[Little bird in Sycamore]

19 hours ago, Aidan B said:

It's a Yellow Warbler. Undertail pattern is all that you need to identify this bird. 

Okay, thanks.  That wide eye ring threw me.

[Lifers]

1 minute ago, IKLland said:

Congrats! A very quality lifer to get!

Thanks.  I've got to go back and try to get some good photos.  That was 40+ feet up in a very tall sycamore -- and she was not being very cooperative.

[Lifers]

Chestnut-sided Warbler at Bette Davis Picnic Area in Glendale, CA

 

[Little bird in Sycamore]

Taken on 9-19-2022 at Bette Davis Picnic Area in Glendale, CA.

I'm having a hard time with this one.

[?? little sandpiper]

Taken on 9-19-2022 on the Los Angeles River in Glendale, CA.

Is this one identifiable?

[?? sparrow]

Taken on 9-15-2022 at Bette Davis Picnic Area in Glendale CA.

This was not the subject of these photos, but rather in the background.

I think its a Song Sparrow, but not confident.

[?? warbler]

Taken on 9-15-2022 at Bette Davis Picnic Area in Glendale, CA.

I need help with this one.  The lighting is not too good.  Taken at sundown from below.

[Lifers]

5 hours ago, Aidan B said:

I got a Prothonatary Warbler yesterday! I was down in Fresno but didn't have any birding stuff with me. Ended up buying a pair of 25 dollar binoculars from target so I could go see it. Digibining didn't go so well through them. This is the best photo I got. 

 

That looks like a Yellow Warbler to me. 😄

[Sometimes I just want friends to see a bird I photographed, no rules.]

4 hours ago, IKLland said:

No. A real GHOW.

It's a great photo!

[Sometimes I just want friends to see a bird I photographed, no rules.]

1 hour ago, IKLland said:

Is that a plastic owl for scaring off other birds?

[?cormorant]

23 minutes ago, Bird-Boys said:

Double-crested Cormorant (left), Probably Neotropic Cormorant (Right). Any other pics of the face on the second bird?

Here is the best photo I have of the face.

I didn't want to prejudice your opinion, but there was a Neotropic about 10-15 feet away from this one.  If this is a NECO, it's interesting that there is no white edging on the gular patch.

There were about 40 Double-crested Cormorant's on and around this island -- mostly in the trees near this one.

 

[?cormorant]

Taken on 8-21-2022 at Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve in Van Nuys, CA.

What's this bird on the right?

[?? Dove]

2 minutes ago, Kevin said:

Yes, Morning. 

I've never seen one with the dark patch in that position.  Thanks.

[?? Dove]

Just now, Kevin said:

Photo?

You're too fast.  Edited and uploaded.  Thanks.

[?? Dove]

Taken on 8-21-2022 at Sepulveda Basin in Van Nuys, CA.

The placement of the dark patch on the face has me confused.

Both photos are of the same bird.

 

[Lifers]

Here is one I took at The Meadows park at Silverlake Reservoir on 9-27-2021.  It wasn't a lifer for me as I had seen a female/immature in Sepulveda Basin in 2020.

[Lifers]

5 hours ago, BlueJay said:

I've been in contact with one of the guides from my Kenyan safari about two months back, and had recently sent some pictures to them for any possible identification. They wrote back today, and it turns out I got 5 more lifers on that trip. They are White-winged Widowbird, White-rumped Swallow, Pin-tailed Whydah, Blue-billed Teal, and Ruppell's Griffin.

You had to go to Africa to see a Pin-tailed Whydah?  You could have just come to Los Angeles.

[In Flight]

[Head-On Bird Shots]

[Lifers]

On 8-5-2022, I went to Malibu Lagoon in Malibu, CA for the first time.  It was only the second time I had been to a coastal location.  I got at least eight new lifers (unless I've misidentified anything):

Snowy Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone

Elegant Tern, Heerman's Gull, Pelagic Cormorant and Brown Pelican.

[?? phalarope ??]

Taken on 8-5-2022 at Malibu Lagoon, Malibu, CA.

I think this is a phalarope, but what species?

[?? Cormorant]

Taken on 8-5-2022 at Malibu Lagoon, Malibu, CA

I don't know if this might be an oiled bird, or if not, what species of cormorant it is.

I think the last photo is the same bird as the first two.  The last one was taken 4 hours later, but in the same small area at the far west of the lagoon, and it was the only cormorant there both times.

There were many DCCOs on the island out in the middle of the main part of the lagoon.

[In Flight]

[Anna's or Costa's]

@DLecy, thanks for the info and the ID.

I understand that different camera perspectives and different postures of the bird can make the tail look longer or shorter with respect to the wings.  Attached is another photo of the same bird.  I think these photos clearly show that the tail is not longer than the wingtips in a perched position for this bird.  So I would take it that it means not all Anna's Hummingbirds have tails longer than the wingtips when perched -- and therefore not diagnostic for Anna's.

[Anna's or Costa's]

Taken on 6-30-2022 in Glenoaks Canyon, Glendale, CA

For a Calypte species, if the tail does not extend beyond the wingtips, does that mean it is a Costa's no matter what sex or age?

Thanks.