ricardo00

Thanks! That makes more sense.

Photographed this bird yesterday in Monterey Bay on a whale watching trip. Merlin ID was pomarine jaeger but doesn't quite look like it? Thanks!

Thank you! I didn't see any copulation but there were other killdeer in the vicinity. I didn't see any broken wing routines.

Not sure if this is the right place to post, but was watching some killdeer the other day (I had a very long lens and so wasn't close at all) and the killdeer would run, trill and do a fan tail. When I got back, I did some googling and found that some people say it is a courtship ritual (not sure if female or male does it) while others said it was to warn you not to step on them? Anyone know more about it? The courtship data goes back to posts in the 1920s by Theed Pearse and Aretas Sanders (cited by Townsend in an article in the Smithsonian). This is a link to the behavior: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60519499@N00/52172020533/in/dateposted-public/

Thanks Paul!

Thanks Connor!

A hawk flew over my house today in Palo Alto, CA while being chased by the crows. We mostly have red-tailed hawks in our neighborhood but for some reason this didn't seem to be one? Or is it?

Thanks!

Thanks! Thought that was a possibility but it was by itself (don't they usually come in a flock) and seemed bigger than I might have guessed (though hard to say when looking with my lens).

We get a lot of birds coming for the ripe green berries on our Chinese Pistache tree in October in Palo Alto, CA. Most are regulars and I can identify however hadn't seen this one before (or since). Not sure what it is? A juvenile of some sort? Thanks.

Was watching and photographing a spotted towhee on a bush when s/he stretched his head up as if to look bigger? Never had seen this before. Is this because they felt threatened? Or?

Yep, I see that now.

Thanks Birding Boy!

Think this is a Western Sandpiper? or? Photographed in August at Abbotts Lagoon, Pt Reyes, CA. Thanks for any help. PS. My friend thinks it is a Red Phalarope?

Thanks Kevin, BirdNrd, and Tony for the rapid responses! Will have to go back and look again.