Gull Identification at the Indiana Lakefront

This past weekend, the Indiana Audubon Society and the Amos Butler Audubon Society came together to offer members an opportunity to learn about gull identification. Our leaders were gull experts John Kendell and Amar Ayyash. The 30 participants had a great day in the field and many of them got lifers. Even though there were not all that many gulls around, we found a good diversity of species as well as some waterfowl.

The group on the pier at Calumet Park.

Ring-billed Gull

One of the most interesting gulls of the day was an individual that was originally identified as a Thayer's Gull but the leaders decided after looking at photos that this is a "light-backed" Herring Gull. What do you think?

Besides the gulls, participants were entertained by the waterfowl moving on the lake, the most numerous being Red-breasted Merganser.

Adult Male Red-breasted Merganser

-Rob

Interesting Fact: Egrets

Did you know? . . . that the long, beautiful plumes of egrets and herons during breeding season start growing in the prebasic molt.  These plumes start growing in the fall and grow throughout the winter and up to the breeding season.  Most birds attain their breeding plumage through a prealternate molt in the spring.  To understand this you need some understanding of how a normal molt cycle works.  In extremely basic terms (that are not 100% accurate, but do help people understand molt strategies) the basic plumage is the winter plumage and the alternate plumage is the breeding plumage.  So the prealternate molt is the molt that attains the breeding plumage while the prebasic molt is the molt that attains the winter plumage.



Snowy Egret in Little Estero Lagoon-In this pic you can see the long breeding plumes that started growing in the fall and have continued growing throughout the winter until the next breeding season.  This photo was taken in March.

-Eric

Angry Birds Partnering with BirdLife International

If you haven't had a chance to play Angry Birds there is now a great excuse to do so.  Angry Birds is partnering with Birdlife International to help conserve birds, in particularly endangered species.  They are helping Birdlife by raising awareness and money through donations.

For more information go to:  http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/12/get-angry-fight-extinction/
To see the new Angry Birds site go to:  http://birdlife.angrybirds.com/



Thick-billed Parrot-considered endangered which is only 1 step up from the "critically endangered" category that Angry Birds is helping bring attention too.  This pic is from Mexico, the same tree was being shared by the Eared Quetzal below.




Eared Quetzal-considered "near threatened" which is 3 steps up from the critically endangered category.

 -Eric

400th Post from the Nutty Birders!

It's pretty amazing to think that this is our 400th post on NuttyBirder. We have been blogging here since August 12, 2008 and we look forward to sharing our birding adventures with you for years to come. We continue to improve the blog and have recently changed the look a little bit to allow us to post larger pictures. What do you think of the new look?
In celebration of our 400th post, I am going to share with you some of my favorite photos that Eric and I have taken since we have been blogging.

California Gnatcatcher - Southern California

Magnificent Frigatebird - Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Groove-billed Ani - Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Vermilion Flycatcher in the Snow - Northern Indiana

Desert Box Turtle - Portal, AZ

Kirtland's Warbler - Magee Marsh, Ohio

Anhinga - Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel Island, Florida

Snowy Egret - Fort Myers Beach, Florida

We have connected with many awesome birders through our blog and have shared lots of great birding stories. We hope you will keep following us as we continue our adventures!

-Rob

Identifing from Odd Angles: How to Identify an Olive Sparrow from Behind

Last week, on NuttyBirder.com, we posted what turned out to be a very difficult identification quiz. I thought it would be good to show our readers here on the blog the photo and talk about how to identify the bird pictured.

Last Week's NuttyBirder.com Photo Quiz Bird

This is a tricky angle to identify most birds from and an Olive Sparrow is even trickier. The best place to start with this photo is with the olive green color that we can see on the wings. This alone eliminates a lot of the potential species such as all of the thrushes and the majority of the sparrows. Both Green-tailed Towhees and Olive Sparrows would have wings that are similar in color to what we can see in the photo. There are multiple factors that eliminate Green-tailed Towhee, the wings should be more yellow than this picture shows, the tail is brown not green, pink rather than black legs, and a striped pattern of brown and gray on the crown where as the towhee would have a rufous crown.

Are there any field marks that help you identify this Olive Sparrow that I have missed?

-Rob

A Fun Bird ID Quiz

Can you ID all 3 species in this picture?

This picture was taken at Salineno on the Rio Grande River in southern Texas.  It's probably the most impressive feeding station that I have ever seen with hundreds of birds constantly at/or around the feeders.

If you like this ID quiz, we also do a weekly identification quiz at:  http://nuttybirder.com/BirdQuiz/birdquiz.html

-Eric

Our Final Days in Texas: South Padre and Mustang Islands

Eric and I spent our last days in the Rio Grande Valley photographing tons of ducks, gulls, terns, and waders along the coast. We spent a morning each at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center and at the Port Aransas Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center farther north. At both locations the birds are rather tame and the birders and photographers are restricted by boardwalks as to not disturb the birds. It’s amazing how close the birds will come when they do not feel threatened by overzealous birders and photographers. At South Padre, there were ample opportunities to shoot a couple species each of gulls and terns, several duck species, and darn near every wading bird that occurs in the United States!

Great Blue Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

Tricolored Heron

The mix of species changes a little bit as you head north and bird at the Port Aransas Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center on Mustang Island outside of Corpus Christi. The variety of waterfowl is really amazing at this location. All three teal species are extremely easy to photograph here as are the Northern Shovelers. The Brown Pelicans also provide awesome flight shot opportunities!

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelicans

Cinnamon Teal

Green-winged Teal

This is an extremely exciting place for bird photographers and I highly recommend these locations to all birders!

-Rob