tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-331728182024-03-07T02:45:54.601-05:00Birding LifeAvian EphemeraKatiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-45129758836590280212010-05-14T21:57:00.001-04:002010-05-14T21:57:58.248-04:00Hooded Merganser<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1090/800893155_49467aaeac.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-73519354542750280552010-05-14T21:56:00.000-04:002010-05-14T21:57:26.837-04:00White-Breasted Nuthatch<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1116/800893197_3e50524516.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-21175035629335249052010-05-14T21:55:00.002-04:002010-05-14T21:56:13.427-04:00Stellar's Jay<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1065/800893217_e7dd93f75f.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-58422310416307783272010-05-14T21:55:00.001-04:002010-05-14T21:55:30.904-04:00Blue-winged Warbler<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1326/800893251_c440ee1bd5.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-12761570120343131952010-05-14T21:54:00.001-04:002010-05-14T21:54:37.221-04:00Barred Owl<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1088/800893269_d80a516c86.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-8849253281867921232010-05-14T21:53:00.001-04:002010-05-14T21:53:17.127-04:00American Goldfinch<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1254/1164342523_66155732fc.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-37981173509699696792010-05-14T21:51:00.000-04:002010-05-14T21:52:10.298-04:00American Bittern<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1271/1164343261_b8b2d9c4ee.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-30102162897952681512010-05-14T21:49:00.000-04:002010-05-14T21:51:23.123-04:00Tufted Titmouse<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1316/1165198468_ba53644783.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-47111102342819505342010-05-14T21:47:00.000-04:002010-05-14T21:49:45.633-04:00Herring Gull<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1251/1164344081_189f81a6e9.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-87703852319781866292010-05-14T21:39:00.002-04:002010-05-14T21:40:46.277-04:00Eastern Bluebird<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1336/1164344605_b338b0b1a2.jpg"><br />I'll be honest: this painting sucks. I think it reflects the sense of complete failure I carry around because I've never actually seen one in the wild, even though they're totally common birds. Shame shame shame.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-70787900029195631402010-05-14T21:38:00.002-04:002010-05-14T21:39:17.858-04:00Horned Lark<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/1165199750_18fbc8d383_o.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-15101965384333259952010-05-14T21:17:00.002-04:002010-05-14T21:19:02.823-04:00Semipalmated Plover<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecXlbPx-FIYXACozVe8oUNKzlYfbOGL1y2Lcg6TeSxVtF-KBzXmDhAIunW23W8YKo6iPVoBDucYQMP1FWC6uhpchPsauJItydU2OPe1DJOYgIAv0zGnNeycbUqa_uSNq64aS9/s1600/semipalmated-plover.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecXlbPx-FIYXACozVe8oUNKzlYfbOGL1y2Lcg6TeSxVtF-KBzXmDhAIunW23W8YKo6iPVoBDucYQMP1FWC6uhpchPsauJItydU2OPe1DJOYgIAv0zGnNeycbUqa_uSNq64aS9/s400/semipalmated-plover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471300029518362562" border="0" /></a>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-39011049890539754072010-05-14T20:38:00.002-04:002010-05-14T20:40:04.625-04:00A Dandy Ruddy Turnstone<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlkq6U_d1aF2ELFW9VVyQSmjoIZOvtFqxik9uB8It2lcahzQ09-fQiqR6MtDxbArpmQ66cllK2pzQI2zsyzkv35YWH-Yt5PPaV9CJcGkH72snidNnE3jqhcjNnLY9pmaOZNcb/s1600/ruddy-turnstone.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlkq6U_d1aF2ELFW9VVyQSmjoIZOvtFqxik9uB8It2lcahzQ09-fQiqR6MtDxbArpmQ66cllK2pzQI2zsyzkv35YWH-Yt5PPaV9CJcGkH72snidNnE3jqhcjNnLY9pmaOZNcb/s400/ruddy-turnstone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471289898158556802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I painted this a while back; he looked so plain and boring at first so I added in the top hat and cane. I think it suits him well.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-4155053878001396372009-08-14T22:01:00.002-04:002010-05-14T22:10:15.785-04:00Poor Little WarblerSaw this tiny friend stuck in a real jam outside the Jet Blue terminal at JFK. He had flown into an archway by the elevators, and couldn't figure out how to get out. He kept flying against the glass window and falling back down the ground. I stayed with him, trying to work up the nerve to pick him up to carry him out of the archway (ew bird germs!). And then suddenly he just flew straight out and away. <br /><br />Bon voyage, little friend!<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2037/1812961122_baf3203536.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-59061257451171812752009-06-18T21:23:00.000-04:002010-05-14T21:38:14.207-04:00Fowl<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/2490345715_85b4608b9d.jpg" />Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-27261127958762209602008-09-03T17:52:00.001-04:002008-09-03T17:54:19.161-04:00Bird CostumesWhich mascot should I get of myself?<br /><img src="http://www.facemakersincorporated.com/images/e/eagles3.jpg" /><br /><br />For more eagle mascots, <a href="http://www.facemakersincorporated.com/eagles.html">click here</a>.