dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) (08/30/90)
... interesting birds lately? (sigh) ======================================================================= One of the Blue Jays that comes to my feederis "bald". No head feathers. Looks like an Australian friar-bird that has fallen into some blue paint! Is this likely to be the results of a disease, or parasites, or an encounter with a cat with a bizarre sense of humor? What was the most unusual bird at YOUR feeder yesterday? David Mark dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu
awesley@egrunix.UUCP (Tony Wesley) (08/30/90)
In article <34190@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) writes: >... interesting birds lately? Birds? I thought this was rec.talk.about.new.animal.newgroups? What's a bird watching posting doing in here? :+) Anyway, a chickadee seems to be visiting our house a lot lately. A change from the onslaugh of starlings and sparrows. >David Mark >dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu -- And little Sir John with his nut brown bowl Tony Wesley/RPT Software And his brandy in the glass voice: (313) 274-2080 And little Sir John with his nut brown bowl awesley@unix.secs.oakland.edu Proved the strongest man at last... Compu$erve: 72770,2053
teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore) (08/30/90)
In article <34190@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) writes: >... interesting birds lately? > I saw a swift (Apus apus) overhead, for several minutes on the morning of Aug 27th, in London. Its the latest I've ever seen one on London. (they usually depart for Southern Africa in the first week of August).
lbd@cbnews.att.com (Linda B. Dunlap) (08/31/90)
In article <34190@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) writes: > ... interesting birds lately? > > (sigh) > > ======================================================================= > > One of the Blue Jays that comes to my feederis "bald". No head feathers. > Looks like an Australian friar-bird that has fallen into some blue paint! > Is this likely to be the results of a disease, or parasites, or an > encounter with a cat with a bizarre sense of humor? > > What was the most unusual bird at YOUR feeder yesterday? > > David Mark > dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu We have several bald Blue Jays at our feeder in Central Ohio, also. I thought perhaps it had something to do with all the lawn chemicals used these days. I saw them last year too. None of the other birds seem affected. By the way, this morning's paper talked about two sightings of Bald Eagles in Central Ohio. Obviously ... just passing through!
plemmons@nsf1.mth.msu.edu (Steve Plemmons) (09/05/90)
In article <34190@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) writes: >... interesting birds lately? > >(sigh) > >David Mark >dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu I'm not a serious birder, but on the way home(Lansing) from up north (Alpena) I think I saw a Bald Eagle. I use "think" because I know that they are rare in Michigan, and the bird was a long distance away. All I know is that I saw a very large bird with a white head sitting in a dead tree. My question is, are there any other raptors that are dark with white heads, found in Michigan that could be mistaken for a Bald Eagle, or can I be fairly sure and brag to my friends that I saw one? Thanks, Steve -- ======================================================================== Steve Plemmons plemmons@mth.msu.edu Math Department plemmons@frith.egr.msu.edu Michigan State University 21144smp@msu.bitnet
mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (09/05/90)
The Labor Day weekend has produced some interesting birds here in the San Francisco Bay Area. On Saturday I received a call from our subregional editor for American Birds magazine, informing me of a Hudsonian Godwit that had been found at the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant. I hustled out there and discovered that the bird was still being staked out by the guy who found it. It was allowing excellent views from a range of 50-100 ft. It was being cooperative to the point of flying short distances along the channel, displaying all its field marks, including the underwing pattern. On Monday I went to the Moon Glow Dairy overlooking Elkhorn Slough, where an impressive array of birds were being seen. They included numbers of Pectoral and Baird's Sandpipers, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, a Rufous Necked Stint, a Ruff, and a Buff Breasted Sandpiper. Unfortunately, by Monday the Ruff had left and the Rufous Necked Stint and Semipalmated Sandpiper were darn near impossible to pick out of the thousands of peeps, if they were still there. However, it was still an excellent day of birding. The Pectoral and Baird's Sandpipers were the first I had seen that season and the Buff Breasted Sandpiper was only the second observation in my life. I watched a number of Elegant Terns, which I hadn't seen in a couple of years. A juvenile accipiter kept making sorties out of the eucalyptus grove, attacking the peeps on the mud flat. This sparked a twenty minute debate among the birders as to whether it was a Cooper's or a Sharpie. A juvenile Peregrine Falcon was much more successful in picking off a peep. When we first noticed it, the peeps were already up in the air and the falcon was only about thirty feet above the ground. It dropped quickly to the ground and landed on a peep that refused to fly. It took off with its prize and flew across the slough. A small group of peeps flew with it, just to be sure that it could find its way out. It was an impressive raptor day, the species seen being: Turkey Vulture, Golden Eagle, Black Shouldered Kite, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk (?), Red Shouldered Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Osprey, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon. Mike
wander@csa2.lbl.gov (ADRIAN WANDER) (09/05/90)
