I don’t think this one is a House Sparrow ;-). It looks like an
intermediate morph Redtail based on rufous underparts and brown
belly streaking.
Cliff
On 1/10/21 3:54 PM, M Gregory wrote:
Saw many buteos this morning
in rural Elmore County. I hope I have the ID right on this
bird: Ferruginous Hawk
—
Alan C Gregory
Lt. Col.,
USAF, Ret.
Mountain Home,
ID
Air Force
Public Affairs
Alumni
Association,
life member
Member, North
American
Butterfly
Association
Given the size and coloration I would say it is a nice shot of a dark morphed Red-tailed Hawk but while I am better with raptors than the “little brown jobbies” there are others out there who are more experienced than I am.
On Jan 10, 2021, at 3:54 PM, M Gregory <alanclarkg@…> wrote:
Saw many buteos this morning in rural Elmore County. I hope I have the ID right on this bird: Ferruginous Hawk
—
Alan C Gregory Lt. Col., USAF, Ret. Mountain Home, ID Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association, life member Member, North American Butterfly Association
<1-IMG_7149.JPG><1-IMG_7152.JPG>
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
The only photos I see here are House Sparrows and female Red-winged Blackbirds … is there a missing large flock photo?
On Jan 10, 2021, at 3:42 PM, M Gregory <alanclarkg@…> wrote:
I am disappointed with my photos and I clicked off dozens. I think there are some Black Rosy-Finches mixed in the large flock with Gray-crowned. Was 32 and breezy at the time I revisited the site in Elmore County this morning. There were Horned Larks feeding in a plowed field across Beet Dump Road from the finches.
Alan Gregory
—
Alan C Gregory Lt. Col., USAF, Ret. Mountain Home, ID Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association, life member Member, North American Butterfly Association
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
Saw many buteos this morning in rural Elmore County. I hope I have the ID right on this bird: Ferruginous Hawk
—
Alan C Gregory Lt. Col., USAF, Ret. Mountain Home, ID Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association, life member Member, North American Butterfly Association
Many of these hardy songbirds were foraging on a plowed field across the road from the sagebrush flat where I found the rosy-finches.
—
Alan C Gregory Lt. Col., USAF, Ret. Mountain Home, ID Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association, life member Member, North American Butterfly Association
I am disappointed with my photos and I clicked off dozens. I think there are some Black Rosy-Finches mixed in the large flock with Gray-crowned. Was 32 and breezy at the time I revisited the site in Elmore County this morning. There were Horned Larks feeding in a plowed field across Beet Dump Road from the finches.
Alan Gregory
—
Alan C Gregory Lt. Col., USAF, Ret. Mountain Home, ID Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association, life member Member, North American Butterfly Association
Thank you for your insight on the sp. and photography. I am going back over therein a bit with my big telephoto lens. The pale, translucent flight feathers of rosy finches stand out to me now.
At 1:30 this afternoon I saw a red-tail hawk at Deer Flat lower dam canal outlet with a red band on the wing. I saw a K on the band and the top part of the second letter ; I assumed it was a Z. (Could have been a T). Maybe a second banded red tail?
I’ve been looking for this bird ever since Cheryl first reported it.
From my experience with flocks of Horned Larks in flight they show a lot of white even in backlight situations. I would still agree with Zeke that the birds in Alan’s photographs are most probably Black and Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and I really do not see horned lark field marks but as I said before I am not the experienced birder many others on IBLE like Cliff and others are.
Photographing birds in a backlight situation is always difficult. Just in case anyone is interested …. the fastest way I know to adjust quickly is using exposure value compensation EV …. when I remember and do not get lazy about it … I just push the button and turn the wheel to add 1 to 2 stops of exposure compensation. Since I am shooting in manual mode with auto ISO that usually results in higher ISO and but let’s me have less if any lightening to do on the computer and easier to see field marks and I need all the help I can get with ID.
On Jan 9, 2021, at 11:27 AM, Cliff Weisse <cliffandlisa@…> wrote:
There may have been Horned Larks there today but the birds in
your photos from yesterday are not Horned Larks. Thick based
bills, pot bellied look, and pale bar on wing coverts are on
consistent with Horned Lark. I think Zeke has it right, they are
Rosy Finches but I’m not going to attempt to identify them to
species.
Cliff
On 1/9/21 11:20 AM, M Gregory wrote:
I figured it out by going back
out there this morning. The birds are Horned Larks and they
are feeding on farmland that has been tilled straight across
the road from where I photographed them yesterday. The
backlighting was strong yesterday and again today, making
photography difficult.
Alan Gregory
On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 6:47 PM
M Gregory <alanclarkg@…> wrote:
Anyone have an idea
of what species these birds are? I photographed the flock
over sage flats a mile or so from Old Highway 30 in Elmore
County this afternoon. When I think of songbirds flocking
in winter, I think of House Sparrows. No human activity in
this area. Just sagebrush
Alan in Mountain
Home
—
Alan C Gregory
Lt. Col.,
USAF, Ret.
Mountain Home,
ID
Air Force
Public Affairs
Alumni
Association,
life member
Member, North
American
Butterfly
Association
—
Alan C Gregory
Lt. Col.,
USAF, Ret.
Mountain Home,
ID
Air Force
Public Affairs
Alumni
Association,
life member
Member, North
American
Butterfly
Association
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
Home of Idaho Birding and the Idaho Bird Records Committee
