Bird of the week 40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M51sfSl5Y8U&feature=youtu.be

Greetings from Florida.  Many of you requested that I continue to post a Bird of the Week ID challenge so I will continue with the Amazing Race blog but it may not be quite weekly so keep checking for new posts.  This bird ranges from very southern Florida, Bahamas, Central America, and parts of northern South America.  Quite hard to find in Florida, this is only the third time I have seen one.  I apologize for the noise on the video, it was near a campground and there were motor homes coming and going and then a guy started up a lawn mower.  Most of the calling is background from blackbirds and mockingbirds, but if you watch and listen closely, you will hear him call.  Good luck with this cool bird and happy birding. 

More on Bird of the week 39

Basic non-breading plumage Sanderling

I was impressed by what you all came up with as answers to this ID challenge.  I wanted to comment on Kelsey, Shilah and Davied's guess.  Bird of the Week 39 is in basic non breading plumage which it will retain until it starts migrating in the spring.  By the time it reaches the Arctic Tundra it will be in it's brighter breading plumage and  many shorebirds only keep that plumage for six to eight weeks before molting and changing back to winter plumage.  So many of the birds do look a lot alike.  Review the points I listed again.  look at the bill length, leg color and with this bird the length of the primary feathers in relation to the tail help to separate it.

Having said that, I wanted to share a challenge I had yesterday.  Sanderlings are in Oregon but not nearly as common as they are on the east coast.  I was at Merritt Island National Seashore yesterday and found this Sanderling, almost completely molted into basic winter, non-breading plumage.  It has been a while since I had seen a Sanderling and it took some time with the bird books before I figured it out.  I should have know this, I have seen thousands of Sanderlings over the years.  i have never seen a Sanderling in breeding plumage, they are very red in tht plumage.  I can see why Kelsey, Shilah and Davied, chose this one it does look a lot like Bird of the Week 39, particularly the primary feather projection.  

Have one more go at it and I will reveal the answer when I see the new attempts.  Good Luck

The rest of the list for the Amazing Bird Race Wraparound Big Year

Final post to update the species list for the big year starting Sept 1, 2014.  It has been quite a ride.  Over 30,000 miles, 40 states and 2 Provinces.  This final list addition includes the birds from Alaska and some I had not gotten yet in Oregon.  Some of the best birds of the year are on this list since I had never been to Alaska and some were life birds. 

I love spring when the birds sing

493 Olive Sided Flycatcher, Black Butte Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
494 Dusky Flycatcher, Black Butte Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
495 Tri-color Blackbird, Crook County, Oregon
496 Northern Waterthrush, Scout island, Williams Lake, British Columbia
497 Trumpeter Swan, Bend Oregon
498 Marbled Murrelet, Alaska Inter-coastal Waterway
499 Northwest Crow, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
500 Rhinoceros Auklet, Alaska Inter-coastal Waterway
501 Arctic Tern, Petersburg, Alaska
502 Gray-cheeked Thrush, Chilkat Pass, British Columbia, Canada
503 Alder Flycatcher, Dezadeash River, British Columbia, Canada
504, White-winged Crossbill, Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Alaska

White-winged Crossbill

505, Great Gray Owl, Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Alaska
506, Hudsonian Godwit, Anchorage, Alaska
507 Thick-billed Murre, Resurrection Bay, Alaska

Thick-billed Murre

508 Common Murre, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
509 Ancient Murrelet, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
510 Kittlitz's Murrelet, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
511 Parakeet Auklet, Resurrection Bay, Alaska

Parakeet Auklet

512 Tufted Puffin, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
513 Horned Puffin, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
514 Boreal Chickadee, Resurrection Bay, Alaska
515 Glaucous Gull, Mud Bay, Homer Harbor, Alaska
516 Aleutian Tern, Mud Bay, Homer Harbor, Alaska

Aleutian Tern

517 Willow Ptarmagan, Denali National Park, Alaska
518 Gyrfalcon, Denali National Park, Alaska
519 American Tree Sparrow, Denali National Park, Alaska
520 Arctic Warbler, Denali Hwy, Alaska

Arctic Warbler

521 Northern Goshawk, Denali Hwy, Alaska
522 Rock Ptarmagan, Steese Hwy, Alaska
523 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Steese Hwy, Alaska
524 Long-tailed Jeager, Denali Hwy, Alaska
525 Hoary Red Pole, Denali Hwy, Alaska
526 Least Flycatcher, Yukon Wildlife Preserve, Yukon, Canada
527 Solitary Sandpiper, Toad River Lodge, British Columbia, Canada
528 Philadelphia Vireo, Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
529 Veery, Vaseux Bird Sanctuary, British Columbia, Canada
530 Thayer's Gull, Astoria, Oregon
531 Common Nighthawk, Rt 20 near, Sisters, Oregon
532 Western Screech Owl, Trout Creek Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
533 Flamulated Owl, Trout Creek Swamp, Deschutes County, Oregon
534 Willow Flycatcher, Wood River Wetlands, Klamath County, Oregon.
535 Chukar, Wheeler County, Oregon

Chukar

536 Little Stint, Wickiup Reservoir, Deschutes County, Oregon
537 Hermit Warbler, Sparks Lake, Deschutes County, Oregon
538 Bobolink, Crook County, Oregon
539 Yellow Rail, Klamath Marsh, Klamath County, Oregon
540 Common Poorwill, Pine Mountain, Deschutes County, Oregon
541 Surfbird, Depoe Bay, Oregon

Surfbird the final bird of the Amazing Bird Race, Sept 1, 2014 to Aug 31, 2015

Bird of the Week 39

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_XWH4krBe0

To the Students of Three Sisters Adventist Christian School, thank you so much for the Surprise party and especially for the journal of your favorite bird of the week. I will cherish this and place it on the shelf with all of my bird books. The consensus is that you want to continue the challenge of identifying birds via Bird of the Week so I thought I would ramp it up a bit this week. I purposely stayed away from shore birds last year because they generally require a lot more scrutiny and skill to identify. Throughout the year they go through at least two and sometimes three plumage changes. They have a springtime breading plumage which is usually much fresher and more colorful. They they molt and change to winter plumage which is usually much duller than their breeding plumage. Many of them we refer to as peeps because they are small and have very similar plumage.