In article <49339@olivea.atc.olivetti.com>, mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) writes... > > The Labor Day weekend has produced some interesting birds >here in the San Francisco Bay Area. > > On Saturday I received a call from our subregional editor >for American Birds magazine, informing me of a Hudsonian Godwit >that had been found at the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant. >I hustled out there and discovered that the bird was still being >staked out by the guy who found it. It was allowing excellent views >from a range of 50-100 ft. It was being cooperative to the point of >flying short distances along the channel, displaying all its field >marks, including the underwing pattern. > > On Monday I went to the Moon Glow Dairy overlooking Elkhorn >Slough, where an impressive array of birds were being seen. They >included numbers of Pectoral and Baird's Sandpipers, a Semipalmated >Sandpiper, a Rufous Necked Stint, a Ruff, and a Buff Breasted >Sandpiper. Unfortunately, by Monday the Ruff had left and the Rufous >Necked Stint and Semipalmated Sandpiper were darn near impossible >to pick out of the thousands of peeps, if they were still there. > > However, it was still an excellent day of birding. The >Pectoral and Baird's Sandpipers were the first I had seen that >season and the Buff Breasted Sandpiper was only the second observation >in my life. I watched a number of Elegant Terns, which I hadn't seen >in a couple of years. A juvenile accipiter kept making sorties out >of the eucalyptus grove, attacking the peeps on the mud flat. This >sparked a twenty minute debate among the birders as to whether it was >a Cooper's or a Sharpie. A juvenile Peregrine Falcon was much more >successful in picking off a peep. When we first noticed it, the peeps >were already up in the air and the falcon was only about thirty >feet above the ground. It dropped quickly to the ground and landed >on a peep that refused to fly. It took off with its prize and flew >across the slough. A small group of peeps flew with it, just to be >sure that it could find its way out. > > It was an impressive raptor day, the species seen being: >Turkey Vulture, Golden Eagle, Black Shouldered Kite, Northern >Harrier, Cooper's Hawk (?), Red Shouldered Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, >Osprey, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon. > >Mike What did you think of the Rufous-Necked Stint? I understand that there has been doubts expressed about the identification of this bird. By the way, there's a Great Knot in Oregon which I believe is the first record for the lower 48. Adrian.
mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (09/05/90)
In article <6782@dog.ee.lbl.gov>, wander@csa2.lbl.gov (ADRIAN WANDER) writes: > > What did you think of the Rufous-Necked Stint? I understand that there has > been doubts expressed about the identification of this bird. By the way, > there's a Great Knot in Oregon which I believe is the first record for the > lower 48. I didn't see it. On Monday nobody had seen it, at least not before I left at about 12:30. The "story" that I heard is this: Don Roberson found the bird and identified it. He even claimed to have seen the lack of webbing between the toes. On Sunday there was an intense discussion between Joe Morlan (of the Northern Cal. RBA) and Arnold Small, Morlan defending the stint ID and Small asking why it wasn't just a Western Sandpiper. Evidently, the bird was molting into basic plumage, but still had a buffy tinge about the neck and breast. I guess it's another tricky call for the California Bird Records Committee. Mike
mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (09/05/90)
In article <49339@olivea.atc.olivetti.com>, mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) writes: > > A juvenile Peregrine Falcon was much more > successful in picking off a peep. When we first noticed it, the peeps > were already up in the air and the falcon was only about thirty > feet above the ground. It dropped quickly to the ground and landed > on a peep that refused to fly. I thought that this behavior was somewhat unusual. It was my impression that peregrines only took prey birds out of the air. Of course, we may have come into this drama late and missed something. I suppose that it is entirely possible that the falcon had already struck and was merely retrieving its prey from the ground. Mike
gss@edsdrd.eds.com (Gary Schiltz) (09/06/90)
In article <49343@olivea.atc.olivetti.com>, mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) writes: > In article <49339@olivea.atc.olivetti.com>, mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) writes: > > > > A juvenile Peregrine Falcon was much more > > successful in picking off a peep. When we first noticed it, the peeps > > were already up in the air and the falcon was only about thirty > > feet above the ground. It dropped quickly to the ground and landed > > on a peep that refused to fly. > > I thought that this behavior was somewhat unusual. It was my > impression that peregrines only took prey birds out of the air. Of > course, we may have come into this drama late and missed something. > I suppose that it is entirely possible that the falcon had already > struck and was merely retrieving its prey from the ground. > > Mike My wife was the hacking attendent for the Peregrines raised for the Peregrine reintroduction project in downtown Detroit the past few years, and she also considers this to be a strange behavior. Another possible explanation is that the falcon could have been from this or a similar project. After young Peregrines are released, but before they learn to hunt, they are fed dead birds (cowbirds and domestic quail) attached to food boards on the "ground" (actually the roof of a 40 story building). Only after the birds are very successful at catching their own prey is the food reduced and eventually withdrawn. Since the young birds have this food source for a time while they are fairly independent, perhaps they are more likely to consider taking a bird off the ground when they are truly on their own. ---- /\ What cheer, /\ | Gary Schiltz, EDS R&D, 3551 Hamlin Road | / o< cheer, <o \ | Auburn Hills, MI 48057, (313) 370-1737 | \\/ ) / cheer, \ ( \// | gss@edsdrd.eds.com | \ / cheer!!! \ / | "Have bird will watch ..." | | Standard disclaimer in effect. |