Confusing Identifications

I have come to the conclusion that identifying the birds I see everyday is not an easy task.  Sure I know more birds than your average Joe and there are some that come easy to me.  The common ones I have memorized and can I.D. by sight or sound.  But then there are some real challenges, like trying to I.D. birds that are very similar, or too far away to get a good look, or fly by so fast, you don't get a chance to see their features.

A new yard bird for this week presented a challenge.  A couple of days ago when I looked out my back window, I saw a large bird fly into one of the snowy trees in the back woods.  I ran and got the binoculars and tried to locate it, but couldn't seem to find it.  Finally, I opened the window, looked and listened, and I could hear that it was either a raven or a crow.  Grabbed my iPhone and geared up my iBird app to listen to the calls of the raven and the crow to see if I could distinguish between the two and what I had heard.  Difficult to say the least, I determined at that point.  A little while later, I was letting the little dog (my chihuahua Jack E. Cheez) outside, and there was the crow/raven in the tree right there in front of me.  It looked at me, and I looked at it.  It let out a few caw, caw, caws.  I'm thinking it is a Common Raven, but then again it could be an American Crow.  We exchanged a few glances, the dog a few barks.  I was downstairs at the time, and all my 'gear' was upstairs.  So back upstairs I went, hoping to view it in the binoculars or get a quick snapshot, so I could further analyze it on the computer.  But no, it was gone by then.  Later, I could still hear it in the neighborhood, so out came the iBird app, and I love turning on the sound bites and flirting with the neighborhood birds!  Out on my balcony, in the snow, caw, caw, cawing with the crows!  But, after playing my bird games, consulting my bird apps, I concluded it was a Common Raven, bigger than the American Crow and known to hang out in the area.  The iBird recording and the back and forth between the bird and I was the clincher   Sounded just like a Raven, and not quite like a crow.  So adding to my Yard Bird List for 2013 is "The Common Raven".  I really think he was eyeing the little birds at the suet feeders, seeing if they would make a tasty little snack for a great big black bird.  The nuthatches and Downy took off until trouble left the hood.  Although I am confident that this I.D. was accurate, honestly when I only see a quick glance of a big black bird, I do my best to distinguish between the two, but can't be 100% sure.

I decided since I needed to go to the grocery store, that I would do some birding while I was out and about.  First hotspot near my home is the Walter and Betty Davis wetland about a mile from my home.  The lake is totally frozen now except for a small area at this wetland.  There were about 25 ducks there, a few easily identifiable, the rest, not so much.  Yep, another identity challenge!   I determined I really need a set of binoculars to leave in the car.  There were a pair of Common Mergansers, a male and female I am assuming.  They were apart from the rest of the group.  Also, some Mallards, and then there were the dozen or so unidentifiable ones.  So I took a few fuzzy snapshots in hopes I could I.D. them later after scrutinizing them on the computer.  I did discover several of them to be Ring-necked Ducks.   I have been questioning my I.D. of the American Coots just after New Year, and wondered if they were something else, and now I'm thinking they may have been the same group of mixed ducks, which included at least one coot with the rest of ducks. Still I'm not sure on some of the other ducks.  The females are even tougher to identify.  I'm thinking about posting a couple of the shots on Google+ in my birding communities to see if I can get some help identifying them.  This is where a better quality camera and nice zoom lens would come in handy.  Oh a bird lady can dream can't she?

*After finally going to bed at 2:45 a.m., I'm up with the hubby as he gets ready for work at 4:45 a.m.  Again looking at the fuzzy pictures I took at the wetland yesterday of the ducks I was having a hard time identifying.  I figured it out, after consulting my Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds.  Funny how a different reference can cinch the I.D.  Anyways, I am happy to report that there were several American Wigeon along with the Mergansers, Mallards, American Coot and Ring-necked Ducks.  And that is a new life bird for me!!  My first new bird of the year!

Ring-necked Duck and an American Wigeon

I didn't see many Red-tailed Hawks out today, just one actually, which is unusual.  I normally see several on a trip into town between Clayton and Wandermere.  Just after I saw the Red-tail, a Red-shafted (Northern) Flicker flew by that I identified by it's flight pattern and coloring.  A couple of those big black birds were cleaning up a deer carcus along side of the highway.  I assumed they were Ravens, and not the smaller American Crows, but it was just a quick id, as I was driving.

Next I was headed up to Mt. Spokane High School to see if I could see Henrietta, the Snowy Owl that I was lucky enough to encounter last November.  The school's newsletter said she likes to hang out between 7-9 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.  I showed up about 3 pm, and she wasn't there.  On the barn that I saw her roost upon last time, I saw three medium sized birds roosting, but couldn't make them out. Looked a bit like pigeons to me, and I thought I saw them there last time too.  Geez, if I had some binoculars, I could probably have an easier time!

A little further up the road is the Feryn Ranch Conservation Area, that I discovered when I originally came to look for the Snowy Owl.  It is part of the Great Washington State Birding Trails.  On the way, I saw an American Kestrel eating some prey on a light pole at the roundabout on Bruce Rd. and Hwy 206.  To get to the Feryn Ranch, you turn off the highway and go 3500 ft (that's what the sign says) to a parking area.  Along the way, there is a farm home with a bunch of ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys in a fenced in area just off the road.  I stopped and took some photos of the big ol' Tom Turkey that was strutting around showing me his stuff.