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-80949898593242497282008-01-24T22:01:00.001-05:002010-05-14T21:28:30.414-04:00Scott's Oriole in Union Sq. Pt. 2I got up early for once and went into Union Sq. before work this morning to check out the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">scott's</span> oriole that had been sighted. A small crowd of birders were there, and they told me the bird had just flown off a few minutes before, but it came back a few minutes later. It was high up in a tree right across from Coffee Shop, so it wasn't in a great viewing or photographing location.<br /><br />For me, the best part was when a well dressed girl around my age on her way to work stopped and asked what we were looking. One of the men explained it was a rare bird and pointed it out in the tree. I offered her my binoculars, and she got a look at it, and said "well, now I have something great to tell my boss why I was late today!"<br /><br />Here's my best two photos:<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2353/2216861675_ef9c02296d.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2171/2217655788_136d1856b6.jpg" />Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-32098407591953993752008-01-23T22:38:00.000-05:002008-01-24T10:30:56.274-05:00Scott's OrioleI got an email from the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/btblue/">Metro Birding Briefs </a>that a Scott's Oriole has been around Union Square park all month, but only a few people have noticed and it wasn't reported until today. This is a southwestern US bird, and its range is Utah down to into Mexico; this could possibly be a first for NY state!<br /><br />The report came from Ardith Bondi, who posted some beautiful photos on her <a href="http://www.ardithbondi.com/slideshow28.html#0">website<span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></a><br /><br />Ardith's photo:<br /><img style="width: 401px; height: 307px;" src="http://www.ardithbondi.com/pictures/slide444.jpg" /><br /><br />I hope to be able to get there to check it out tomorrow!Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-27885591137062389642007-12-16T21:51:00.000-05:002007-12-16T22:21:31.224-05:00Long Billed Murrlet in PAOn Friday, there was a rare bird alert that a long billed murrelet, a bird with a typical range in northern Asia, was seen in the Lake Nockamixon state park outside Allentown, PA. Eric and I drove out there Saturday afternoon, but when we got there, it was no where to be seen. We chatted with a guy who had drove there from Baltimore, and he said that a long of people had been there looking, but it hadn't been seen all day. This guy wrote about seeing it in his blog - <a href="http://birdchaser.blogspot.com/2007/12/local-long-billed-murrelet-chase.html">The Birdchaser</a>.<br /><br />The best part of the story is that apparently on Saturday morning, someone told the state park ranger that some hunter had shot the bird. So the ranger had to check to check every hunter that had come through that day to make sure they didn't have the murrelet tucked away in their loot. It seemed to be a false alarm, although no one had seen the bird alive all day. I think it's a goner. Someone's having murrelet soup for dinner tonight.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Long billed murelet in happier times:</span><br /><img style="width: 431px; height: 291px;" src="http://www.surfbirds.com/media/gallery_photos/20061112124814.jpg" />Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-85349313999809386322007-11-14T20:02:00.001-05:002010-05-14T22:00:46.676-04:00DigiscopingMy brother and I saw a great blue heron at Claypit Pond in Belmont, MA. I'm pretty pleased with my digi-scoping (putting your camera up to a regular scope eyepiece) results.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Great blue heron:</span><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2258/2025227797_b186218279.jpg" />Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-11485340570581656932007-11-03T21:06:00.000-04:002007-11-03T23:27:43.276-04:00Northern Saw (part IV) whet owl sightingMy dear friend Jodi Hildebrand had put me in touch with some screenwriters, Luke Matheny and Rob Meyer, who she knew from her work and were looking to do research on a script they were writing about teeange birdwatchers. We met up in Central Park the other day, and we had a very sucessfull birding day. Luke and Rob had never been birdwatching before, which made it way more fun and exciting to see and identify birds. Plus, I got to feel extra knowledgeble. Like the time my mom, my brother and I were candlepin bowling, and we felt really confident about how the league team playing at the same time was hardly better than we were (then we realized it was a league for mentally handicapped people).<br /><br />I thought the highlight for me had come early with a good sighting of a pair of male and female eastern towhees, but just like bowling with retarded people, it only got better. We spotted several middle aged women and a young boy huddled around the bushes between the bike path and the lake. We asked them what they were looking at, and they pointed to an owl sitting in the bush, only about 6ft away from us. We identified it as a Northern Saw-Whet Owl, which is a bird I've never seen. In fact, I've never seen an owl in the wild period. So this was very exciting. Later that night, I checked the NYC Bird Report website, and found that this bird had not been reported all year.