Went up to Ridgefield on Tuesday morning... Shorebirds are definitely moving through now, though not a whole lot going on in general...
Western Scrub-Jay
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpipers
The Kiwa Trail wasn't much more exciting... Bunnies and muskrats... More exciting than nutria, I guess.
Moth mullein
The best birds of the day by far were three Virginia Rail babies! I wish I could have seen them close up, but since I may have seen their conception closer up than necessary, I will live... Here's the only shot where you can see all three:
On the recent sightings board many people noted a lone pelican, but there are definitely two still around...
That same lake has quite a few Greater Yellowlegs and what I think are Long-billed Dowitchers...
Crappy photo:
Oh well, here are some cuties:
Cinnamon Teals?
Good stuff... Definitely need some more shorebird practice. Help is always appreciated!
The Kiwa Trail wasn't much more exciting... Bunnies and muskrats... More exciting than nutria, I guess.
The best birds of the day by far were three Virginia Rail babies! I wish I could have seen them close up, but since I may have seen their conception closer up than necessary, I will live... Here's the only shot where you can see all three:
On the recent sightings board many people noted a lone pelican, but there are definitely two still around...
That same lake has quite a few Greater Yellowlegs and what I think are Long-billed Dowitchers...
Crappy photo:
Oh well, here are some cuties:
Good stuff... Definitely need some more shorebird practice. Help is always appreciated!
Whatevs, you wrote the book on shorebirds. The first is a Western, the others are Leasts...dowitchers are quite difficult to id without hearing (obvi) but...who is to say they arent Long-billed?
ReplyDeleteps those rail chicks are too much, too much.
ReplyDeleteThe little rails fuzz balls are way too cute for words...I really love the Jay and the berries a really nice photo!! WOW a muskrat--never seen one--very cool!!!
ReplyDeleteWay to go on the Virginia Rail babies! Did you see them on Kiwa or Quigley?
ReplyDelete@Rick- They weren't on the Kiwa, and I forget which lake is Quigley. When you come out of the trees and take a hard left, then a hard right (where the stump where the harriers used to perch was) they were at the edge of the water on the left side. Good luck!
ReplyDelete@Steve- I wrote the book on messing up shorebird ID for sure. I'm working on the interview questions, I swear.
Jen, cool sighting of the rails chicks, they are adorable. Great shot of the jay with the berries. And the bunny is so cute, a great closeup. Wonderful birding outing and photos.
ReplyDelete