Black Spanish Turkey

A pregnant lady came out of the home to see what all the ruckus was about.  I said "I hope you don't mind if I take some photos of your ducks" and mentioned I was on my way to the birding trail. She was nice, and didn't mind at all.  We chatted for quite some time, and I asked about what kinds of ducks they were, hoping to score some birds for my list.  But how does that work with domestic ducks?  If it isn't in my bird books, then I won't count it.  But of course, I am still interested in any birds, not just 'the count'.   There were Toulouse Geese,  The turkeys were Black Spanish Turkeys.  She told me one of them was a Harlequin Duck, which would have been a score if it wasn't a Mallard.  I wasn't gonna argue with her.  I looked at the pics when I got home, just to make sure, and it's a Mallard all right.

Mallard

When I got to the parking lot for the birding trail, the snow was starting to fall and it was windy out.  So I didn't get out of my car.  I read the signs about the Feryn Ranch Conservation Area and how the water gets there.

The grasses are tall around the parking area, so it's hard to see without getting out of your car, but I did see an old barn and what looked to be a small stream or water of some sort amongst the rolling hills of farmland.  I just spent a few minutes, and then went back to the main road, where a sweet little American Kestrel, one of the three little hawks I saw in that area, sat and posed for me for several pictures.

Still no Henrietta the Owl at the school, but I did see a couple of Black-billed Magpies in the area, and that was about the last of birds for the day.  I went shopping shortly afterwards, and even tried a couple of stores looking for binoculars, but only found a cheesy pair, so that will be a project for another day!

As I'm finalizing my post today, I am adding a Dark-eyed Junco to my Yard Birds and Year Birds.  Just one lone Junco checking out the other regulars at the suet.

Sherrie's Lakefront Yard Birds

1. Red-breasted Nuthatch

2. Downy Woodpecker

3. White-breasted Nuthatch

4. Black-capped Chickadee

5. Common Raven
6.Dark-eyed Junco

Sherrie's 2013 Big Year Birds

1. American Crow

2. Red-tailed Hawk

3. Black-billed Magpie

4. Rock Pigeon

5. Herring Gull

6. American Kestrel

7. Canada Goose

8. Common Merganser

9. Mallard

10. Ring-necked Duck
11. American Coot
12. Wild Turkey

13. Black-capped Chickadee

14. Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker
15. American Wigeon

Total 21 species for Sherrie's 2013 Big Year!

Winter Visitors

Female Hairy Woodpecker

I hadn't had any decent bird adventures for quite some time, but since we've had snow, things seem to be getting busy! I had a great sighting today, but unfortunately no pictures to share. Just a binocular's view away, across the bay, a fairly large dark bird was flying around and caught my eye. When it landed in a snowy pine tree, I immediately got my binoculars out, and searched the branches until I found it. It was difficult to decipher what it was. For awhile, I thought it might be an owl, wishful thinking I'm sure. After staring at it til my eyes were buggy, and searching in one of my favorite bird books (Stokes Field Guide to Birds - Western Region), I identified it to be a juvenile Bald Eagle. No white head or tail, but definately an Bald Eagle. They keep their immature plumage for up to 4 years. The young eagle roosted in the pine tree for at least an hour or so. I was disappointed that I didn't see it fly off.

Another visitor, that has been spending quite a bit of time around here, is a Belted Kingfisher. I love these short squatty, noisy fishing birds! Every since our neighbors volunteered to host the fish pen on their dock for the winter, the kingfisher can be seen several times a day, perched atop the fish pen. Every once in a while, he will dive down through the gaps in the netting at the top, and catch himself a snack fish. I am certain there will not be 10,000 trout to let loose next May!

This was taken several weeks ago, before the snow came.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed something on our skidock rolling around in the snow and playing on the dock. At first, I thought it had to be a muskrat, but it just didn't fit. Muskrats aren't that big, and they don't play like that. They swim in a straight line, and duck under the docks. Not get out and do somersaults on them. Beau thought it looked like a weasel. I thought it looked like a little sea lion. When my husband got home from work, and we told him about the 'muskrat', he looked outside and there it was again! He was convinced it was an otter. After looking online, for sure, it was an otter. Certainly, the critter was visiting the fish pen too! I haven't seen him now for a few days, but he was here on and off for a week or more. I did manage to get a distant picture and some video.

Once the ice forms on the lake, I will miss all of my duck friends. I am amazed at how many types of ducks come in the fall and winter before the ice hits. There have been a pair of male Common Mergansers in the bay this last week. One day I saw a large duck roosting on the snow on the ski dock. When I looked in the binoculars, I thought perhaps there was another smaller duck on the edge of the dock, and snuggled up with this larger duck. But the detail in the pictures showed it was just the merganser and the 'smaller duck' was it's tail. You don't normally see the tail when they are in the water swimming. They really are a beautiful duck.

Christmas is on it's way... on my wish list is a DSLR camera. My old 4 megapixel FujiFilm camera needs upgraded badly! Sure hope Santa comes through for me!