Birding with tadoflamb 2018

tadoflamb · Jan 12, 2018

Because you know you want to tag along......

.....or maybe not.

Here's a (now documented) Mexican Jay freaking out my wife last Sunday.

Dave-W · Jan 12, 2018

Nice pic. Mexican Jay, eh?
I've not seen that species before

Are they as bad tempered as the Eastern Jay?

OldWiseGuy · Jan 12, 2018

tadoflamb said:
Because you know you want to tag along......

View attachment 218088

.....or maybe not.

Here's a (now documented) Mexican Jay freaking out my wife last Sunday.

Those darned immigrants.

Chesterton · Jan 12, 2018

tadoflamb said:
Here's a (now documented) Mexican Jay freaking out my wife last Sunday.

Racist wife. I mean I know "Mexican" isn't a race, but it's almost noon and I haven't called anyone racist yet today.

tadoflamb · Jan 13, 2018

Dave-W said:
Nice pic. Mexican Jay, eh?
I've not seen that species before

Are they as bad tempered as the Eastern Jay?

Maybe not quite as bad tempered but they do run around in mobs and threaten innocent women's lunches.

tadoflamb · Jan 13, 2018

OldWiseGuy said:
Those darned immigrants.

Can't build a wall high enough to keep them out.

Of course, if we reverted back to their old name of Gray-breasted Jay all this hatred could be averted.

tadoflamb · Jan 13, 2018

Chesterton said:
Racist wife. I mean I know "Mexican" isn't a race, but it's almost noon and I haven't called anyone racist yet today.

We'll be leaving you at home this year.

Little Lantern · Jan 14, 2018

tadoflamb said:
Because you know you want to tag along......

Yes, yes, I do want to tag along! I'll be watching this thread.

Colin · Jan 16, 2018

I saw my first robin of 2018 today . It made my day .

tadoflamb · Jan 16, 2018

Colin said:
I saw my first robin of 2018 today . It made my day .

It made my day too.

tadoflamb · Jan 16, 2018

Nothing much to report. I didn't make it out last weekend because of work and my treasury duties, but here's a Northern Pintail I saw at Sweetwater shortly after the new year. What a handsome duck!

For those of you scoring at home, I'm at 76 species for the year, all in Arizona.

tadoflamb · Jan 20, 2018

Went out to Sweetwater again this morning. I got really fortunate and got my best looks ever at an American Bittern. This was Arizona life bird #347 and Pima county life bird #299. Here's it's picture Their nickname is 'star gazer'.

Here's a picture of a Green Heron.

And here's a a handsome FOY Lark Sparrow.

Year total is now at 90 species.

Little Lantern · Jan 20, 2018

They are beautiful! You've probably posted this info before, but what photographic equipment do you use?

tadoflamb · Jan 23, 2018

Little Lantern said:
They are beautiful! You've probably posted this info before, but what photographic equipment do you use?

I bought a Nikon D5500 with a 75-300mm lens last year. I like it a lot. It's not too big or heavy and it takes pretty good pictures at a price I can afford. Bird photography seems to be getting really popular around here. I run into lots of retirees with long lenses when I'm out in the field.

tadoflamb · Jan 23, 2018

After mourning the loss of the sisters and the Benedictine convent I tried to console myself by going birdwatching. God must really love me because He gifted me with my 300th Pima county lifer, a Northern Parula.

tadoflamb · Jan 23, 2018

I'm at 95 species for the year. Ahead of both my 2013 and 2017 paces.

tadoflamb · Jan 29, 2018

Went downtown to the 6:30 am mass at the cathedral yesterday morning which provides a good starting point for some early morning birding in some interesting places. It's dark when we get to mass, then you can see the sun slowly rising by the light in the stain glass windows. By the time mass was over, the sun was just peaking it's face over the horizon.

My first stop was an abandoned gravel pit just north of the San Xavier mission. Here's what the mission looked like in the early morning sun.

Interesting birds included Crested Caracara, Merlin and Snow Goose. No good photo ops, though. I did meet a number of really nice birders. Usually I avoid socializing out in the field, so it was good to get out of my bubble for a change.

My second stop was a scruffy park just south of there that catches some nice rarities. A lovely 91 year old English woman quickly got me on a Sage Thrasher. A funny thing about this bird, in 2013, when I was having a Big Year I drove four times up a treacherous, rocky dirt road to try to find it. Finally, on the last day of the year, I got quick glimpses of two of them. The next February, a Sage Thrasher showed up at a park just a few blocks from my house. It came very close to being a backyard bird!

This bird yesterday was very kind to me, just like the English lady.

The other species of note were three Mountain Bluebirds. I wonder if they're the same bunch from last year? Here's a pic. Muted colors, but still a beautiful bird.

Year count is now at 106. Just ahead of where I was at this time last year.

Colin · Jan 30, 2018

Tens of thousands of starlings have been thrilling RSPB reserve visitors with an aerial ballet before settling down to roost.

Thousands of birds join murmuration

Colin · Jan 31, 2018

Robin spotted in the House of Commons

tadoflamb · Jan 31, 2018

Colin said:
Robin spotted in the House of Commons

That is awesome.

I liked the bit in the comments about Denison the Harris Hawk.

Harris Hawk is a backyard bird for me. Very cool bird which hangs out in family groups.

Birding with tadoflamb 2018

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Welcoming grandchild #7, Arturus Waggoner!

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