Bulletin #127 – Sandia Crest NM finches

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

December 12, 2010



Bulletin #127 – Sandia Crest NM finches

The Houston Texas area is a great location for birds, as with migrations and wintering northern birds, we can see at least 60% or more of all the birds in North America.


However, one family that we are deficient in is the finches. There are 16 species in North America, but only 5 occur here regularly. These are the Purple and House Finches of genus Carpodacus and American and Lesser Goldfinches and Pine Siskin, all in the genus Carduelis.



The other finches are almost mythical as they are so hard to find. Their preferred habitats are the arctic tundra, boreal forests and high mountain peaks. These include the Redpolls, Crossbills, Rosy-Finches and Pine and Evening Grosbeaks.


In 2010, I made trips to Duluth MN, Alaska and then last weekend to Sandia Crest outside Albuquerque NM and have been able to finally find all of these birds.

The 3 species of Rosy-Finch were once all combined, but then they were resplit. The Brown-capped Rosy-Finch summers high in the Rockies in Colorado. The Black Rosy-Finch summers at elevation in Wyoming and Montana. The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch summers in the mountains of southern Alaska, but we didn't look for it in Alaska as it is too high in the mountains. Fortunately, in winter they come south, but stay in the mountains. All 3 species can be seen at the lodge at the top of Sandia Crest (10,700' elevation) where they have feeders out for them.



In all the 3 species, the males have pink rumps, pink on the wings and varying amounts of pink on the bellies. The females are always duller.

 The Black Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte atrata) is the easiest to ID. The body is black with a gray crown patch. The bills in winter are yellow, but turn black in breeding plumage. Here are the male and female.

The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) has a cinnamon brown body with the gray crown patch. There is a black forehead, but the black doesn't extend beyond the top of the head.  Here are the male and female. 

The last one is the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte australis). It also has a brown body, but not cinnamon brown. It has either a dark cap or a gray cap with dark brown all through it. These 2 brown bodied birds can be confusing to ID sometimes.  Here are the male and female.   

The other finch was the Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra). Both species of crossbill use their peculiar beaks to pry open cones on fir and pine trees to get at the seeds inside. They travel in small flocks and are highly nomadic as they cover wide areas looking for unopened cones. I found a flock just below the top of the mountain at the 10,000' level and was able to get some great photos as they came down to the edge of the road to eat some grit for their crops. A crossbill is IDed by the beak, and the Red Crossbill doesn't have any white wing bars. The males are red and the females yellow olive. They both have darker wings than the body color. Here is a male in a spruce tree. 

And here is one on the road 15 feet from me as I stood still and let the flock walk towards me.

This 1st year male has red and yellow, but notice the two wing bars. Both Sibley and National Geographic field guides show this rare variant with the narrow wing bars. I was fortunate to get a photo of this unusual plumage. I didn't know that it had the wing bars until I developed the photos at home.   

The female is yellow to olive colored.   

This is likely a 1st year female as there is only a small amount of yellow on the head and chest. Notice how she hangs upside down to get at the cones. 

There is a wide variation in bill sizes in the Red Crossbill and this seems to depend on which tree and cones are utilized. There are 9 subspecies recognized by bill size and the voices are also different. So there is some discussion that perhaps there may be 9 separate species involved. Sibley discusses this on his web site among possible splits. But he thinks it would be highly unlikely to carve 1 species into 9 others as the work involved in DNA, voice recording and potential hybrids where ranges overlap would make a daunting task.
For people like me, who have trouble with altitude, there is a medication that can be taken before you leave to prevent the altitude sickness. I live at sea level on the Gulf Coast, and used to get very light-headed and nauseated when I went to Colorado, especially Aspen at over 8000 feet. It would take me 2-3 days to adjust, and I ruined half my vacation. Now with premedication, I was able to leave Houston at sea-level, fly to Albuquerque in 2 hours and drive another hour to the top of the mountain (10,700 feet) without a problem.



For those who don't know about this, the drug is Diamox. It comes in Diamox Sequels 500mg to be taken once daily starting 2 days before leaving and continuing for several days. As I was just there for the weekend, I took one each day. This is a prescription medication, but your family doctor should be able to write you a prescription for it.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.


