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lonestranger

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Posts posted by lonestranger

  1. Posted

    2 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

    We haven't talked about this lately, so I'm going to make one more pitch for 'General Birding' discussion.

    Who are you going to pitch to, Charlie Spencer?

     

    On 5/5/2019 at 12:29 PM, Administrator said:

    We have hired someone to handle this kind of thing in addition to adding and pruning the forum areas people have asked for (like non bird nature stuff).

    I don't even think there is a batter in the box at this point. :classic_laugh: 

     

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

  2. Posted

    I'm not saying with certainty that it is a brown-headed cowbird, I'm far from an expert on birds, but I do know that the young males look like the females until they moult into adult plumage. When they do moult, the transition varies from bird to bird, I would think. If you saw the same moulting bird at different times during the moult, it might very well look like a totally different bird each time you saw it, and totally unique from the other birds that might be going through the same moult.. 

    • Like 2

  3. Posted · Edited by lonestranger

    Here is another shot of a molting Brown-headed Cowbird. I know that I was confused the first time I saw one looking like this, I thought I had discovered a new species of bird and was ready to call National Geographic to have them publish my super rare picture. :classic_laugh: Just kidding about the last part, I was really confused though and had to ask for help identifying it. Whatbird members quickly pointed out that I wasn't going to be able to name a new species with my discovery though. :classic_biggrin:

    20582347856_a28159a0e4_c.jpgUntitled by lonestranger102, on Flickr

    • Like 1
    • Haha 2

  5. Posted · Edited by lonestranger

    45 minutes ago, PascalNJ said:

    which explains why the bill look very large (?)

    I can't contribute to the discussion regarding the bird's ID, but I think you're right about the bill looking large because of the bird's age. Without the fully grown feathers at the base of the bill, which actually hides part of the bill, a bird's beak can look huge in comparison to it's parents.

  7. Posted · Edited by lonestranger

    24 minutes ago, Lookingforabird said:

    But the one I saw was very small, I wonder if I saw a younger bird. 

    Welcome to Whatbird, Lookingforabird.

    Size is notoriously hard to judge in the field. Most birds are full grown, the same size as adults, when they leave the nest. Calling a bird a juvenile just by it's size doesn't usually work. In fact, some juvenile birds can actually be bigger than their parents because the parents tend to feed their babies better than they feed themselves. It's easy to fall victim to the size issue, we've all done it, but size is really hard to gauge and not the best ID feature to use.

    • Like 2

  8. Posted

    They may very well have been ducks living in the wild, @Speedbird, but they have domestic genes in them which makes them look different than true wild ducks. One escaped domestic duck can mate with a wild duck and the offspring would be considered domestic ducks, and their offspring's offspring would still have domestic genes and still be referred to as domestic ducks. What I'm getting at is, it's totally possible to have domestic ducks that are wild. It's the genes that make them domestic, not their place of residence. At least that's how I understand it, someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

    • Like 2

  11. Posted

    2 hours ago, Aveschapines said:

    Yeah, I'm ten years younger than @Bird Brain but somehow his formula makes me only six months younger 😞 😭

    Even though @Bird Brain and I share the same birthday, we don't share the same view on math. His math formula makes me 24 years older than it makes him when I am actually ?? years younger. Something is definitely wrong with the math there.

    Sorry young birders for filling your space with us old birders. I'm also sorry for the ?? above, too. They were just put there to see who does, and doesn't, do their own math. I just have to check the visits to my profile to see who had to cheat to get the right answer. LOL :classic_laugh::classic_laugh::classic_laugh:

    I bet the Young birders weren't expecting this to turn into a math lesson...:classic_laugh:

    • Haha 4

  13. Posted

    We sat in the yard and watched the Robins coming and going to and from the nest yesterday, and were amazed at how much food they could gather in the short time they were gone. This one was waiting, and posing, while the other adult finished sharing it's haul with the nestlings. Now that's what I call a mouthful. 

     

    48172400587_139a1068dd_c.jpgAmerican Robin by Glen Mercer, on Flickr

    • Like 5

  16. Posted

    Just so you know, @Bird-Boys, by replying to posts that are nearly a year old, just to agree with already confirmed IDs, you are putting old old posts at the top of ID forum and bumping the current ID requests further and further down the page or off the first page altogether. Try to keep an eye on the date of the topic you are replying to, so new ID requests aren't buried under the old ones. :classic_wink:

    • Like 2

  17. Posted

    I'm not going to make recommendations, but I will say that tripods usually have a hook on the centre column to connect a weight to help weigh the tripod down and make it more stable in adverse conditions. If you're not weighting your tripod down, you're not maximizing stability. I have an empty nylon mesh onion bag, that I can fill with rocks wherever I happen to be, then I attach the bag of rocks to the centre column with a bungy cord that's just long enough for the bag of rocks to touch the ground so that it doesn't swing. The mesh bag comes in handy when putting the tripod in rough water as it just needs a shake to get rid of excess water and dirt when you're done. Here's a few videos with relevant tripod tips. 

     

     

     

  18. Posted

    Are you talking about Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the USA,  @johnwest, or are you in another part of the world? South Africa maybe? I ask because your suggested IDs aren't North American birds, and this is a North America ID forum. Some people can still help with the ID, but it'll be a lot more accurate if they know where the bird was spotted.

    • Like 2

  21. Posted · Edited by lonestranger

    24 minutes ago, Kevin said:

    Can you see thees?

    Yes, I can see them now, but there's only 4 photos where your original post showed 5 missing photos. I agree with you that #3 is a brown-headed cowbird, I THINK that #1 & #2 are Carolina wrens and #4 looks like a song sparrow. Wait for someone that has more confidence/experience to confirm these though.

  24. Posted

    On 5/30/2019 at 12:10 PM, Charlie Spencer said:

    'Primary Extension'!  I've been looking at that all wrong!  I thought it was how far the primaries extended down the tail, not how far they extended beyond the secondaries!

    You're not the only one. I had pretty much given up on IDing some flycatchers because I could never figure out how people gauged the primary projection in relation to the tail. :classic_blush: Now that I know what to look for, I will be paying closer attention to the less obvious flycatchers.

    • Like 1
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