Sunday, February 5, 2012

Two New Year Birds

I went out for an hour and a half today to do some birding.  I didn't really have any specific targets in mind; I just wanted to see if any birds have migrated north.  I have been trying to find a Glaucous Gull, but I haven't had any luck with that even though the number of gulls has definitely picked up as of late.  I did get an up close and personal experience with a Northern Shrike (#95), which I've been trying to pick up since the new year.  I love these butcher birds.
Notice how the black stripe on the face only includes about half of the eye.  If this bird were a Loggerhead, almost the entire eye would be enveloped by the stripe.  You can also notice the barring on the breast of the bird.  Barring would only be present on a juvenile Loggerhead, which would also display more brown tones.




This picture shows a nice profile of the bird's bill.  A Loggerhead's would be smaller and not as sharply hooked.

I also called out a Lincoln's Sparrow (#96) at the sandpit.  I was trying to get a Swamp Sparrow or, better yet, a Marsh Wren, but I did not have any luck.

No comments:

Post a Comment