Bulletin 315 - Guatemala 2018 #1 - Parrots, waders and others

I went for a third visit to Guatemala in May. Once again, I used the wonderful local guide Knut Eisermann of Cayaya Birding. On this visit, we went to new locations to get new species.

The 13" Buffy-crowned Wood Partridge (Dendrortyx leucophrys) was a treat as quail are so difficult to see and photograph. We also saw Singing Quail, but I was not able to get a photo.

Buffy-crowned Wood Partridge

Another target bird was the last of the cracids in Guatemala, the 24" Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra). It is a large black guan with red bill, throat patch and legs

Highland Guan

 The 38" male Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) is a beautiful bird and the same genus as our turkey.

Ocellated Turkey - male

A pair of juvenile 20" Boat-billed Herons (Cochlearius cochlearius) were practically at arms length away. They are an easy ID with the massive bill.

Boat-billed Heron - juvenile

Another wader was the 24" Limpkin (Aramus guarauna). This is a brown bird with white spots and a long bill. It is its own family. I had photographed it years ago in Florida where is the only place to find it in the USA. This was second time to get pics.

Limpkin

They eat snails and he has a snail in his beak.

Limpkin

I also got a couple of new parrot species. The 9" Olive-throated Parakeet (Eupsittula nana) is green with an olive throat and chest.

Olive-throated Parakeet

The 13.5" Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis) is a green parrot with red in front of the eyes and yellow cheek.

Red-lored Amazon

Red-lored Amazon

The 16" Northern Mealy Amazon (Amazona guatemalae) was high in the treetops in afternoon sunlight.

Northern Mealy Amazon

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 9 of the 34 species of new world quail

I have photos of 16 of the 58 species of guans, chachalacas, currasows

I have photos of 12 of the 180 species of pheasants, grouse. turkeys


I have photos of 25 of the 66 species of herons

I have photos of 37 of the 174 species of new world parrots

Happy birding and photography,


David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 314 - a few Texas sighting in past year

I have not been birding much at home in past year with the major flood and several trips out of the country. But there are always a few interesting photos when I do get out.

A wonderful addition to my yards bird list is the beautiful Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis). This elegant raptor is a graceful flyer. I first photographed this bird a decade ago about 40 miles north of my house. In the last few years, they are now nesting in my area and I see them almost daily. This photo was taken in my yard.

Mississippi Kite - adult

And here is the juvenile. Notice the long wings and goth eye make up. He also has brown streaking on breast and back of neck. This was also in my yard a few weeks ago. These birds are very vocal and call constantly, so I know when they are around.

Mississippi Kite - juvenile

A few vagrants show up in Texas from time to time. One of these is the Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima). It is a bird of the eastern Canadian arctic and they winter south to Carolinas, but a few wander further. This was the first winter since I started photography that one made it to Texas. It was a lifer for me. He has gray chest and back with slight purple cast. The base of the bill and legs are orange.

Purple Sandpiper - non-breeding

Purple Sandpiper - non-breeding (R)

Another good bird was the Tamaulipas Crow (Corvus imparatus). This eastern Mexico resident just used to appear in the Brownsville garbage dump in south Texas. If you saw the movie 'Big Year' it showed the birders driving around the stinky dump to look for this bird. But it has been totally absent until last fall for a decade or more. Then one showed up on the central Texas coast and I drove down and managed to get it. It is a smallish crow with a bluish sheen. It also croaks like a frog rather than caw like a traditional crow. I did hear it to confirm the ID. Here it is with some grackles.

Tamaulipas Crow - left foreground

During spring migration, Anahuac NWR had a family of King Rails (Rallus elegans) right beside the road and I took these pics out the window.

King Rail

King Rail

And there were 3 black chicks.

King Rail - chick

A week later, I found this Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans) on Bolivar Island. He was catching small crabs in a ditch beside the road at low tide. Notice the gray cheeks and paler coloration compared to the King Rail above.

Clapper Rail

Lastly is a photo of a pair of Green Water Snakes (Nerodia cyclopion) copulating. I have never observed snakes copulating before. They were in a pond on High Island during spring migration. One looks at least 3-4 times fatter then the other.