<br /><br />Rob got some<a href="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/gallery/3686963#210964782"> excellent pictures</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Northern saw-whet owl</span><br /><a href="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/gallery/3686963#210964782"><img src="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/photos/210970980-M.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yellow-bellied sapsucker<br /></span><a href="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/gallery/3686963#210964782"><img src="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/photos/210964782-M.jpg" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Black capped chicadee</span><br /><a href="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/gallery/3686963#210963544"><img backup="" backup="" style="" backup="" src="http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/photos/210963544-M.jpg" /></a>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-20763639770645253752007-08-19T11:08:00.001-04:002010-05-14T21:53:01.355-04:00American GoldfinchesI saw my first American goldfinch of the year on Martha's Vineyard last week. I was so charmed by this little fellow's attitude that I did a painting:<br /><br /><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1254/1164342523_66155732fc.jpg">Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-69925483320717666502007-07-17T23:17:00.000-04:002007-07-17T23:54:43.797-04:00Rare African Heron in Brooklyn!On Sunday at Jamaica Bay, a fellow birder told me that a western reef heron, which is an African species, was sighted last week off the Belt Parkway between <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Coney</span> Island and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Verazzano</span> Bridge. <br /><br />He kind of dissed me by asking if Amy, Eric and I were looking the swans, which is kind of like asking if you like Andy Warhol. We had our tripod set up and were looking out over the pond at Jamaica Bay. "No," I informed him, "there's a yellow-crowned night heron." Then he asked if I had seen the reef heron. I asked what a reef heron was. He laughed and made like I was crazy. "How could you have not heard of the reef heron?!" He then explained that it's from Africa. Sorry I'm not up to snuff on my middle eastern waterfowl, bro.<br /><br />Actually, I guess he was assuming that I had seen any bird alerts that past week, as there had a lot of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">messageboard</span> posts and <a href="http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/MTRO.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">rare bird</span> alerts</a> out about it. Apparently a lot of people had come to see it at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Coney</span> Island Creek near the Home Depot Parking lot. Here are some pics from <a href="http://10000birds.com/its-back-the-western-reef-heron-in-brooklyn.htm">10o00Birds.com</a>:<br /><br /><img src="http://10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/western-reef-heron-boat.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/western-reef-heron-cropped.jpg" /><br /><br /><br />Unfortunately, Eric and I went down the Monday afternoon, and the bird had not been sighted all day. We didn't have any luck either. Well, back to cutting for me, eh?Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-13351644690410044232007-06-21T00:19:00.000-04:002007-06-21T00:24:45.871-04:00MagpieApparently magpies are as common as pigeons in Sweden. In honor of my favorite Swedish pal, Magnus coming to visit today, here's some pictures of magpies:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.birdfinders.co.uk/images/yellow-billed-magpie-2.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.lonebiker.dk/magpie.JPG" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.whimsy.org.uk/magpie.jpg" />Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33172818.post-5176625663157500312007-05-06T11:10:00.000-04:002007-05-06T11:24:12.146-04:00My lunch dateOn nice days, I like to enjoy my lunch at a spot in Central Park right where 6th Ave hits the park, and there's a narrow strip of the pond that is opposite the nature preserve. I hadn't been there for a while, but this week I saw a green heron, only about 4 yards away, perched out on a branch over the water. I hadn't seen anything interesting that day, and I was just giving up and walking back, when I passed him. It was so nice to have that wonderful feeling of getting totally surprised by a new bird you didn't expect to see. <br /><br />He was there when I came back the next day. I sat on a bench eating my lunch and watching him catch his. He kept trying to creep out onto branches hanging over the water that were a little too thin for him, and was falling and slipping all over. It was pretty adorable. <br /><br />Here's a link to a really good site of a high school art class's paintings of birds:<br /><br /><a href="http://swamp.osu.edu/flora_fauna/ORWBIRDS.html"><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 175, 0);"><b>B</b></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 175);"><b>i</b></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(175, 0, 0);"><b>r</b></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(214, 214, 0);"><b>d</b></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 175, 0);"><b>s</b></span><span style="font-size: 24pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><i>at</i></span><span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black;"><b>the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park</b></span></a>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066135258757455620noreply@blogger.com0