Red-footed Falcon, which I have never seen in life and may actually be quite different.
  11. R

    Pintails

    Not sure if this is the correct forum for this question, but I will post it here and see what the response is. In going over my photos I am struck by the variation in female Northern Pintails. Some are quite brown on the back, other nearly black and white. Can anyone tell me if this is age...
  12. R

    Herring Gull, California, USA

    This bird was seen on a pelagic trip, in the middle of Monterey Bay, California, on 12 October 2011. I think it is a third winter Herring Gull, but almost all of the photos I have seen of such birds show much more smudgy marking on the head and breast. Is it early enough in the year that these...
  13. R

    Maybe more Thayer's Gulls, Santa Cruz County, California, USA

    These two juvenile gulls were both on the wharf at Santa Cruz, California, USA on 13 Feb 2009. Both are perched next to Western Gulls; the birds I am wondering about are the bird on the left in the first photo and the bird on the right in the second photo. Despite their differences in color -...
  14. R

    Thayer's Gull? Santa Clara County, California, USA

    I once thought I could identify most of the gulls, at least in my home area. More recent experience has cast doubt on that. This bird I had originally identified as a Herring Gull, but the smallish bill, steepish forehead, and darkish eye make me think now it is a Thayer's Iceland Gull. The...
  15. R

    Finch, California, USA

    This is a heavily cropped photo of a bird that I never got very close to, taken in central California at a site where both House Finch and Purple Finch are regular. The sharply streaked sides would make one think it is a House Finch. Everything else, however, says Purple Finch: chunky shape...
  16. R

    Great Egret with dark bill tip in California

    This bird was seen 26 Oct. 2020 on the coast in central California. This is not really a question about identification, I am sure the bird is a Great Egret, but I am not accustomed to seeing Great Egrets anywhere in North America with this kind of bill coloring. I have seen them with a narrow...
  17. R

    Buteo, California, USA

    Seen today at Pigeon Point, on the coast in central California. What seems to be the same bird has been variously reported this winter as a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk or a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk, or left unidentified, even by very good birders with pretty good views. This ebird report...
  18. R

    Question about the Cornell Lab

    We have had an invasion of Red Crossbills in my area (California) this fall and I am trying to take the opportunity to finally learn and try to record some of the call types. The Cornell Lab offers software (Raven Lite) for free to analyze calls, and I tried to obtain it. I submitted their...
  19. R

    Loon, Monterey County, California, USA

    This loon is over-summering in Monterey County, California. I think it is Red-throated, but it looks different enough from other Red-throateds in the area that I thought I would ask for other opinions. Photo was taken 7 June 2019.
  20. R

    Out of place cormorant

    The cormorant seen in this checklist https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50013172 was found (not by me) yesterday just north of San Francisco, California. Whatever it is, it is way out of range. Local and other experts will certainly be trying to identify it, but I thought I would post the link...
  21. R

    Artwork Parrot

    I recently purchased this painted basket-tray at a local antique store. The bird on the left seems like a pretty good representation of a Scarlet Macaw. It is the bird on the right that I am wondering about. It would appear to be a cross between a Hyacinth Macaw and a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo...
  22. R

    Another Calendar Bird

    Some years ago a photographic field guide came out with some of the birds wrongly identified. It turned out that after the experts had selected photos a picture editor had gone through and changed some of them to ones that looked prettier - but were unfortunately of the wrong species. I wonder...
  23. R

    Calendar Birds

    I have been enjoying the beautiful pictures in my 2016 Audubon page-a-day calendar, but I am a little disturbed that one and maybe two of the first eight birds are misidentified. The bird labeled "Snow Goose" I think is actually a white domestic goose. The bird labeled "Great Blue Heron" looks...
  24. R

    Great Black Hawk?

    I am planning a trip to south Florida next week and I am wondering if the Great Black Hawk that was present in Miami for some years is still around. I have not seen any posts about it lately, but I know that with long-resident rarities people often stop reporting them. Thanks for your help.
    • rkj
    • Thread
    • Replies: 2
    • Forum: Florida
  25. R

    Odd dove, California, USA

    I observed this bird in central California 7 March 2014. It was the size and shape of a Eurasian Collared Dove, several of which were in the area, and I think that is probably what it was. But the dark head and breast are unlike any ECD that I have seen before. Some Rock Pigeons might show...
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