Mark F

Seen today by a vineyard in Livermore, California (east of the Bay area). It hopped about skittishly between the dry grass and the lower branches of a small tree, but didn't fly away. Mind you, I didn't try to get too close. Many thanks in advance. Long-tailed bird 2 by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr Long-tailed bird by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Many thanks for the thoughtful evaluation, psweet. That’s an exciting find!

I've made a little montage of some birds that were swimming together in the waters of Glacier Bay, Alaska on 30 June, just a week ago. They were quite far away and despite a zoom lens, the resolution is terrible. From another forum, I had two opinions, either Kittlitz's or Marbled Murrelet. In favour of Marbled, they are generally more common; however, from what I read, I am not sure that they are necessarily more common than Kittlitz's in Glacier Bay. I am leaning toward Marbled based on bill length, but I am on shaky ground! Thanks in advance. Murrelet spp by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Gosh, that would make my day. There is a trail in a wooded area in the west of Ottawa where, once winter settles in, the chickadees, nuthatches and even an odd woodpecker will take seeds from your hand (and from your head, as I just had to see). This was before I had taken up birding (again), and I didn't pay much attention to the actual species. The woodpecker was small, possibly Downy.

Hmm, don't see how to edit posts anymore. I"m re-posting the original photo with the corrected name change, thanks to The Bird Nuts. Black Oystercatcher by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

Wow, thank you! I’ve had multiple lifers from this trip. Really enjoyable.

Sorry, this is my only shot. Taken a week ago. Red-billed bird by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr

The topic of dead crows has come up on my community's chat group (SF Bay area). Apparently people are finding an unusual number of dead crows here and there, with one neighbour reporting 3 on or adjacent to her property -- two of which at the same time. Naturally people are raising the possibility of West Nile disease and I am wondering if anybody has any insight into whether this should be taken seriously, or what the prudent course of action should be. We are aware of the state government's West Nile alert web page and, to answer my own question, I guess it would be only prudent to let them know. Any other thoughts? Thanks!

Thank you, psweet. Actually, I saw it on the return leg of th journey in Victoria. Sorry for the careless wording.

Nice to have the forum back! Just returned from a trip to Alaska and I'll be seeking a lot of advice. To start things off, this seems to be a juvenile gull, but unlike anything I've seen before. What gull by Mark Featherstone, on Flickr