Green Water Snakes

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 38 of the 254 species of hawks, eagles

I have photos of 37 of the 130 species of crows and jays

I have photos of 14 of the 138 species of rails and coots

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 313 - China #13 - Pheasants, Hoopoe, wagtails, shrikes, woodpeckers and minivet

I had an 8 day birding to trip in eastern China with a wonderful guide Lin Zhang based in Shanghai. He is perfectly fluent in English. We visited 5 different locales. His website is here. FYI making contact within China by email is a problem as the government blocks some email accounts coming in including gmail.  So I had to contact him using MS Outlook. His email is zhanglinas@hotmail.com.

The pheasants are all native to Asia. In the east Asia field guide, there are 9 species. The Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) has been introduced widely as a game bird including USA. It is known here as the Ring-necked Pheasant. it was nice to see in his native area.

Common Pheasant - male
AKA Ring-necked Pheasant

The other pheasant I saw, was the bird of the trip. The 82" male Reeve's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) has the longest tail of any pheasant species (62"). We has a pair of males right beside the car. They have a black and white face and golden body feathers. It is listed as vulnerable. They have a reserve for them and a captive breeding program.

Reeve's Pheasant - male

As they walked further away, I was finally able to get the whole bird in the photo.

Reeve's Pheasant - male

The 3 species of new woodpeckers were also a treat on the trip. The males all have some red on the head, but the photos are not oriented in a way that I can distinguish the sex of the 3 species. 

The smallest (6")  is the Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos canicapillus)

Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

In the same genus is the 8" Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). It has a red belly.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The largest was the 12" Gray-headed Woodpecker (Picus canis) . It is a green woodpecker with a gray head.

Gray-headed Woodpecker

The most unusual bird on the trip is the 13" Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops). It is one of 3 living hoopoe species. I knew this bird from looking at the guide book before the trip. It seems to be a common bird and I saw perhaps a dozen during the week. It is beige bodied with black and white wings, black tail, large crest and a long bill. It is an easy ID even for me who had never seen it before. The long crest is only elevated when the bird lands. I did not know that and missed the chance to see it raised.

Eurasian Hoopoe

And a few songbirds to finish up all the China birds from the trip. The 8.5" Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) has a gray crown, black mask, wings and tail and rusty back.

Long-tailed Shrike

The 7.5" Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus) is a brown bird with a gray mask.

Bull-headed Shrike

The 7" male Gray-chinned Minivet (Pericrocotus solaris) is the second member of the cuckooshrike family I have see. The male is black and orange.

Gray-chinned Minivet - male

The female is yellow and gray

Gray-chinned Minivet - female

The last 3 birds are all in the same family..wagtails and pipits. The 6" Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens) is a brown bird with streaked chest and buffy belly. It is the same bird as the American Pipit here in North America but a likely future split according to the guide.

Buff-bellied Pipit
AKA American Pipit

The 6" Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) is streaked and olive coloration.

Olive-backed Pipit

The 7" White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a dapper black and white bird.

White Wagtail

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 12 of the 182 species of pheasants, turkeys and partridges.

I have photos of 48 of the 234 species of woodpeckers

I have photos of 4 of the 34 species of shrikes

I have photos of 2 of the 92 species of cuckooshrikes

I have photos of 5 of the 34 species of wagtails and pipits

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 312 - China #12 - Misc small songbirds

I had an 8 day birding to trip in eastern China with a wonderful guide Lin Zhang based in Shanghai. He is perfectly fluent in English. We visited 5 different locales. His website is here. FYI making contact within China by email is a problem as the government blocks some email accounts coming in including gmail.  So I had to contact him using MS Outlook. His email is zhanglinas@hotmail.com.

The 5.5" Japanese Tit (Parus minor) looks like a chickadee for sure, but he has a black stripe down the midline underneath.

Japanese Tit

The 4"  male Yellow-bellied Tit (Periparus venustulus) is endemic to SE China. It resembles a chickadee with a complete yellow breast and belly. 

Yellow-bellied Tit - male

The female is greenish and has a white throat.