Happy birding and photography,


David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

Bulletin #126 – Misc local birds

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas

November 27, 2010



Bulletin #126 – Misc local birds

This fall has found me with an overload of chores and family obligations and almost no time for birding. However, I have managed a few hours here and there to get into the field.

I did find a few interesting birds in those trips.



The first is a Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus). This bird was found at LaFitte's Cove on Galveston Island Sept 12, 2010. This is a very rare bird here in eastern Texas. I have only seen it twice before in 20 years, both times in the spring.



This particular bird is a juvenile as can be IDed by the yellowish eye ring and the faint gray tips on the tail feathers. Notice the scientific name means red eye. The adult has the red eye ring.

The next bird is a Merlin (Falco columbarius) I saw at Anahuac NWR on October 2, 2010. This 10" falcon is a very strong flier, taking birds and insects on the wing. This is my first photo of this species. It isn't uncommon, but usually I see them in the flying and thus cannot get a photo.


The brown plumage is either a female or immature bird. The male is gray.

Next we have an old friend of mine. This female Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris) at LaFitte's Cove in Galveston was found again on November 20. These birds are non- migratory, but this bird is about 75 miles east of their normal range and is likely the only one of her species on the upper Texas coast. I first found and photographed her Oct 29, 2006. This was my first time to see her since last spring.

I went to Brazoria NWR on Thanksgiving and found several Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus). The majority of the birds we have here are the brown females. So finding this gray male was a treat. This bird is easily IDed by the white rump as it flies low across fields and marshes. 

I followed the bird as it flew, but lost it as it soared upwards into the sun. I looked back where it had been and this brown female glided along the same path just taken by the male. 

She also soared upwards and as I continued to follow her and snap photos, I saw a second bird enter the scene. This was the male dive bombing her from above. She saw him and banked sharply upwards to meet the challenge.

The next frame has them almost talon to talon. I don't know whether they actually touched or collided as it happened so quickly. 

The last photo with both in the field has him continuing down and her up and away to the right. 

My camera shoots 8 frames per second, so the time interval of the 3 photos was only 1/4 second. We see these confrontations fairly often, but only with luck are we filming a single bird when it gets challenged and are able to capture the action.


This morning it was 36 degrees at my house. Winter is here and with it the first of the usual winter birds. I have heard Eastern Pewees and a Northern Flicker in the area. I have had several Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the yard.



And my favorite winter guests have arrived early this year. I have had a Buff-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia yucatanensis) at the feeder for the last 2 weeks and this morning saw what I think is a male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). Both these birds were present last year and the Buff-bellied has been here for 3 winters now.

I finally tracked down the Buff-bellied yesterday to see where he roosts, when not at the feeder and got a confirmatory photo. He is identified by the red bill, green back and throat and buff belly (of course). He is usually quite vocal, and that is how I can find him roosting in the bushes.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.


Happy birding and photography,



David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net



photos copyright 2010 David McDonald



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Bulletin #125 – Monterey CA pelagic trip

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
October 24, 2010

Offshore seabirds are the plainest group of birds to be found. Mostly  they are black, white and gray in various combinations. However, despite their plainness, they captivate birders because of their rarity or difficulty in reaching the places where they hang out. Usually, you have to go out on a boat to see them and I did that while in Monterey. Fortunately, we had a sunny day with a calm ocean.

 
The largest seabirds are the albatrosses. The only one I have seen is a Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes). On a pelagic last year, I had photos of both a juvenile and an adult. Here is the adult. Notice that it just has a white ring at the base of the bill. 



On this trip, I saw a bird with extensive white on the face and head. I looked at the reference books and it appears to be an 'aged' bird. As albatrosses can live 40-50 years, I guess they turn gray like us humans or our old dogs who develop gray or white faces. 

Several alcids were encountered including this Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) in non-breeding plumage. Notice that the horn at the base of the bill has almost disappeared. For a comparison with a breeding plumaged bird with a large horn, look at this photo from Alaska in June. 

Here is a Tufted Puffin (Fratercula arctica) also in non-breeding plumage. This is the first of this species I ever saw in California, despite the fact that they  breed off San Francisco. 

