gmr044@leah.Albany.Edu (Gregg Recer) (07/11/90)
In article <35287@vrdxhq.verdix.com> edm@vrdxhq.verdix.com (Ed Matthews) writes: >I was stumped by a bird last night -- don't even have a guess. Maybe >someone can come up with an idea. Description: >Small passerine, resembling slate junco, only smaller, sleeker, lessround; >half the size of nearby female blue grossbeak;finch/sparrow-like gray beak; >dark eye, no eye-ring, moustache, wingbars or identifying characteristics; >charcoal gray all over withunderside slightly paler; notched, single color >tail, more notched than slate junco, about like house >finch tail; fully-fledged and >probably not juvenal; hopping and flitting from branch to branch in >mixed cedar/pine/shrub thicket at edge of pasture in northern >Virginia; song a long fairly loud series of tcheek calls at 1/2 to 1 >second intervals, not unlike the chip of a cardinal, but different. -- >Ed Matthews edm@verdix.com >Verdix Corporation Headquarters (703) 378-7600 >Chantilly, Virginia I don't have my field guide to check but just a guess: how about a female indigo bunting? I recall seeing a female lazuli bunting on a recent trip to the west coast. Very similar to what you describe: basically a really non-descript finch-type bird. Obviously, you don't have a luzuli where you are but I think indigo females are quite similar. On another note: As somebody pointed out, things have been quite dead on this group lately. Mid-summer may not be the most exciting birding time but come on folks! get out there and find something to look at. My wife and I are heading up to the Adirondacks this weekend in search of 3-toed woodpeckers, gray jays, spruce grouse, etc. We're going to a large sphagnum bog area to which our bird club makes an annual visit. Always a neat place and often pretty neat birds too. I'll report next week. Gregg ******************************************************************************* "In future you should delete the words crunchy frog and replace them with the legend crunchy raw unboned real dead frog!!" -- Inspector Bradshaw, The Hygiene Division *******************************************************************************
edm@vrdxhq.verdix.com (Ed Matthews) (07/12/90)
In article <3320@leah.Albany.Edu> gmr044@leah.Albany.Edu (Gregg Recer) writes: In article <35287@vrdxhq.verdix.com> edm@vrdxhq.verdix.com (Ed Matthews) I wrote about being stumped by a bird: >>Small passerine, resembling slate junco, only smaller, sleeker, lessround; >>half the size of nearby female blue grosbeak;finch/sparrow-like gray beak; >>dark eye, no eye-ring, moustache, wingbars or identifying characteristics; >>charcoal gray all over withunderside slightly paler; notched, single color >>tail, more notched than slate junco, about like house >>finch tail; fully-fledged and >>probably not juvenal; hopping and flitting from branch to branch in >>mixed cedar/pine/shrub thicket at edge of pasture in northern >>Virginia; song a long fairly loud series of tcheek calls at 1/2 to 1 >>second intervals, not unlike the chip of a cardinal, but different. >I don't have my field guide to check but just a guess: how about a >female indigo bunting? I recall seeing a female lazuli bunting on a >recent trip to the west coast. Very similar to what you describe: >basically a really non-descript finch-type bird. Obviously, you don't >have a luzuli where you are but I think indigo females are quite similar. Lazuli? Where? Call the RBA! I've been staking out this particular location for a couple weeks trying to find the indigo buntings that I'm certain are there. I can't call the bird I saw a female indigo without seeing it paired with a male for a couple reasons: the female indigo is typically browner than the bird I saw and has a less notched tail than the one I saw. Anyway, this particular pasture is amazingly blue this time of year: two families of blue jays will fully-fledged young, eastern blue birds (I saw a dozen in fifteen minutes), two dozen blue grosbeaks with juvenal males that from a distance look like indigos. I'm sure I've seen male indigos, but can't scope them. There is one royal blue male grosbeak (king of the pasture) that has a crest and looks like a blue cardinal -- one of the most spectacularly colored birds I've ever seen. > As somebody pointed out, things have been quite dead on this group >lately. Mid-summer may not be the most exciting birding time but come >on folks! Yeah! Where is everybody? Flycatchers are really active here during the last two hours of daylight. Surely you guys can find something to look at. -- Ed Matthews edm@verdix.com Verdix Corporation Headquarters (703) 378-7600 Chantilly, Virginia
phz@cadence.com (Pete Zakel) (07/13/90)
Well, I can't help with the female bunting (or whatever it is) and I'm fairly
new to birding (and this group) but one of my favorite sightings this year
in Sillycon Valley is a brace of male ring-necked pheasants that have taken
up residence in a field adjacent to a moto-cross track near where I work.
I've managed to spot at least one of them (usually standing on one of the
many hillocks in the field) almost every time I've driven past (about twice
a month) since early spring. These are the first ring-necks I've seen since
leaving Ohio 13 years ago and they are the most magnificent looking birds.
Especially when the light hits 'em just right.
The only other birds I have to report are the Anna's hummingbirds that visit
my backyard feeder, the house finches that visit my girlfriend's feeder, and
one fleet sighting of a brilliant yellow (or yellowish orange) and black bird
that I couldn't get a positive ID on, but figure is some type of Oriole.
Of course, there are also the numerous common egrets, snowy egrets, etc.
Also red-tails, turkey vultures, golden eagles, one kite (I'm pretty sure),
various jays, sparrows, blackbirds, etc., etc.
Last spring I spotted at least one junco (couldn't positively ID what type),
what may have been female goldfinches (but I'm not sure) and a few titmice.
I know, lots of boring everyday birds, but when you've just barely started
on your life-list, everything counts (and it's frustrating not being able
to get positive IDs on a lot of 'em...).
-Pete Zakel
(phz@cadence.com or ..!{hpda,versatc,apollo,ucbcad,uunet}!cadence!phz)