Birds at Hornsby
a few from recent Hornsby visits.
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Semipalmated vs Least
Here’s a comparison of Semipalmated with a Least. So I think we can see actual black legs here on this sandpiper. It’s a short-winged bird; wings are just atop tail. Bill is short and pretty straight. Overall coloration is fairly pale, not brown. Baird’s and Least are brown-hued birds. Both also have a chest coloration…
Shorebirds Size in Field Guides
I thought this exchange in the Shorebird class might be of interest to B3. First Lance’s question, then my response. From Lance Felber (2020 Shorebird student) I noticed while looking at Least Sandpiper in a couple of different guides a fairly large discrepancy in lengths listed. So I looked at Least, Semi, and Western in…
Photographs as Tools Cedar Point Lake Buchanan
Here’s a reminder for you photographers: I was at Cedar point on Lake Buchanan yesterday. I caught two distant pix of a flock of shorebirds heading south. (Love witnessing migration !!!!) Couldn’t tell much with bins, but since I had a pix I blew it up and can easily see needle like bills, distinctive profile…
Shorebirds at Hornsby
Of the 39 species we cover in class, I’ve seen 22 at Hornsby in about the past month. The only thing I think I’ve missed was Black-bellied Plover. The only other things that might have been reasonable at Hornsby over that time are Willet, Short-billed Dow and maybe, maybe a Dunlin. Of course I was…
Shorebird Mystery Bird
Ok, here’s a mystery bird for the current shorebird class. (if you’re not in the class feel free to email me if you figure out the answer). I recently emailed a demonstration of how to take a stab at identifying distant shorebirds in bad photographs. Here are some really bad photographs (distant digi-scoped). But if…
Molting Adult vs 1st Fall Lesser Yellowlegs
Here’s a comparison between a molting adult (right) and a 1st fall Lesser yellowlegs. Notice the immaculate patterns on the back of the left bird (juve). The adult’s alternate feathers are worn and dull in the coverts and scapulars. You can see emerging basic mantle feathers on the adult which are gray and large and…