For a beginning pelagic birder like myself, it is impressive to see the guides catch a glimpse of a faraway bird and be able to ID it almost instantly. However, when you can get some photos and study them, the differences in plumage begin to fall into place.

There are 2 shearwaters off California that have white underparts. One is the Pink-footed Shearwater (Puffinus creatopus). Notice on the underwing, the white is smudgy and there is a lot of brown on the edges. This bird breeds of Chile and New Zealand.  

Compare that photo to this Buller's Shearwater (Puffinus bulleri). The underwing is almost totally white, with just a rim of brown. Also, the demarcation of white and brown is sharp. 

Additionally, the Buller's Shearwater has a white patterned upper wing surface. This bird breeds of New Zealand. It was a life bird for me.  

The Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) is also a member of the shearwater family. This 18" stocky bird occurs in both the north Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 2 color variants are recognized, a dark phase that is gray overall and a light phase that is white bodied with gray wings. We saw both birds on the trip. The dark phase is shown here. Notice the tube nostril on the beak and the yellow tip to the beak. This was my first time to see a dark bird. 

Here is a light phase bird.  

The 18" Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) also comes in 2 phases. The light phase has a white head and underparts with a dark collar. In non-breeding plumage shown here, the tail feathers are short. Also, it has 4-6 white primary feather shafts seen on the upper wing. 

This was my first encounter with a dark phase bird. 

The last 2 birds are Storm-Petrels. These small oceanic birds only come ashore to nest. In the fall, they gather in huge flocks (5,000-10,000) offshore Monterey CA.

The first of these is the 8" Ashy Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma homochroa). I had seen this bird previously on an overcast day and it appeared black. However, in the sun it was browner and the pale areas on the wings were well seen. 

The Black Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma melanita) is the largest (9") in North America. It has long wings and tail and is darker then the bird above. One way the experts ID these birds is by their wingbeats. The wingbeats of the Black Storm-Petrel is similar to that of a Common Nighthawk. This was a life bird for me. 

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright  2010 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

Bulletin #124 – Monterey CA birds

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
October 10, 2010

Bulletin #124 – Monterey CA birds

I have already photographed most of the birds in the Monterey CA area on previous trips, but this time I was looking for a specific bird that I had missed earlier and also missed in Alaska in June.

With the help of guide Rick Fournier (web site), I was finally able to find and get a picture of a Surfbird (Aphriza virgata). I have only seen 1 of these birds previously. This 10" shorebird nests on the tundra in Alaska, but winters all along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. It is found on rocky shores. It is a plump shorebird with yellow legs, a short bill with an orange lower mandible. It is uniformly gray on the back and breast with some spotting on the flanks. Here is a winter plumage adult.

The juvenile has most of the wing feathers edged in white. Also you can see the white rump and tail with a black terminal band. This is very distinctive when the bird flies. 

Another shorebird, that uses rocky coasts, is the Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala). This sandpiper is just slightly smaller at 9.25". This bird is a winter adult. 

This one is a juvenile. He has some brownish color on his wings and more white on the face.   

These birds were all feeding together. In the group as well was this Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus). This 17" brownish sandpiper has a long downcurved, bicolored bill. The head is striped on top. This was my closest approach to this bird. He was only about 15 feet away. 

On the beach at Carmel River mouth, there is usually a large flock of gulls. There are 4 species in this flock - Western, California, Ring-billed and Heerman's. It was interesting to me that the gulls seemed to group together by species.

When a person would walk toward the group, there was a massive lift off.

I was able to get a few photos of gulls on the wing. Here is an adult non-breeding California Gull (Larus californicus) It is IDed by the gray-green legs and black and red spots on the yellow bill.

Here is a first winter California Gull.  

Here is a juvenile Western Gull (Laru occidentalis). Look at the intricate feather pattern with all the feathers edged in white. He is IDed by size, pink legs and all dark bill. 

This California Gull has a large oil spot on his belly. This was taken at the same beach, not in the Gulf of Mexico where we had the big BP oil well blow-out this summer. In fact, if you look closely at the gulls in flight above, you can see this bird in the left side of the photo. 