So lets review the ID principles because they are very important for separating these little birds:


Things to look for when identifying a shore bird.


1 Size. When they are by themselves, it is usually a bit hard to determine the exact size but when they are with other shorebirds it can be a factor in separating them

2 Shape, is it round, is it more elongated things like that

3 How does it hold itself, ie does it stand up tall or does it hold itself more flat

4 Bill, shape, color, and size. Is it straight, curved up or down, is it thin or thick

5 overall pattern and color. This can be very subjective but you are looking for streaking, large shapes or small patterns, is there a cap on the head, is there any streaks through the eyes or above or below the eye.

6 Wing length. When the bird folds its wings, the wing tips of the primary feathers lie near the tail. Some stop at the base of the tail and this would be called short primary projection. Some extend to the middle of the tail and this would be called medium primary projection. Then some extend beyond the tip of the tail and this is call long primary projection.

7 Legs. Are they short, medium, or long. What color are they.  The feet are usually hard to see and most shorebirds have similar shaped feet but some have webbed feet so that can enter in occasionally

8 Tail, is it long or short, does it have barring or bands or is it just plain.

9 Call. If you are lucky, you might hear it call and like other birds the call can be distinctive and in many cases give you an identity by itself.


These are many of the points you will need to observe to get the identity of a shore bird.


This week's bird shows up in spring and fall in Oregon as it migrates to and from it's breeding ground in the northern Arctic. I should note that this video and photos were taken at Redmond Sewage Ponds last week on Sept 6.  Most of these birds migrate further east through the plains so they are uncommon in Oregon but some show up every year.  Western and Least Sandpipers are common peeps found in Oregon and there will often be from one to a half dozen of this bird of the week in with them during peak migration. In the video you hear some Killdeer and blackbirds chirping in the background but this bird is silent. Most of the time, shorebirds are silent on the ground and call in flight. In the first part of the video, there is a Least Sandpiper feeding with this bird. As you can see, our bird of the week is somewhat larger and this will help with ID. Also, primary projection will help separate this bird.   Good luck, I will be interested in hearing what you come up with and see if all your hard work this past year will lead you to the correct ID. Don't be discouraged if it is tough and you don't get it, Ornithologist find shorebirds among their greatest challenges and they don't always get it right. I think you might get this one.
Happy birding,

I will include some good stills along with the video.

In this picture the bird of the week is in the center with three Least Sandpipers and one Western Sandpiper on the far right. 

Bird of the Week eating some sort of red bug

Another view

At The Finish Line

Surfbird, final bird of Mr Sutherland's Amazing Bird Race, final total 541

Today marks the end of a great birding year. Over 30,000 miles traveled, in parts of 40 states. I saw 25 life birds and a total of 541 species. The most fun however was sharing the adventure with you students and feeding off of your enthusiasm. It was sometimes challenging to find and video a bird of the week but it kept me on my toes and was so much fun to watch you use the tools that you learned to identify what bird it was. I loved your journals and the fun stuff you wrote about the birds and the sermons that you shared with the area churches were great. I hope that some of you will continue to be inspired by nature and a few might even become birders as well. It is a great reason to get out in the woods. Thank you so much for being a part of my big year.


So now that you have an bit of an understanding of how a birder thinks, you will appreciate this next challenge. Having started a big year in the middle of the 2014 calendar, it overlapped the calendar year of 2015. Since January 1 I have recorded 498 species, only 43 less than the wraparound big year I shared with you. I just can't resist letting that momentum go, it took a lot of work and expenses to get that far, so I am going to continue the big year pursuit four more months. We are heading to the east to visit our children in Tennessee so we must go to Florida where I believe I can get a minimum of sixty more birds. I have my eye on something over 600 for the Calendar year so it will be interesting to see if I can make it. I have two questions. Are any of you interested in following the rest of the adventure if I were to continue blog posts? Also, would you like me to put up an occasional “Bird of the Week” challenge or have you had enough of that?


Again, thank you for sharing my adventure and have a great school year.

I couldn't resist so here is Bird of the Week 38.  This was filmed just north of Sisters and should be an easy one.  Good luck and happy birding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X2RkOnnudY

Bird of the Week 37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLUb5TAmr90&feature=youtu.be


I hope everyone is having a great summer.  I also hope some of you are still watching the blog.  Considering how vast Alaska is and how remote it can feel, it surprises me that we can get internet at all but much of the time the signal is too weak to upload a video.  We are about 130 miles south of Denali National Park tonight at a very nice park that has good internet so I want to share this very cool bird with you.  This might be the longest one I have doon but I can't resist the majesty of this bird.

   They are found in Deschutes County but very hard to find.  I was lucky to camp at a park about ten days ago that has had a nesting pair for many years and these birds had three chicks. I managed to find one of the chicks so there is a clip of him too.  Listen carefully the adult does make some sounds.  You should not have difficulty IDing this, the largest Owl in North America.  Happy birding. 

Bird of the Week 36

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EfEcu4AIYY&feature=youtu.be

I trust all my bird student friends are off for the summer and coming down off of bird overload but for those who might be still tuned in to this blog, here is another bird of the week.  Happy birding and have a great summer.