Just a bird

People see me with a monster 400mm on a tripod slung over my shoulder, and they ask questions like "Is that a ringneck or a bufflehead way out there?" Or "Wow, look at that hooded merganser!"

The first time I heard the word "bufflehead" I just laughed - poor girl thought I was some snobby snot-nosed ornitholigist or something. C'Mon - "bufflehead" is a funny sounding word.

So, I have no idea what kind of bird this is. It's not a goose. And it's got 2 eyes, 2 wings, and 2 feet, so it's not from Montreal. That's all I know.

Were you looking for something a little more specific than "It's a sparrow"?

He sure looks comfy and cozy sitting on that weed stalk, doesn't he. And all fluffy, too. If you're going to continue taking pictures of birds, you should get the "Sibley Guide to Birds" so that the next time a girl points to a bird and asks you want kind of bird it is, you can do a little more than just laugh.

I also recommend you read "Down & Dirty Birding" by Joey Slinger. It's written by a columnist/humorist who writes for a Canadian newspaper and he takes a look at birding from a different (amusing and sometimes down right hilarious) perspective. You can get all kinds of tips on how to reply the next time someone asks you a bird question.

It's what most birders would call "justa"

As in,. "Oh it's Just a sparrow"

Like Gulls,. Pidgeons and Robins,.they are very common.. but none of that takes away form there beauty,. or from your great photo..

Scottes,

You photographed a Song Sparrow specifically. They are very pretty with wonderful vocalizations. I'm a birder who loves most species, except perhaps for the House Sparrow and the European Starling. (I have no problem with them in the countries in which they are indigininous.) Thanks for posting this.

Mark Urwiller

Well, well, well. I guess Canon had the bird photographers in mind when they put the 1D mk II together, eh? Imagine, you can take a picture of a bird and record its song at the same time! Now that would really be wonderful....if you're a birder, that is. Too bad the 10D can't do recordings.

"Sparrow" is cool. "Song Sparrow" is even better.

Chicks dig ornithologists?

I've actually got a couple of bird guides, but not Sibleys - more with photos rather than drawings. My idea had been to match up the photos - I just never get time. But I will look up some birds tonight, I promise. Before I go to bed I will be able to recognize a bufflehead without laughing.

Ordered. Thanks.


On the other side of the coin, I was talking to a fellow who was obviously a birder. I was just about tell him that I was no birder, when I saw a bird out of the corner of my eye, pointed and shouted "Eagle!"

He looked up, and said it was just a sea gull.

Needless to say, I felt pretty darned silly. As he pulled up his binocs, I re-iterated the non-birder theory of mine. He said "Wow! You're right, it's an immature bald eagle!"

I felt a little better, and since he wasn't condescending in the least I didn't do my "Ha Ha I told you so" dance. I wasn't happy with his seagull theory though, since I couldn't get a picture until he was in the next county.

Scottes wrote:
On the other side of the coin, I was talking to a fellow who was obviously a birder. I was just about tell him that I was no birder, when I saw a bird out of the corner of my eye, pointed and shouted "Eagle!"

He looked up, and said it was just a sea gull.

Needless to say, I felt pretty darned silly. As he pulled up his binocs, I re-iterated the non-birder theory of mine. He said "Wow! You're right, it's an immature bald eagle!"

I felt a little better, and since he wasn't condescending in the least I didn't do my "Ha Ha I told you so" dance. I wasn't happy with his seagull theory though, since I couldn't get a picture until he was in the next county.

http://www.itsanadvent​ure.com/postimages/dis​tanteagle.jpg

100% crops don't cut it, but I will have to say that I *damned* happy to have seen one in real life.

Eagle? Looks like an old gull to me!

Just kidding! Yup, you're fortunate to have spotted a bald eagle and even more so to have captured on "film" (or should we start saying "on sensor"?). I'm still hoping to get a glimpse of one before my eyes go completely from old age. When I get desperate enough, I'm going to book a cruise to Alaska just to go see them in numbers.

PacAce wrote:
Eagle? Looks like an old gull to me!

Just kidding! Yup, you're fortunate to have spotted a bald eagle and even more so to have captured on "film" (or should we start saying "on sensor"?). I'm still hoping to get a glimpse of one before my eyes go completely from old age. When I get desperate enough, I'm going to book a cruise to Alaska just to go see them in numbers.

C'Mon up here. We have regular eagle sighting at numerous places within a hour of my house. Quabbin Reservoir, Parker River NWR, Great Meadows, Newburyport at Maudslay State Park - all have 1 or more breeding pairs. The sightings are quite common.

This was actually the 2nd I've seen - I was up at Parker River and drove by one about 30' away, but he flew off before I could get the camera up.

It's pretty unbelievable that we almost killed them all off. They estimated 120,000 pairs in the US before it was made the national bird. Then the hunting for feathers, humans in general, and finally DDT brought them to 467 pairs in the mid-60s. We're back to 6000+ pairs now, and going strong it seems.