I found a new butterfly outside a restaurant in Big Sur. This is a California Sister (Adelpha californica). 

Lastly, just for fun, I am showing some cars. At the Nepenthe Restaurant in Big Sur, where we had lunch one day, the parking lot had several Ford Cobra autos. They all had Texas license plates and stickers saying that they were in the Texas Cobra Club.

The Ford AC Cobra was a 2 seater race car built in the mid-late 60's. The genuine cars are worth over $1million now, so they have built replica kit cars of this model. The man in the photo restores cars, and told me that they were all probably kit cars. There were 7 of them in the parking lot. I photographed them all from various positions that I could. So, if classic cars interests you, click on the link and scroll through.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net
photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.

Bulletin #123 – Carmel CA Lagoon Preserve - rails etc

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas 
October 2, 2010

Bulletin #123 – Carmel CA Lagoon Preserve - rails etc

One of my favorite places to bird on the central California coast is the Carmel River Mouth and Lagoon Nature Preserve. This area has a nice freshwater lagoon and marsh as well as a great beach on the ocean. I have birded here often and was here again in September.

What makes it special for me is the ability to see 2 rail species in the marsh. Rails have a special fascination to birders. Like owls, they are very difficult to find and see well. The Black and Yellow Rails are 2 of the most difficult birds in North America to see.

I have seen Soras and Virginia Rails here on previous trips and photographed them, but this time I wanted to spend some time and really get a good look at them and their behavior.
The best time to look for them is at dawn and dusk. They usually aren't out in the open during the day as there are many people on the beach with children, dogs and lots of noise. For photography, late afternoon is best as you have the sun at your back. When the water is low in the lagoon, as is usually the case, there are several patches of sand exposed at the edge of the marsh and the rails walk out of the reeds into the open.

If you have heard the expression 'thin as a rail', it pertains to these birds, who are so thin, that they walk between the reds in a marsh with ease.
Over the course of several trips to the lagoon, I saw 6-7 Soras and probably 3 Virginia Rails with 2 visible once.

This Sora (Porzana carolina) crossed to the beach where I was standing and walked to within about 15 feet from me. Soras are IDed by the brown body and short yellow bill. He is a non-breeding adult plumaged bird by the small amount of black on his face. They are about 9" long.

As you may know rails do occasionally swim. I have only once seen this with a Clapper Rail last December in Texas. Well on this trip, I saw a Sora swimming on 5 occasions, so it isn't a rare event by any means. Here is the same Sora swimming back to the marsh.

Here is another in the late afternoon sun. 

And for you artists, who like to paint birds with reflections, here is a Sora and his double. 

The Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) is less common there and this was my first time to see them repeatedly in the open. I was even able to take about 90 seconds of video of him walking along the sand. It is IDed by the brown body, long red bill and size of 9.5". This one was in perfect afternoon light. 

When something would startle the rails, they would immediately run into the reeds and disappear. Well something upset this one and he extended his wings. I didn't know I had even gotten this photo until reviewing them later. 

I watched their feeding habits while taking their pictures. The short billed Soras just dabbed at the water's surface or the sand. The longer billed Virginia Rail probed deeply and even submersed his head like a dowitcher or Stilt Sandpiper.

Again, I was able to get a photo with a nice reflection of this rail. 

 Many other expected marsh birds were there as well. Here is a juvenile Kildeer (Charadrius vociferus). It is a juvenile by the beige edging of the brown feathers.  

Here is a Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca). He has a long beak that is slightly upturned. The upturned beak distinguishes him from the Lesser Yellowlegs. 

The usual warbler to be found in marshes is the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas). This warbler is olive backed with a bright yellow throat and breast. There are no wing bars. The male has a beautiful black facial mask. I call him the Lone Ranger. One of these males was repeatedly out on the sand foraging. 

As this lagoon holds the only fresh water for miles, many other birds come here to drink and bathe. Here is a juvenile American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis). Notice the dark brown wings rather than the jet black of an adult bird. According to the National Geographic field guide, they only have this plumage until October or November. I don't recall seeing a juvie before. When they arrive in the Houston area in December, the wings are black. 

 All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

email: davidkmcd@comcast.net

photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.