4/13/19 birds

[millipede]

Fun day today... after watching a presentation at Hobbs State Park in NW Arkansas...(from a wildlife rehabber, displaying a kestrel, barred and great horned owls, and a turkey vulture) we stopped at a few spots on the way home... in the rain. Turned out to be worth it with some birds in breeding plumage that we'd only ever seen in their drab winter colors here in AR... like a horned grebe and some bonaparte's gulls... was pretty awesome and they stayed close to get good looks. My only regret is my not so great camera and my less great photography skills... :(

Anyway, just want to confirm a few of the birds we saw.
1. At Hobbs we saw a pine siskin... This bird stayed on the back side of the feeder but we were thinking it was the(or another) siskin.

2. my daughter and I argued over this one... she says pine warbler. I THINK because of the lighting, distance, and rain I'm having a hard time seeing just what the bill looks like so, it's throwing me off a LOT.

3. We had 4 greater yellowlegs on a pond that were close and easy to determine. This was on the far bank and, I leaned lesser while in the field but now, leaning greater.

4. want to confirm american pipit. We know it's a pipit and generally, american is all we have here. This is the first we've seen in this color though so that was cool

5. greater or lesser? everyone's favorite question. In the field my daughter leaned lesser and I leaned greater. In the pictures now I could go either way but am leaning lesser at this point. Not much of an obvious nail... judging the peak is just a pain for me sometimes. The bird was smaller than the mallards it was hanging around with. These should be good enough photos... I have others but these were the best.

[Kerri]

Could #2 be a female/juvenile Goldfinch? The other birds I don't know enough about to comment on.

[The Bird Nuts]

1. Pass

2. Looks like a Pine Warbler to me

3. Pass

4. Agree with American Pipit

5. I vote Lesser Scaup (tall head)

[millipede]

Any 2nd opinions on the scaup? Just for confirmation.

and, none of them are good but I have more pictures of number 3 if that would help anyone.

[IvoryBillHope]

Agree with Lesser Scaup. 

[millipede]

So no thoughts on what I think is likely a greater yellowlegs?  I have other pictures but they're all crummy. This one here is the only other one that's any good and it's not really better but does make the bird look SLIGHTLY different, at least as far as colors go.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

On 4/14/2019 at 6:22 PM, Kerri said:

Could #2 be a female/juvenile Goldfinch? The other birds I don't know enough about to comment on.

Goldfinches are seed eaters and rarely show up at a suet feeder.  I'll join the Pine Warbler chorus.

[millipede]

I guess the photos are not good enough for that potential yellowlegs...  That's okay.  Unless it's some weird rare vagrant... then it's not okay to have an ID here. HA. 
Based on how it looks to me and what's expected I feel it has to be a yellowlegs but I'm not sweating it.

[egosnell2002]

I'm kinda divided on the Scaup, but I think I agree with Lesser. As for the shorebird, unless it's a Greenshank (), I'd be pretty confident with one of the Yellowlegs, and I'd lean Greater for sure on it.

[RobinHood]

I agree with Lesser for the Scaup (just based on head profile - the notch is not always well defined) and Greater for the Yellowlegs (body appears fairly bulky, appears to be lots of markings along the lower body and bill is just about long enough). However, always give my observations a lower weighting than the more experienced here.

[millipede]

17 hours ago, egosnell2002 said:

unless it's a Greenshank

Ha... don't put ideas in my head...   It wasn't hanging out with the other yellowlegs... perhaps he's just a loner.