A few Middle East birds

We spent the first few days of November in Israel.  It wasn't a birding trip (though it would be a really good place to take one, especially in November) however we did meet a few lifers while we were there.  And saw a couple of old friends as well.

White-throated Kingfisher

and a Pied Kingfisher.

The picture above was only possible because I borrowed my daughter's camera with its 65x zoom. With the bare eye, that kingfisher was just a black and white spot on the shoreline.

Possibly the most exotic bird we were fortunate enough to see, the Eurasian Hoopoe.

At the same location as the above three birds, the excavated site of Caesarea, we also saw a Little Egret, very similar to the Snowy Egret on this side of the world.

Our other best accidental birding site was on the shores of the Dead Sea.  There we met several Tristram's Starlings.

 

A Blackstart

 A White Wagtail

And a Common Myna, a common bird where we travelled, but also apparently an introduced bird.

The bird we saw the most, and everywhere we went, was the House Sparrow.  The one here only varied because it had rather a lot of white on it. Because of the white on the beak, I wondered about paint, except that a few feathers toward the tail also show white.

A songbird that we saw and heard several times was the White-spectacled Bulbul.  It has a very pretty song.

Another exciting bird to meet was the Middle Eastern answer to the hummingbird.  A Palestine Sunbird.

And there was the every-where-present Hooded Crow.

 And on the Sea of Galilee (which is a lake, of course) a Pygmy Cormorant.

When Solomon wrote about the cooing of doves heard in the land he just may have been talking about the Laughing Dove.

And seen from the window of our bus, yes we were on a bus tour, was a flock of Great White Pelicans.

While on a walk outside our hotel in Jerusalem, several Rose-ringed Parakeets flew noisily by, landing in a tree near us. Also known as the Ring-necked Parakeet, we have previously seen this native of India and central Africa in London, England. Apparently they are doing better in parts of the world where escaped pets have colonized than they are doing in their native territory where farmers do not like them.

One of the old friends was the Black-crowned Night Heron, sitting here by the Sea of Galilee with a White-throated Kingfisher.

There were lots more birds around: cranes, gulls, kestrels, hawks, swallows, but we were unable to identify them or to photograph them.  Still, for a nonbirding trip with only a few minutes now and then to wander off on our own, we were pleased with what we were able to see.

Common Redpolls

On October 16 which is certainly the earliest I've seen them.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 Immature

Tennessee Warbler

Autumn Birding

I don't like to call it autumn when the temperatures are still well into the 20s but what else can I say?  The birds are migrating.

Warblers pass through.  So why do I only get a clear photo of the one I already know?

A beautiful Yellow Warbler.  Yellow being my favourite colour in flowers, walls, and clothes, it may also be my favourite colour in birds.

A sparrow showing off:

Not too often a bird makes me laugh, but this one did.  Here he is looking a bit more birdlike.

And then there was the new discovery.  It started when I took a photograph that I was sure was of a Cedar Waxwing only when I looked at it on the computer, the bird had a striped chest.  Not even my favourite bird ID site, All About Birds, told me that juvenile Cedar Waxwings have striped chests.

Buffalo Pound Provincial Park

Eastern Phoebe nesting in an old barn swallow nest in a gazebo.

Mountain Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird (taken into the sun, unfortunately.  When I tried to circle around, he took offense and flew away.)

These three birds were photographed by the bison paddocks in the Nicolle Flats trailhead area.

In the main park area we saw at least two flycatchers, probably Least but as they were silent, we can only guess,

 several Chipping Sparrows,

and a noisy family of young Eastern Kingbirds.

If someone can tell me why the above Chipping Sparrow looks so different from the one below, I'd appreciate it.  Is it age?  sex?  regional variations?

Who's Nesting in our Yard? Part 2

 Chipping Sparrows

 Mourning Doves

 American Goldfinches

And Loggerhead Shrikes

Sorry, I don't have juvenile photos for all of these, but I feel we can safely assume they are nesting here when they are around at the end of July. I saw three Loggerhead Shrikes together today, and another right afterwards that I don't think was part of the first group, so can say they had a successful nesting season.  One of the birds hovered in the air for several seconds. I watched it, then wished I could have caught it on video.

Somehow it looks cuter when wrens do it

Juvenile American Robin

Who is nesting in our yard? Part 1

Barn Swallows

Baltimore Orioles

American Robins

Common Grackles

Is this yet another wren song?

Apparently it's not.  According to the very helpful people on SaskBirds, this is a Warbling Vireo. Now I just need to see the bird.  It is very elusive, at least in my yard, and prefers to forage in the tops of trees.

Learning to recognize birds by their sounds as well as by sight is very challenging, though it certainly increases the number of birds I can identify at any random time.  It would be a whole lot easier if they didn't have so many different songs.  Or if they would just come out into the open while they sang.

A video of a woodpecker, but who is doing the singing?

This is the Black-backed Woodpecker. I assume the singer is a warbler, but that is as far as my guessing goes. Once again the SaskBirders have come through. They tell me this is a Tennessee Warbler. 

For people like me who prefer to see the bird that is singing, here is a Tennessee Warbler I photographed in our yard a year ago in May.

Least Flycatcher: no longer a mystery

At a picnic today, someone told us there was a bird's nest nearby at eye level containing a titmouse.  I was immediately sceptical, but hopeful at the same time.

The nest wasn't quite at eye level, not for me anyway, but when I stood on an unused picnic table some distance away I was able to take some photos. With only half of the bird visible, identification for me is a tricky thing, but how about a Least Flycatcher?  My first guess was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but on closer viewing of the photos I'm pretty much rejecting that idea. It appears that rejection was a good choice, as this little bird has been confirmed as a Least Flycatcher.  Or as confirmed a silent flycatcher sitting on a nest can be.

Here is a photo I took a few years ago for comparison.This is a Least Flycatcher, using voice as well as appearance to make the id.

New Birds

We went searching for new birds in Prince Albert National Park.  We certainly heard new birds, but were unable to identify most of what we heard.  Here are three we did identify. The first we did by sight, but then confirmed with a recording of its voice.

The Alder Flycatcher.

This one was in the grass along a path when Ray passed by.  It waited patiently till I caught up, then flew up into a tree for a photo shoot.

The Spruce Grouse.

We went north hoping to see woodpeckers.  We saw three species, this was the only new one, but we were fortunate to see it three times, Ray and I each glimpsed it once separately, then we were together when it stuck around for photos.

The Black-backed Woodpecker.

We were looking for new warblers as well, but that is another story entirely. Maybe next time.

First Goldfinch

Two arrived in our yard earlier this week (May 5). Scouts, I'm guessing, as they didn't stay long.

 Had a sprinkling of rain and our first-of-year rainbow the same day.

Osprey at Gardiner Dam

I had no time to bird yesterday, but when I drove across the dam there were two big birds sitting on the Osprey nest.  What could I do?

The Ospreys have returned!


 I guess the Bald Eagle we saw on April 12 was just house sitting.

And yes, I am seriously thinking about a new camera.  I love this one in many ways, but not when the distance grows.