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grrlscientist | October 14, 2008tags: Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, photographed in Hermann Park Lagoon, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 December 2005 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/160s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This is a fine image of the bill color and pattern of Lesser Scaup: note how the jet black of the bill tip is strictly limited to the nail, with no "bleed" to the sides. The…
grrlscientist | October 13, 2008tags: Greater Scaup, Aythya marila, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Greater Scaup, Aythya marila, photographed in Oakland, California. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 December 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Push me into a corner and I guess I'd call this a Greater Scaup. The bill is very broad, and the black, though it doesn't reach the edge of the bill, does "bleed" outwards from the…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2008tags: Greater Scaup, Aythya marila, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Greater Scaup, Aythya marila, photographed at Oakland, California. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 December 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Another scaup to light my way to the fall! This bird's full nape continues without a break or notch to the high point of the crown, which is above or perhaps even slightly ahead of the…
grrlscientist | October 11, 2008tags: Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
I wish that I could see the tail of this bird. But even without that, we can tell that we're looking at a diving duck: the head and body are clad in great monotone swaths rather…
grrlscientist | October 10, 2008tags: Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pine Siskin, Carduelis pinus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2008 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2008:04:16 08:46:29
Exposure Time: 1/319
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 320
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Start at the back, start at the back! We see a short-tailed bird with a long wingtip, and both wing and tail show yellow: simple feather edgings in the wing, but a significant basal patch in the tail. Off the…
grrlscientist | October 9, 2008tags: Inca Dove, Columbina inca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Inca Dove, Columbina inca, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:03:26 18:18:03
Exposure Time: 1/25
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 800
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Aww! This bird just looks small and harmless, like a baby bird that's lost its momma (more about that below). That said, I'm at a momentary loss as to how I'd go about identifying it if I didn't know the species well…
grrlscientist | October 8, 2008tags: Lesnes Abbey flowers, London England, travel, Image of the Day
Lesnes Abbey wildflowers.
Lesnes Abbey is near London, England.
Image: David Warman June 2007 [larger view].
Read more about Lesnes Abbey.
grrlscientist | October 8, 2008tags: Peach-faced Lovebird, Agapornis roseicollis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Feral Peach-faced Lovebird, Agapornis roseicollis, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2008 [larger view].
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
It was a cold, windy day at New Jersey's Sandy Hook, and our teeth chattered and our eyes teared as we stood knee-high in snow, taking turns at the scope that held the image of a juvenile Gyrfalcon. Suddenly there came a jeering scream from the sky above us,…
grrlscientist | October 7, 2008tags: Lesnes Abbey flowers, London England, travel, Image of the Day
Lesnes Abbey flowers.
Lesnes Abbey is near London, England.
Image: David Warman June 2007 [larger view].
Read more about Lesnes Abbey.
grrlscientist | October 7, 2008tags: Snow Goose, Chen caerulescens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Juvenile Snow Goose, Chen caerulescens, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 February 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Another white waterfowl. This is a biggish bird, heavy-headed and heavy-billed, and we should probably rule out Graylag before deciding that it is a North…
grrlscientist | October 6, 2008tags: Lesnes Abbey Tree, London England, travel, Image of the Day
Lesnes Abbey Tree.
Lesnes Abbey is a ruin near London, England.
Image: David Warman, June 2007 [larger view].
Read more about Lesnes Abbey.
grrlscientist | October 6, 2008tags: Ross's X Snow Goose, Chen hybrid, birds, nature, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ross's X Snow Goose, Chen hybrid, photographed at Coronado Lakes, Santa Fe, New Mexico. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 20 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
White waterfowl are an open trap for the unwary -- in many parts of the US, at many times of the year, the most abundant such bird is Mallard, many of…
grrlscientist | October 5, 2008tags: Redhead, Aytha americana, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Male Redhead, Aytha americana, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 January 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Read an analysis for how to identify this species below the fold;
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Here's a puffy-headed Aythya with a uniformly reddish head -- a prominent feature that leads us directly to the…
grrlscientist | October 4, 2008tags: Canvasback, Aythya valisineria, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Canvasback, Aythya valisineria, photographed in southeastern Arizona in February [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Steaming straight at us, this mystery bird is going to make it hard to apply our foolproof start-at-the-rear method. The head-on pose also puts paid to any attempt to identify it by picture-matching. This is one of those cases where a bird that is easy as can be in full field-…
grrlscientist | October 3, 2008tags: politics, election, debates, Sarah Palin, the sad truth, humor
Did anyone see what was written on Sarah Palin's index card that she had with her at last night's debate? It appears that, in her excitement to hold a baby so she could score some "hockey mommy" points with the electorate, she forgot her little card on her podium where the janitor later found it. What was on that card? See below;
Image: ph33 and loathing [larger view].
grrlscientist | October 3, 2008tags: Black Skimmer, Rynchops niger, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Black Skimmer, Rynchops niger, photographed at Quintana and Bryan Beaches, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 September 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Another immature gull: abandon hope, abandon this quiz, and let's go do something useful! Persist, though, and we'll find some odd things about this bird that make it…
grrlscientist | October 2, 2008tags: Gull-billed Tern, Sterna nilotica, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Gull-billed Tern, Sterna nilotica, photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, Yacht Basin Road, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 May 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This stunning portrait is readily identified as [that] of a Gull-billed Tern. All the usual field guide characters are on display, but all we really need to…
grrlscientist | October 1, 2008tags: fishing hole, River Orchy, Scottish highlands, Image of the Day
Fishing hole on the River Orchy in the Scottish Highlands.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | October 1, 2008tags: Least Tern, Sterna antillarum, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Least Tern, Sterna antillarum, photographed at Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 August 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Another teeny tern. If that wasn't your first thought, you might want to run back through the other tern images in this series and try to get a sense of what a big tern looks like, a…
grrlscientist | September 30, 2008tags: Pobull Fhinn stone circle, North Uist, Loch Langass, Scotland, Image of the Day
Pobull Fhinn.
Stones at Pobull Fhinn, a stone circle on North Uist. On the shores of Loch Langass (visible in the picture), and about 1/2 mile south of the Barpa Langass tomb.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].