Yellow-bellied Tit - female

The next 2 birds are in the bushtit family. The 4.5 " male Black-throated Tit (Aegithalos concinnus). He resembles our chickadees more then the drab bushtit.

Black-throated Tit - male

The 6" Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) looks like a long tailed chickadee.

Long-tailed Tit

The 4" Chinese Penduline Tit (Remiz consobrinus) is in a tiny family called penduline tits and there is only 1 species in the Americas, the Verdin. This photo is a drab female. The male is more brightly marked but I never saw him.

Chinese Penduline Tit - female

There are many Old World birds called babblers and they are in 7 different families! This is the 4.5" Rufous-capped Babbler (Stachyris ruficeps). It is the first bird I have photographed in the timaliidae family. All of the are in Asia. It is an olive green bird with a bright rufous cap.

Rufous-capped Babbler

The tiny 4" White-rumped Munia (Lonchura striata) is a brown and white bird popular as a pet. Other species of the lonchura genus are found as escapes in USA and Hawaii.

White-rumped Munia

The 5" Huet's Fulvetta (Alcippe hueti) is a brown bodied bird with gray head. He also has a bright white eye ring. It is the first member of this family I have seen or photographed.

Huet's Fulvetta

The 4.5" Brown-flanked Bush Warbler (Horornis fortipes) is a member of the small (32 species) cettia bush warbler family. They are all in east Asia and Pacific Islands to Fiji. The seem to be all drab brown and closely resemble our wrens. This is the only member of this family I have seen.

Brown-flanked Bush Warbler

And the final tiny bird is the 4" Zitting Cisiticola (Cisitcola juncidis), This is a small brown streaked bird that would be impossible to ID without the guide.

Zitting Cisticola

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 11 of the 64 species of chickadees and tits.

I have photos of 3 of the 13 species of bushtits.

I have photos of 2 of the 10 species of penduline tits

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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

Bulletin 311 - China #11 - Gulls, tern, grebes

I had an 8 day birding to trip in eastern China with a wonderful guide Lin Zhang based in Shanghai. He is perfectly fluent in English. We visited 5 different locales. His website is here. FYI making contact within China by email is a problem as the government blocks some email accounts coming in including gmail.  So I had to contact him using MS Outlook. His email is zhanglinas@hotmail.com.

The lumping and splitting of gulls makes them a difficult family of birds and the multiple plumages as they progress form juvenile to adult over 3 or 4 years is challenging so I always use a guide. 

The small 12" Saunder's Gull (Choriocephalus saundersi) is listed as vulnerable with a very small range in eastern China. It is a black-headed gull in breeding plumage. It also has a distinctive underwing pattern.

Saunder's Gull - breeding adult

The 23" Heuglin's Gull (Larus fuscus) is now lumped within Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Heuglin's Gull (lumped with Lesser Black-backed Gull)

The 24" Mongolian Gull (Larus vegae) is currently lumped in with Vega Gull which itself was split from Herring Gull

Mongolian Gull (lumped with Vega Gull)

The 19" Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) is a white-headed gull with a black tail tipped in white. It is endemic to east Asia.

Black-tailed Gull

 The winter 16" Black-headed Gull  (Choriocephalus ridibundus) has a black spot behind the eye, red and black bill and black tips to primary wing feathers.

Black-headed Gull - adult winter

I also saw the Relict Gull another rare East Asian species and in my excitement to get closer to the bird, I forgot to take a photo before approaching the flock and they flew away. Live and learn - ugh.

The only tern I photographed was the 11" Whiskered Tern (Childonias hybrida). It is a small gray tern with a black whisker behind the bill. It is visible on a larger photo.

Whiskered Tern

The winter 11" Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) is mostly brown with a yellow eye. In summer he has a red throat and breast. We saw many of these cute birds in Poyang Lake area and I finally got some nice close-up photos.

Little Grebe - winter

The huge 19" Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) has a black and white neck and white face and rufous behind the eye and chin. The bushy crest is just visible.

Great Crested Grebe - breeding

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 33 of the 101 species of gulls and terns.

I have photos of 11 of the 22 species of grebes.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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