Birding Boy Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 Hey all, got a bird sp flyover my house in S.E. Michigan today. Kinda flying like a shorebird, but I only got a quick glimpse before it disappeared behind a tree. Wild guesses welcomed ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamRHead Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Wild guess number one: Willet? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson Shank Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Agree with Willet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birding Boy Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 Thanks, it does kinda look like that. Maybe I'll put it on eBird and see what my reviewer has to say ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson Shank Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) Thanks, it does kinda look like that. Maybe I'll put it on eBird and see what my reviewer has to say ? That's what I would do too. Edited April 8, 2020 by Jefferson Shank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 10 hours ago, HamRHead said: Wild guess number one: Willet? What is guess number two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 31 minutes ago, Kevin said: What is guess number two? Calliope Hummingbird. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birding Boy Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 7 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said: Calliope Hummingbird. I wish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamRHead Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 2 hours ago, Kevin said: What is guess number two? Guesses 1 and 2 were Willet. Guess number three was also Willet. ? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean C Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Agree with Willet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birding Boy Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 Thanks a lot! Never expected to get a lifer like that in the yard haha. Put it on eBird, I'll see what my reviewer says bout it. https://ebird.org/checklist/S66793098 But it couldn't really be a whole lot else! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Birding Boy said: Thanks a lot! Never expected to get a lifer like that in the yard haha. Congrats! Heck, close to 15% of my lifers came in the back yards of my last two homes, and that doesn't count the historic / incidental / 01 Jan 1900 birds from other homes. Like your Willet, flyovers are one of the keys to getting backyard lifers and a high yard count. Edited April 8, 2020 by Charlie Spencer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamRHead Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 13 minutes ago, Birding Boy said: Thanks a lot! Never expected to get a lifer like that in the yard haha. Put it on eBird, I'll see what my reviewer says bout it. https://ebird.org/checklist/S66793098 But it couldn't really be a whole lot else! Nice checklist BTW. I love the Kestrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birding Boy Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 Thanks! Yeah haven't been getting out to parks a lot, so the yard's been quite heavily birded recently. The kestrels were really unexpected, a falcon on the checklist always makes my day ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Birding Boy said: Thanks! Yeah haven't been getting out to parks a lot, so the yard's been quite heavily birded recently. The kestrels were really unexpected, a falcon on the checklist always makes my day ? Oddly, they're ones that aren't on my yard list. I can usually notch one a week or so, just too far out to justify adding one to the home patch. Edited April 8, 2020 by Charlie Spencer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanityslave Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 57 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said: Oddly, they're ones that aren't on my yard list. I can usually notch one a week or so, just too far out to justify adding one to the home patch. you get kestrels that regularly @Charlie Spencer? i think i might have seen one once back in oh, but whatever it was flew through the yard so fast i only glimpsed it through the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 2 hours ago, insanityslave said: you get kestrels that regularly @Charlie Spencer? i think i might have seen one once back in oh, but whatever it was flew through the yard so fast i only glimpsed it through the window. 10 or so miles of my commute run through farm fields. They hang out on the utility lines watching for prey to move. Last summer and fall, one long-fallow field was cleared for houses. That stirred up lots of small critters. One female showed up reliably every evening for about two months, usually within a few hundred feet of the same spot. I also have a patch where I can get either a kestel or a shrike weekly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Leukering Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 (edited) I disagree, whole-heartedly. Willet has WAAAY more white on the undersides of the wings than this bird shows, and the under-wing pattern is black-and-white, not brown with a patch of white in the primaries. See https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/216367161#_ga=2.248602887.1469966111.1586142955-1184313056.1549327880 I'd hate to draw too many conclusions from these out-of-focus pictures, but it seems to me that the bill is short, quite short, and the tail somewhat long, too long for Willet -- and where are its legs if it's a Willet? The bird looks somewhat gull-like to me and I have to admit that the first thing that came to mind was "jaeger." However, I would DEFINITELY not want to claim an inland jaeger on the strength of these photos. I might be willing to go with "Charadriiformes, sp." Edited April 9, 2020 by Tony Leukering fix punctuation 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirVive Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Love that shot of the backlit kestrel - looks like he's all decked out in jewels! 10 hours ago, Birding Boy said: Thanks! Yeah haven't been getting out to parks a lot, so the yard's been quite heavily birded recently. The kestrels were really unexpected, a falcon on the checklist always makes my day ? Actually had a Merlin visit (and land in) my little 1/4 acre town lot a few months ago Never know what will turn up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamRHead Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 @Birding Boy could you lighten the photo/s, especially the first one (without it disappearing altogether)? I agree that a Willet would have considerably more white on the wing, but I'm not sure it would necessarily show when backlit against a bright sky. Also, I think I am seeing ample bill for a Willet, but distortion can do interesting things to both shape and color. Tony's caution is well taken, and even more so for a lifer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, Tony Leukering said: I disagree, whole-heartedly. See? Calliope Hummer. Told y'all. Edited April 9, 2020 by Charlie Spencer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birding Boy Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 14 hours ago, Tony Leukering said: I disagree, whole-heartedly. Thanks @Tony Leukering, yeah I had a feeling it probably wasn't willet, I put it on eBird mainly to see what my reviewer would say. (He thinks it looks kinda like a gull) I looked at Jaegers too, here are a few that seemed to have a slightly similar wing pattern. https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/114416211 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/114416211 What I can't really think of any gulls/shorbirds off the top of my head that have a wing pattern like that. @HamRHead I tried to lighten the photos...they quickly deteriorate unfortunately. This is the best I could do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nivalis Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 I have to agree with Tony on this one, there really is no way to tell, and that it does not look at all like a willet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Agreed, not a Willet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Leukering Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 I suspect that the white wing patches are an anomaly, but …. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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